Cold calling

Boy there is nothing more nerve-wracking that cold calling someone and then trying to explain that you are a long-lost relative. Here is the story: After considerable effort in trying to find any further information on Jacob Sommerfelt, I decided to go out on a limb.
It started with me calling the Wichita County Clerk again and then getting the idea of calling a few of the clerks form the adjoining counties. All with the same result that they did not have anyone named Sommerfelt or Sommerfeld anywhere in their books - let alone someone named Jacob Sommerfelt.
All of this was quite frustrating, so I sat back and tried to figure out another approach. What I settled one was I decided to use an online phone book and try calling some long-lost cousins. I searched for the maried last name of one of the sisters of my great-grandma Schulz. Then narrowed the search to Wichita Falls, TX because that is the last place I knew of them at.
That search produced three telephone numbers and I started calling and asking if they knew of a relative named Tillie (which is what this sister went by in life). Go figure that the last one I called is the only one that had heard of her - but the miracle is that he was her son.
After talking for about an hour, we hung up and I had the phone number of one of his brothers.
I ended up cold calling him too and we had a great conversation for about a half an hour. When I hung up with him, he gave me the phone number for the third brother. I called him the next day (Friday) and we chatted for about 45 minutes. These connections were wonderful to establish and I was so thrilled. The trouble is that I am in Utah and they are in Texas. However is was nice to meet the, even if it was just over the phone.
Unfortunately, even after these wonderful chats that we had, I still didn't get any closer to finding Jacob. I did; however, get closer to family which is a very gratifying experience.