"Finding Your Roots" by Janice Schultz

Finding Your Roots: Easy-to-Do Genealogy and Family History offers successful search tips from Janice Schultz a librarian and genealogist. Mrs. Schultz started work in the genealogy department at the Mid-Continent Public Library in 1987. "Genealogy is a journey that allows us to know our ancestors personally. As we discover details about their lives, they become real to us."

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Already on page 9, the reader is given the assignment to fill in a blank pedigree chart. In the previous pages, the author explained in detail what information will be needed. In the assignment, the reader is directed to a web page with blank forms. In this example, the URL is www.mmcpl.org/genealogy/family-history-forms, the URL for the Midwest Genealogy Center at the Mid-Continent Public Library. The author continues, "The main goal for any researcher should be to produce a family history that is based on sound genealogical research and that interprets ancestors' lives in terms most readers will understand." Genealogy or family history? Both!

The book builds on the beginning assignment from page 9 of writing out a personal pedigree chart and family unit chart. This assignment continues in every chapter with suggestions for research called "Genealogy: Twenty Minutes a Day." Using examples and details, the author deals with every topic from dictionaries and directories to vital records. Example, "Printed and Internet Sources," chapter five and page 152 offers the reader the suggestion of visiting your local library or exploring online historic maps and county histories. Every chapter has a Twenty Minutes a Day idea for how to personalize research.

What makes this book unique?

• perspective of both a librarian and genealogist
• extensive resources
• assignments for researchers with limited time

Schultz, Janice. Finding Your Roots: Easy-to-Do Genealogy and Family History. Chicago: Huron Street Press. 2013. introductory quote from page vi.

Check area libraries, this book is available at the Gwinnett County Public Library, Georgia. Ask yourself, does this book help me advance towards my genealogy goals? Comments or questions, please contact Selma Blackmon, Thank you!

"Got Proof!" by Michael Nolden Henderson and Anita Rochelle

Michael Nolden Henderson publishes Got Proof! My Genealogical Journey Through the Use of Documentation . Michael is an excellent storyteller, historian, and researcher. He demonstrates his warmth and love of people in his lectures and his book. After years of methodical research, his notes (citations) and bibliography are complete.

A few of my favorite quotes:

• “It’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove. ~ Danzel Washington, ‘Training Day’” p. 1
• “I allowed my mom to remember what she could about her upbringing without my prompting, interrupting or asking too many questions.” p. 20
• “I had developed a hunger to know something, to have questions answered” p 32. We, the reader, are setting on the sofa listening to Cousin Leonor as Michael shares this hunger with his readers. The reader becomes captivated in his search for answers; each page develops his family and research methodology. The genealogy with names and dates is interwoven with family history the storytelling.
• “Whenever I learned one bit of information, I would study it for clues that would help me formulate more questions and make educated guesses” p. 77. Absorbed in reading about the journey to Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, the reader has a glimpse of methodology. In this chapter, the author continues to write about the connection between Cousin Leonor’s oral tradition and a 1770 census document.
• “We do not choose our ancestors,.. we discover them….” p. 155
• “Until the lion has his own storyteller, the hunter will always have the best part of the story” ~African proverb” p. 107. We are encouraged to reveal our story.

Michael thank you for sharing your family, thoughts and research with us! Your lectures are instructive as well as entertaining. Let us know your lecture schedule. Also, when will the next book be ready?

Henderson, Michael Nolden, and Anita Rochelle. Got Proof! My Genealogical Journey Through the Use of Documentation. Suwanee, Georgia: The Write Image, 2013.

Comments or questions, please email Selma Blackmon, thank you!

Census: Research family relationships, part 2

1930 U.S. Census. Illinois, Will, Lockport. ED 99-65. Sheet 20A. William Schuler.  National Archives. Washington, D. C. Ancestry.com. Accessed 15 April 2013

Is it possible to build a family from digital census records? Sometimes digital images are the only clue to family members. This series of articles demonstrates how to use the clues to trace ancestors. Mildred Kampe and her ancestors will be traced back to 1850 using the techniques listed in Genealogy: How to research family relationships from census records, part 1.

Research technique: work backwards. In the 1940 U.S. population schedule census, Mildred, age 20, is enumerated as the daughter-in-law to William Kampe. According to the census, her residence in 1935 was Lockport, Illinois.

View slideshow: How to research the U.S. censuses online

Without the marriage license, the researcher would search the 1930 U.S. population schedule census on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org using the following qualifiers:

• First name only, Mildred
• Gender, female
• Race or nationality, white
• Birth location, Illinois
• Birth date, about 1920 plus or minus two years
• Lived in, Lockport, Will, Illinois

The index search results on both websites reveal nine matches. The surnames are Acond, Gregorich, Krickovich, Lee, Ludwig, Ording, Riggs, Schuler, and Skalac. Comparing censuses, ages may very about three years.

Research technique: connect to the right family. With the nine matches, each surname would need to be researched and eliminated.

Research technique: use collaborating documentation. This researcher has the marriage license for Henry J. Kampe and Mildred L. Schuler. Schuler is Mildred’s maiden name.
In 1930, the enumerator recorded data regarding the relationship of each person in the family unit to the head of the family, the married couple’s age of first marriage, and their place of abode.

Research technique: abstract the information thoroughly and correctly. The census citation would read as follows: 1930 U.S. Census, Will County, Illinois, population schedule, Lockport City, Lockport Township, enumeration district (ED) 99-65, sheet 20A, household 490, William Schuler; digital images, Ancestry.com (complete URL; downloaded 5 April 2012); National Archives, Washington, D.C
With the 1930 clues, the family was easily located in the 1920 U.S. population schedule census. The Schuler family was smaller; they lived on the same block in Lockport, Illinois. The census citation would read as follows: 1920 U.S. Census, Will County, Illinois, population schedule, Lockport City, Lockport Township, enumeration district (ED) 193, sheet 3A, household 63, William Schuler; digital images, Ancestry.com (complete URL; downloaded 5 April 2012); National Archives, Washington, D.C
Example, the first generation of the Schuler family is William and Nettie Schuler, the author’s maternal grandparents. The 1930 and 1920 U.S. population census enumerated the family as follows:

• William Schuler is the head of the family, married at age 37.
• Nettie is his wife, married at age 26.
• Eleanor is his daughter.
• Lloyd is his son.
• Mildred, author’s mother, is his daughter.
• Dorothy is his daughter.

Additional abstracted information:

• Family members’ occupations
• Family members’ birth place
• Family residence

Further research, beyond census records:

• Marriage license
• Birth certificates
• City directories

Census records offer hints or clues not absolute facts.
For comments and questions, please contact Selma Blackmon, thank you.

The importance of quality family research

To the family historian, researching the past is very time consuming and necessary. Details are most important. What is the purpose of all this research? While reading a novel the following quote sums everything.

“If you don’t know the stories of your own past, Dulcie thought sadly, what can you cling to when you feel alone? If you don’t have a family history to tell you who you are, everything flies apart.”

The quote is taken from Cat to the Dogs by Shirley Rousseau Murphy on page 118. This Joe Grey Mystery was published in 2000. Dulcie and Joe happen to be cats living in Molena Point, California. They entertain and share their thoughts, families, and mysteries with their readers. Even cats know the importance of family.

According to Wikipedia.org, John Farmer (1789-1893) first standardized U.S. genealogical research in the early 1800s. Even before this, families keep lineage records in an attempt to prove kinship, wealth, or entitlement.

Share your research and family stories by writing internet articles. Start a blog today! A few examples include the Clayton State University genealogy group’s blog at ourgenealogygroup.blogspot.com and Vicki Evans’ blog at AntiqueSisters4Archives.blogspot.com; Write to me at sbgenealogy@gmail.com subject line blog stories.