Returning to your roots

The Family Historian

By Mary Alice Dell - Genealogical Society of Kendall County

It’s travel time, vacation time - a good time to visit the areas where your ancestors once lived. Summer is a time of family reunions, affording us a chance to collect current family information and perhaps talk with the person who has already “done the family genealogy.”

This is an oxymoron to a genealogist who recognizes that a person’s family history is never complete, perhaps only one or two lines of the many each of us has.

If we are lucky, that family genealogist has collected records that prove the information he or she hands out. If not, the reunion may be held in a location that has the records we need to verify the clues given us.

Family vacations which include children are not usually the ideal time for genealogical research, but as many of us don’t begin our study of family history until children have left home, summer and early fall are good times for those genealogical field trips.

The success of the trip will depend on your advance preparation and your plan of attack once you reach your destination.

Preparation falls into two categories: First is having a “to do” list based on the analysis of what you already have; and the second is locating the facilities in the area that might have the information you want. Most people neglect the latter preparation entirely.

What should you take with you in addition your research list? Family Group Sheets (FGS) on every family unit, either written on forms for that purpose, or printed from your computer genealogy program.

A good FGS has the name, birth date and place of both parents and all the children of that marriage. It would also have marriage dates and places, the names of the spouses of the children, and death dates and places if appropriate.

Be sure the place includes the name of the county at the time of the event, as knowing the county is the secret to finding records.

If you were going to look for more information on your great-grandparents, you would need a FGS for those grandparents, for each of their siblings, and each of their children.

You may not have all that information. Indeed that might be the purpose of the trip. The more you know about the children, siblings and in-laws of your direct line ancestors, the more success you will have in finding additional information.

THE CLUSTER THEORY

Prior to the 20th century, people rarely traveled alone or in single family units. Siblings and in-laws often moved together. We call that the “cluster theory.”

Knowing who is associated with your ancestor helps you find him in a previous location. It may be the only way to prove that the John Smith in a new location, is your John Smith who married Mary Mecklenburg, as you discover Joseph Mecklenburg, Mary’s brother, has an adjoining farm in the new location.

Hopefully, you have done as much family history research on the Internet as possible before you start traveling. You should have all the census records possible, and have searched for birth or marriage records on line for the period in which you are looking.

Make a list of missing information on each individual who lived in the area you will be visiting.

CHECK COUNTY GENWEB

Go the US GenWeb site for the county you will be visiting at http://www.usgenweb.org/. Select the state then the county. Each county Genweb Site is overseen by a volunteer.

The sites differ widely in the information they have. Some, such as Cathy Swartz’s excellent Kendall County GenWeb site, contain detailed information about early families that has been extracted from records.

Other GenWeb sites have queries but few extracted county records. Some will list Web sites for the local genealogical or historical societies.

It is essential that you know what sources in the county have genealogical information, and the days and hours they are open. Be careful to check for holiday closures.

We made a trip over a torturous road to a community in the Appalachian Mountains one time only to find that they were holding their “Annual Homecoming” festivities and the courthouse and library were both closed on that Friday and Saturday.

Frequently genealogical and historical society libraries will be open only certain days of the week. Check their Web sites or call ahead to find the hours.

Most county seats will have a library with family history collected by local genealogists. This may include extracted vital records, listings of tombstones in local cemeteries and a multitude of other local records. Always ask if they have “vertical family files.”

These files hold individual bits of information on families furnished by other researchers, newspaper clippings, family group sheets, etc. They are wonderful sources of clues leading to more information.

I have found copies of Bible records, marriage certificates and other gems in vertical files.

Don’t overlook genealogical collections found in larger area libraries, such as those found in local colleges. For example, if you are researching any western North Carolina county, you might also want to visit the Rowan County Library at Salisbury. Or if you are researching any place in Indiana, visit the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne.

Check http://www.cyndislist.com/ for libraries to find out what is available in the area you are visiting. State libraries and archives are particularly valuable sources of information for Colonial and 19th century research.

TRY COUNTY COURTHOUSE

The most important source of information in the county is the Courthouse, where the birth, marriage and deaths are recorded. So are divorces, wills, guardianships and land records, as well as civil lawsuits - often rich in genealogical information.

Bone up on how to use courthouse records before you go. Consult a book on genealogical research or take a genealogy course. The more you know about research methods, the more information you will be able learn about your ancestors.

If you have more than one day to research, go to the library first, as you may find extracts of records you want and will then know exactly where to look at the courthouse for the originals.

You may also find a guide to the location of tombstones in local cemeteries, saving you time when you visit there. Go to the cemetery the morning of the second day (better photo time) and then to the courthouse for the original records.

Ideally you will have a minimum of three days in an area, so you will have an opportunity to analyze what you found the first couple of days and on the third day, you can look for missing data.

A research trip to the locality where your ancestor lived may be the only way you will ever find the data you need to continue your family history. If nothing more, it will give you the chance to connect with your ancestor as you stand in the place he or she once stood.

Send questions or share an interesting Web site, by emailing Mary Alice Dell at rvgenie@gmail.com.