At the July DACS General Meeting, John O’Donnell delighted the audience with a knowledgeable and articulate presentation, sharing with us his enthusiasm for genealogy. Anyone interested in family history but unsure of how to start got an excellent introduction to the subject.
Genealogical research has become one of the most popular uses for home computers and the internet, and information technology has fueled an explosion of interest in family history in recent years. The modern enthusiasm for genealogy dates from the publication of Alex Haley’s Roots, in 1977, and the associated TV series. Over the years since then, personal computers and the internet have become ubiquitous.
John also mentioned another TV offering: the PBS show, Finding Your Roots, which has provoked further interest, but tends to make genealogy research look easier than it really is, because of the large resources that are available to TV producers.
John O’Donnell has been a Reference Librarian at the Danbury Library since 1997, and his talk highlighted many of the genealogy resources that are available through the library.
In a nutshell, genealogy is the assembly of one’s family tree, and it is done through the finding and use of vital records. John outlined the steps that genealogy researchers go through, first: the filling out of pedigree charts.
Blank pedigree charts are available through many websites. Researchers are recommended to work on one line of ancestors at a time, rather than several, and to always cite the sources of information. Organization is key. Failure to record sources causes one to look at the same information multiple times because it’s so easy to forget what you’ve seen and not seen. Pedigree charts highlight information you have, and point out where further research is needed.
Step 2: Begin research – start by interviewing family members, and recording what they remember about their ancestors. Investigate documents such as family bibles, diaries, scrapbooks, etc.
Step 3: Move on to libraries and archives, beginning with your local library. Libraries are crucial to every step of the process. Identify libraries, archives, county agencies in the areas where your ancestors lived. Also make use of town hall records, local history societies, and university libraries. For example, in the Danbury area, all of these resources exist and are available.
When visiting a library, bring a notebook and a list of questions that you want answered. Take notes on all your leads – record authors, titles, and page numbers; document and organize all sources – this is vital.
John illustrated many of his recommendations by showing and talking about the Danbury Library website, and describing his own personal research. He went one by one through the databases that are accessible through the library, describing salient features of each. These databases include ancestry.com, HeritageQuest Online, Family Search, Cyndi’s List, and the National Archives.
Family Search, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, can be used in conjunction with the local Mormon family history center, in Newtown, to which materials can be sent for your review, for a nominal fee.
After researching locally, you can proceed to the state level. In Connecticut, vital records are kept at the local level but they are duplicated at the state level. There is also the Connecticut State Library, which has its own genealogy collection.
John reiterated the importance of having specific questions and a research plan in mind. Many genealogy databases are very large and it is easy to be overwhelmed if you try to ask for all information about a particular family name.
The USGenweb Project is a very good planning tool because it provides lists of resources by city for every state in the United States. One of the resources that John highlighted is City Directories, which include valuable information about entire populations, over long periods of time. For example, for Danbury, they are available for 1885-1992.
He also recommended Family Tree Magazine, which is very good for genealogical software reviews.
Moving even further afield, at the federal level, the U.S. census and the National Archives are the primary tools. The 10-year frequency of the censuses provides a good timeline for a person being researched. The Heritage Quest database is one that provides access to census data.
Always look at a whole census document for information about other relatives – “cluster genealogy”. Relatives often live close to each other.
U.S. censuses are available to the public from 1790 through 1940, more recent ones are still restricted, to protect the privacy of living persons. However, the Age Search Service on census.gov can provide information from more recent censuses, through 2010. There is a $65 fee and searchers have to prove a relationship to the person being searched.
John warned us to be aware that errors can creep into the records. e.g. in Ancestry.com. The site provides no way to contact the authors of erroneous information.
John pointed out that some documents contain signatures of individuals and can be used to identify or verify authorship of handwritten information.
If there is an international component to one’s research, this does not have to be a deal breaker. Cyndi’s List can be very useful, by identifying resources that help with specific researches. John illustrated this by describing his personal experience of researching his maternal grandfather’s origins in Germany.
Always ask for help if unsure of how to proceed – genealogists are very helpful people!
After the break, John took questions from the audience. Some points that emerged from his answers:
- John is available to provide help to people who wish to research their family history.
- Ancestry.com – errors made by amateur genealogists who no longer have their trial memberships and therefore cannot be contacted. Ancestry will not delete the erroneous information, so it stays around for a very long time – very frustrating for real genealogists. Be skeptical.
- Talk to relatives, as early as possible (while they are still available), to get corroboration of information obtained elsewhere.
- You may find out information that is unpalatable, e.g. an ancestor who was a criminal.
- 23 and Me, Ancestry DNA, and Family Tree DNA – are the big three companies that do genealogy-related DNA testing.