Ever thought of postcards your ancestor might have sent? I've posted one to my site that my ancestor sent to his father-in-law when he made a return trip to Germany. The text he wrote is pretty short and generally refers to his trip and the weather...no real hard genealogy information, but it was neat to have it. Consider looking for cards in your own background.
http://www.rootdig.com/immigrate/dirks_card.html
Michael
