I have communicated with all but one of the owners or their descendants of the Nathan C. Aldrich House. As the house is 184 years old, and has been sold at least nine times in it's history, it has required many hours over the past 12 years to locate and then finally contact these individuals.. The internet has been an invaluable tool, and has sped up the pace of my research a hundred-fold. But other resources have been equally important in their own ways; old Mendon town records at the Taft library, the Worcester County Registry of Deeds, anecdotal stories and artifacts from people whose families have been in town for generations, my historical preservation consultants for the National Register project, Neil Larson and Jill Fischer, the Mendon Historical Commission and the Historical Society, and even ebay! Just like people, a house has a family tree- locate one branch, and suddenly you've got three more to pursue. When I finally located the great-great-great-great-grandaughter of Nathan C. Aldrich, it was like I was actually reaching back in time and touching the man whose vision created this majestic granite home. And when, through my research, I was able to reconnect family members who had lost touch 70 years ago, I felt like I was doing so much more than conducting an academic project to satisfy my own interests. It is why the human stories related to the home's history matter to me most; they are what actually touch people's lives.
