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National Treasure: Book of Family Secrets Genealogy search can lead to historic finds and deepen understanding of personal history 
Tracking your genealogy is like a treasure hunt. You have to dig a lot, but you might locate valuable nuggets about your family history. Every genealogy search should begin by questioning family members and friends. It’s amazing how much information you can get from grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, uncles, aunts, cousins and other family members. Although there are many genealogy computer programs and Web sites available, you can easily start sketching your family tree with pencil and paper. In 2000, while searching for her family roots, Eulane Mellon, of Rockville, Md., found a Social Security document, stuck in a Bible, listing the 1910 census for her grandmother. Using that one slip of paper, and knowing her great grandmother’s and great grandfather’s names, Mellon was able to go to the National Archives and trace the family through the census. Mellon was lucky that she lived so close to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. But many records can be found at your own library. Also, during your travels, check the local libraries and courthouses where family members lived. In an interview conducted in 2000, Mellon said, “Before I started my search I had no idea how much people moved in the 1800s. As the first colonies got crowded people moved west. If they were poor, they headed towards the frontier to find land to farm.” At the time, Mellon and her 75-year-old aunt visited the birthplace of her grandmother and stopped off at public libraries along the way to do research. Many genealogists love to travel, gathering documents along the way to add to their family tree. Finding as much documentation as they can, and collecting it, is a genealogist’s dream. “I looked through tons of old newspapers, death notices and other documents on microfilm,” Mellon said. As much fun as this detective work can be, computers and the Internet have opened up a wealth of genealogy information to the public. Start with a people search engine on the Web, such as www.whowhere.com. Of course, if your name is Smith or Jones, the response will be overwhelming. If you have an uncommon name, such searches can be fun. You may discover family members, unknown to you, who have also been searching their families’ histories, and they may be able to fill in some blanks for you. One of the premier genealogy sites on the Internet is Cyndi’s List (www.cyndislist.com). Here you will find over 40,000 organized links to other resources on the Web, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. You can also get help from professional and other genealogy addicts on a message board. With access to four billion records, the National Archives created The USGenWeb Project, www.usgenweb.com, a free search engine that breaks down records by state for easier, more accurate searches. |
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