I have a story! It started in November 2013. I had just joined WikiTree two months before. I was contacted by a retired professor from the University of California - she had been working with the correspondence of an astronomer from the late 19th century. In her retirement, she decided to compile and annotate the correspondence for others interested in the field. In the letters there was mention of a DE Packer. She contacted me through a google search of the name and asked if DE Packer was the same David Elijah Packer, my great grandfather.
I told her I had no idea. He had died in England the same year my mother was born in Canada - I knew nothing of my great grandfather. My sister told me she remembered our mother telling her something about him discovering a star. But with such flimsy anecdotal evidence, it didn't seem we would get very far.
Early this week, thanks again to WikiTree, I was contacted by another researcher, this time in the UK, who not only knew that DE Packer, was indeed my David Elijah, but also had a great deal of information about him and his work. David Elijah had over 100 letters published in a scientific journal, and the "verible cluster" (some kind of astronomical phenonemon) that he discovered - that has hithertofore gone without a "discoverer" named - may soon carry his name. And the first researcher will now appropriately footnote her research to give credit to my great grandfather, an avid amateur astronomer and photographer, who - though often wrong in his theories - helped advance the cause of science, and will now be recognised for such. I am beyond pleased.
Expect to see [[Packer-454|David Elijah]] nominated for "profile of the week" just as soon as I get to writing up his fascinating story.
