Library Can Help You Dig Into Your Family History
March 26, 2015 —
What’s the roadblock keeping you from your genealogy research? The library’s Local History and Genealogy Department staff has probably heard them all, and they’re here to clear the way for you.
The staff plans a Genealogy Symposium from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the Library Center Story Hour Room. No registration is required; call 616-0534 for details.
“People get hung up on spellings of names, and in the past, misspellings were very common,” says Local History associate Renee Glass, who will present Beginning Genealogy at 9 a.m. You may search for a Crandall that was actually a Crandle. Ancestry.com gives similarly spelled names to help you out.
Family stories are good foundations, Glass says, but they can change from generation to generation. Don’t get stuck on romantic notions about Civil War heroism by great-uncle Andrew – his birth records may reveal he was born post-Civil War.
And don’t let an “Uncle” Si or “Auntie” Bess lead you to a fruitless search for family connections, Glass adds. Some families referred to neighbors or friends that way. “It was especially common in the South.”
“Some people also come in expecting to find their family tree online,” she adds. “When they’re the first ones to do the research, they are the ones who have to build it.”
Searching for a Civil War soldier? It’s most helpful to know his regiment, says Local History associate Michael Price. “And if he survived the war, he got a pension, and (the pension lists) will tell a lot,” he says.
Fold3, with its huge number of military service records, is one of the best research tools, Price says. Find it at thelibrary.org, click Research, click Genealogy, and find Fold3. No regiment information? The 1860 U.S. Federal Census in Fold 3 can reveal the soldier’s name. Find the regiments raised in his or nearby counties and you may find a match.
Don’t despair; all genealogy research takes some detective work. The staff will teach you the best investigative tools of the trade.