By Mary Alice
Dell - Genealogical Society of Kendall County
As I write this, I am
preparing for a trip to the genealogist’s Disneyland in Salt Lake City,
Utah. I am referring, of course, to the great Family History Library which
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints so generously shares with
everyone.
We have been researching there two to three weeks every
other year for the past 15 years. We have yet to find all the records of
our ancestors housed there!
Not only are there thousands of books of extracted county,
state and national records, but millions of reels of records on microfilm
from every state in the union and many other countries.
It is the
place where we may overcome brick walls, discover family scandals and
prove or disprove grandmothers’ stories.
Like Disneyland, where you
can see the excitement and anticipation of entering children, you can
witness the same emotion on the faces of genealogists as they peruse the
shelves or turn the microfilm reels.
Unlike going to Disneyland, in
order to enjoy the benefits of a visit to the FHL, one must do some
advanced preparation. Preparation follows the same formula as used before
beginning Internet or local library research:
Review what you already have.
Decide what you need.
Determine what records to seek for that information.
Sounds
simple, but here is a sample of the challenge facing someone who has been
doing family research for several years.
As one of the first steps
to getting prepared I printed an End-of-Line report from my genealogy data
program. These are my ancestors whose parents I have not been able to
name. I found I had 89 different surnames with which I could
work.
Remember, you double the number of surnames every generation,
having two surnames the second generation (your parents), four for the
next generation (your grandparents), etc. By the time you reach the
seventh generation, you have 64 different surnames (or family lines) to
follow.
EASY TO PROVE EARLY GENERATIONS
If your family had
arrived in the US by 1900, it is relatively easy to work your way back to
the fourth generation, which are your eight great-grandparents; or
possibly even to the fifth generation of your 16
great-great-grandparents.
If you have only pursued your father’s
surname, you have only looked at 1/16th of your family by the fifth
generation.
Obviously, looking for information for all 89 surnames
was not practical, so I decided first to see what documents I was missing
that would prove the link between the later generations.
In my
early days of research, if I found information, I merely wrote down the
facts without noting the source or making copies of documents. I soon
learned the disadvantage to that sloppy way of keeping records, as later I
had no way of judging the accuracy of the information, and had no clue how
to find that source to look for more information about that
family.
During my five years as a registrar inspecting Daughters of
the American Revolution applications, I learned the importance of having
documents contemporary to the time that proved the relationship of one
generation to the next.
I began my preparation for the FHL visit by
reviewing the first six generations for linking documents and any other
missing information.
A “linking” documents is one that has both the
name of the parent and child and indicates that relationship; for example,
a will naming a son, or a census record showing a child in the household
of his parents.
The first five were a “piece of cake,” as I had
easily collected most of the vital records and census records for my
parents, grandparents, great- and great- great-grandparents, so I had
those linking documents.
Although I have all 16 surnames for my
fifth generation, I am lacking exact death dates for six of them. These
missing facts went on my list of items to research.
USING THE GENIE
SIDESTEP
Thanks to marriage permission letters, estate, land and
census records, I have many linking documents between the fifth and sixth
generations. The real challenge for missing proof documents is for my
father’s Kentucky ancestors who migrated from North Carolina and Virginia
in the early 1800s.
In many cases, I have already looked for
documents to prove these links by checking for records of my direct line
ancestor. Now, it is time to consider looking for records of siblings of
my ancestor to see if I can do the “genie sidestep” to proving
relationships.
It is important to record the names of all the
siblings of your direct line and the names of their spouses, as there will
be a time when using that information will be the only way you solve a
problem.
On more than one occasion, I have looked for an ancestor
in a county history and found nothing about him, but found a biography of
a nephew or uncle that gave the family history back several
generations.
Always check the deeds and wills of other family
members. I found a deed in which my ancestor Thomas Smart referred to his
“brother William Smart.” In a separate deed Henry Smart granted land to
his “son William Smart.” It took both documents to prove Thomas was the
son of Henry.
Before I arrive at the FHL, I will not only have a
list of the names, dates, places and records for which I will be looking,
but also the titles and call numbers of the books and the file numbers of
the microfilms I plan to consult.
I will make that list by
consulting the Family History Library catalog on line at http://www.familysearch.org/. I
will do a Place search by county (remembering to spell the state
completely). I will select the record category from the list for that
county.
For example, if I am looking for deeds, I would look at
Land and then locate the microfilm number for the index and for the years
I wish to look at deeds.
Once I am at the FHL, I can pull those
microfilms from the storage drawers and view copies of the original deed
books found in that county courthouse. I then can make a copy of any deed
for further study.
A visit to the FHL is such an efficient way to
do research because if at first you don’t succeed, you have the tools
available, all in one location, to try again and again to find the answer
to your problem.
Even better, if you suddenly find once you are
home that there is one other place or record you should have searched, you
can order the needed microfilm through the local Boerne Family History
Center.
My list of records to search at the Family History Library
is growing longer and my anticipation of success is increasing. Despite my
preparation and happy hours of research, I have the feeling that I will
leave there once again with unsolved mysteries and knowing I still have
not found all of the records of my ancestors housed in that wondrous
playground for genealogists.
I guess I’ll just have to buy another
E-ride ticket and go again.