March 15, 2009
TRACING OUR
ROOTS
YOUR HERITAGE COLLECTED
Brenda Kellow
Is this the first article you have read about genealogy?
Why are you reading it? Obviously, you would not be reading this if the
genealogical bug has not bitten you. What was it that piqued your interest? When
were you first curious? How long
have you been interested—even a little curious? Who are you interested in
searching? If you are interested in one
or two family lines to begin searching, you must decide which ones, and then
choose how you intend to approach your research, accumulating and collecting, as
well as where you are going to store the information you are surely going to
find.
I asked you questions in the above paragraph. Did you
notice that I asked you why, what, when, how, who and where? These six little
words should be your base for genealogical research. You should always remember
to use them with each subject, place, person, or period during your
investigations. Everyone who has studied journalism or listened to a reporter on
TV should recognize these as the important questions asked. These answers make
the story.
I began searching my family line with the thought I would
only search my mother and father’s paternal lines. After all, my mother carried
her maiden name until she married my dad, and I had Daddy’s name until I
married. I thought the others were not important. Wrong! When I began finding
information on Mother’s paternal line, I ran into interesting information on her
maternal line that I could not set aside. This was also the case with Daddy’s
lines. They were interesting. From them, I received my inheritance, my genetic
footprint. Soon, I was enthusiastically researching my husband’s lines as well.
This is how it began: talking to family and actually
listening to what they were telling me; recording their histories on tape;
taking notes when they would not talk into a recording device; collecting old
photographs or photographing them on the spot when they would not part with
them; reading microfilm; and visiting old cemeteries. When I began, there were
no computers or Internet. Consequently, everything was hand written and
information filed in three-ring notebooks. I wrote letters to the secretary of
state. Someone from that office would reply with the genealogical documents
available to me through their copy facilities. Some libraries and archives had
no copy service and required an onsite search.
From the beginning, you should have an organizational plan
in mind and stick to it. If you have any family item on hand, start with that.
Find a place for organizing all the things you will collect. Then categorize how
you will carry out your research from the starting person to the facility. We
are fortunate to have many search sites here in this area. Develop your plan of
attack so when you are searching onsite or on the Internet, you have a
systematic strategy. There is nothing worse than allotting a certain amount of
time at the library and then running out of things to research. The opposite is
preferable. You must be flexible. A plan A, B and C might be something you want
to consider. Adopt whatever it takes to keep you from wasting valuable time and
to stay organized.
Organization is important. Usually the result of
researching a line is to publish your findings to share with your family. You
may not think in the beginning that you capable of writing, so think of it as
just another way to organize until you are ready to write about it. Use an
impeccable timeline on each subject and keep it up to date. There is nothing
worse than going back and trying to retrieve information you have already
collected and piled in a drawer or recover the citation you failed to log the
first time or search for a document you found long ago and forgot you had.
Keeping up to date timelines, pedigree charts, family group
sheets, and correspondence and research logs are foremost to successfully
researching your family. The pedigree and family sheets keep you apprised of
where you are with family identification; the time lines help with easily
finding mistakes; the correspondence and research logs identify every letter or
inquiry you have written, places where you researched, and whether or not you
found anything there. This is necessary for organized behavior.
Genealogists collect information. How we organize and store
it directly relates to successful research. There is no time like the present to
begin to establish good organizational habits so you can share it with your
family.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history,
teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s
histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a
Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunions announcements, books to review,
and genealogy queries to: TraceRts@verizon.net.
