I was able to find a lot out after my paternal grandfather died. My dad didn’t know him that well as he was growing up, because he left his family, so I never met him. Upon my grandpa’s death, however, a daughter of his from another marriage sent my dad his obituary, which contained his real name. The reason I never knew my grandpa’s real name is because he was “adopted” (sold) by/to a pedophile and after that, all traces of him disappeared. He had many brothers and sisters, all of whom were also given up for adoption. Through the years, every single one of them managed to reunite – except my grandpa.
Anyway, long story short: After I obtained his real name, I started doing extensive searches on the internet for his name. I probably went through thousands and I was about to give up when, I kid you not, the very last person that I clicked on was looking for a man by the name of my grandpa. I emailed her and said, “I think you’re looking for my grandpa, but I know him as ________”. Anyway, the account that this person created was years old, but it turned out that she was the daughter of one of my grandpa’s sisters. Her mother was old and didn’t have many years left. Upon learning what happened to the last of the children, she said she could die happy.
Aside from that, the relative that I contacted turned out to be a genealogist who sent me a thick packet of family history. I’m related to Daniel Boone, a famous Revolutionary War Patriot who founded a courthouse in North Carolina, Russel Stover (the candy guy), Scottish settlers, Irish settlers, German settlers, Native American blood, Danish, the list goes on. :)
I was extremely lucky to learn all of this, and much of the history goes back to the 1600s in the US.