The “key” contact dates with relatives and supporters of the MyCousins project.
| 06/17/2011 | Judy Lakkis* emails John, IV regarding a 12-12 DNA match. |
| 03/15/2019 | John, IV reaches out to John Elcik, Rocky Point, New York, using Facebook. They begin conversing regularly using email to build a tree for John, NY. |
| 07/01/2020 | Nine years after Judy Lakkis’s original outreach John, IV is retired and has time to experiment with DNA. He reaches out to see if she is still interested. Amazingly, she is. |
| 07/17/2020 | Jack Gamache on Facebook responds to one of my posts. “Hi John, My wife does Ancestry and has a bunch of pictures and stuff that we will share with you. She will be sending you a friend request to make the exchange easier. Nice work Cuz.” [Jack is unaware that this exchange will volunteer Beth’s help for life. – John, IV] |
| 07/28/2020 10/02/2020 10/17/2020 | Beth Gamache* talks with Eugene Elcik and his wife Lorraine several times. Eugene generously provides many family details. He remembers John III, Jack’s mother, and their siblings. He also remembers the Elcik’s that moved to NY. |
| 08/04/2020 | Nancy Gamache (my 1st Cousin) exchanges emails with John P. Elcik, IV, following Beth’s contact. |
| 08/05/2020 | John, IV reaches out to Mark Elcik (his 1st Cousin) using Facebook. Photos are exchanged. |
| 08/06/2020 | Rebecca Davis and John, IV exchange email. Rebecca will later contribute Moulton family stories to the MyCousins project. |
| 07/28/2020 | Beth talks to Pam Lizotte. Her dad is George Karkos, whose mother is Annie Elcik. Pam is a wealth of information on the births and deaths of Annie’s siblings. She told Beth her grandfather George Karkos bought 30 plots at Mt. Calvary, and she and her husband and their children will be buried there. |
| 08/14/2020 | Joseph Elcik contacts John IV through LinkedIn. He is looking for his copy of the Elcik family tree with the thought of providing us a copy. |
| 08/22/2020 | Beth reaches out to Bill Cizmar* one of her contacts at Lisbon Historical Society. He helps her find Bob, son of the Durham George Elcik. Bill has a Lisbon Maine Ancestry page documenting everyone who was born and lived in the town of Lisbon. His exact words to Beth are: “the Elciks are the most “unfiguroutable” family in Lisbon Falls.” |
| 08/22/2020 | Beth and Jack call Bob and Peggy Elcik, who are living in PA. Lots of information is shared. John, IV was interested in his trips to Durham with his father to make Kielbasa. Is there a recipe? |
| 09/02/2020 | Brian C. Elcik sends an email following a referral from John IV’s nephew Chris. He wants to know, Are we related? |
| 09/12/2020 | Beth gives Bill Cizmar* John IV’s email address. While researching Lisbon, Maine, Bill has found information on “John Elcik,” which he offers to share. |
| 09/19/2020 | Beth sends our Karkos family photo to 3 friends at the Historical Society. One of them, Charlie Hall*, will also be in touch with John IV as he agrees there’s a connection to Beth’s Purinton family and Puringtons’ in John’s family tree. Charlie is sharp. Beth shared her Purinton family tree with him a couple of years ago, and he figured out that they are related through the Goddards, not by blood but marriage. |
| 09/20/2020 | Earl Williams*, another Lisbon Historical Society alumnus, has found the Elcik and Ilcik families’ obituaries. These are treasured finds and instrumental in writing the history of the Elcik family. |
| 09/26/2020 | John, IV reaches out to Terry L. Karkos using Facebook to send family photos. Terry’s website, called Karkos Kronicles, once provided us information on Annie (Karkos) Elcik. John shares that there are now two connections between the Karkos and Elcik families. |
| 09/26/2020 10/02/2020 10/17/2020 | Beth also reaches out to the Karkos family. Beth contacts Marilyn Keamy (her maiden name was Karkos). She tells Beth stories about the 10 Karkos brothers and sisters. |
| 09/27/2020 | Beth contacts Jack’s cousin, Dan Gamache, who speaks and understands the Slovak language in hopes he might translate the words to the Slovak “nursery rhyme” that John, III, and Richard Elcik sang for the family at Beth’s home. The letter written by Wanda Elcik is too hard for him to read. Later, we have a video, and he will succeed with one of the songs. |
| 10/08/2020 | John, IV asks Elizabeth (Adams) Chute for help identifying a photo. Elizabeth sends us Sally (Adams) Wentworth’s genealogy records. Her records will help us find the gravesite of John P. Elcik, Sr. and Mary Pelcarsky. There is also a major surprise. |
| 10/10/2020 | John, IV sends information to Jessica Elcik using Ancestry Messenger. Jessica plans to take a DNA test and will share the results. |
| 10/12/2020 | John, IV sends thank you email to William Cizmar*. Bill introduced Beth to Lisbon Historical Society. |
| 10/17/2020 | John, IV receives an inquiry email from Eugene Elcik expressing an interest in MyCousins. |
| 11/09/2020 | John, IV gives a shoutout to his Turkish cousins Sabri and Vladimir on Facebook after Jeff’s DNA test with 23andme suggested we have a distant Turkish relative. |
| 01/11/2020 | Beth Gamache and Earl Williams* find my Great-Grandfather’s gravesite at Saint Cyril Cemetery, and it is engraved with the letters ILCIK. This is an important discovery. |
| 01/17/2021 | John, IV, and Earl Williams* exchange messages on the MyHeritage Messageboard. They learn they are DNA cousins. |
| 01/21/2021 | Charlie Hall* sends John IV a message using Ancestry Messenger. He identifies an error in the family tree and solves an Elcik puzzle. |
| 01/24/2021 | Zlatica Becca* responds to two questions on the Anscestry.com Messenger Boards. Also responding was Randm1979. Zlatica turns out to be a DNA cousin, and John IV nicknames her “Goldie.” |
| 01/25/2021 | Deep Fredrick Keamy* sends an email to Charlie Hall with information on important Elcik baptismal records. Both are members of the Lisbon Historical Society; Beth had a visit with Deep’s mother. |
| 02/09/2021 | JPmiau, a Slovak language expert on Ancestry Message Board, responds to a request for help from John, IV. He helps explain variations in the spelling of Slovak surnames. |
| 03/16/2021 | Elizabeth Chute calls John, IV. More surprises are coming. She has mailed a package with items that belonged to my grandmother, Charlotte (Skillin, Wentworth) Adams. |
| 03/17/2021 | Rebecca (Kashmer) Davis writes two original Moulton family stories for us: The Great Indian Fighter and Sylvester Moulton. She also provides 3 pictures from Moulton Annals by Henry W. Moulton. |
| 03/19/2021 | We are six weeks from launching the eBook. Beth and Janet Welsh are working hard to increase launch memberships. |
*Member of “Fabulous Seven” research group that has brought us focus and success.
