The Genealogy Corner

Getting started tracing your family roots

by Charles Francis

At some point a fair number of us are bitten by the genealogy bug. Perhaps we come across a tidbit of information about an ancestor or relatives who went west and drove a stagecoach. Then again it may be simple curiosity as to who our grandparent’s parents were. Or, it may be wanting to draw up the family tree to give brothers and sisters at Christmas and needing to check out birth, death, and marriage dates. Regardless as to what stimulates our interest in genealogy, the question is how to begin gathering information.

Having the name of an immediate family connection is usually enough to get started. Then, before you even be- gin to go out and research, check out your family to see what they might have or know about the individual in question. It is surprising what sorts of things people squirrel away in the way of old albums, scrapbooks, or even old baby books. You might even find the guestbook signed by mourners at a funeral that can direct you to people who are still alive who knew the person you are researching.

Quite a number of years ago I was asked by Rosemary Verrill, the staff photographer of the University of Maine at Farmington, if I knew anything about a White family in Belfast. It seems that Ms. Verrill had discovered she had a connection to Henry Patterson White, who had owned the Franklin Journal and Farmington Chronicle.

She knew the Farmington newspaper owner had come from Belfast and that his father, Robert, had died there. As I lived in the Belfast area, she wondered if I could go to the local paper and check out the obituary.

Checking out obituaries is one of the first steps in genealogical research. Almost everyone has an obituary. Besides providing a basic history of the deceased, they almost always have information on the individual’s parentage and surviving family members. And the obituary should also tell you where the deceased is interred. You can then visit the cemetery and possibly come across the names of other family members who are buried there. You should call ahead to the newspaper to make an appointment to view their files.

Another immediate source of information for the beginning researcher is census records. Researching them, like checking out obituaries or visiting a cemetery, requires legwork, however. You have to go to a library or other repository that has the Census data on record. In Maine that means the Maine State Library, Maine Historical Society, another large repository, or using the Internet, which can include an access fee. You should also be prepared to spend a fair amount of time, as one census record almost always leads to others. The best way to research census records is by working backward. Depending on the year, you should at least learn a person’s occupation and who was living with whom.

I did go to the offices of the Republican Journal in Belfast to see what I could find out about Robert White, the father of Henry Patterson White. There I discovered that Robert White was something of a person of note as far as the Journal was concerned. It seems that Henry Patterson White had followed in his father’s footsteps as a journalist. Robert White had been one of the founders of the Republican Journal. Ironically, while Matt Groening, the editor of the Journal, knew a good deal about the history of his paper, he knew nothing of the White family connection to the Franklin Journal and the Farmington Chronicle

One should get some basic information about a person, especially where they were born or died or married. It is relatively easy to check out your findings. Legal documents like birth, death, and marriage certificates are all public record and can be acquired, often for a fee, from a town office. The same is true for military and veterans’ records, court records like wills, and social security records. Other sources of information can include church and school records, alumni lists, and the records of fraternal organizations.

All of the above sources taken together can provide quite a good picture (cont. on page 34)

(cont. from page 33) of the person you’re researching. For example, Henry Patterson White married Grace Gould of Farmington. She was the daughter of Nelson and Hannah Gould. Henry White’s mother was Eliza Simonton. The Whites had three children, Robert, Isabel, and Florence. The family attended the Unitarian church. Henry White attended the Abbott School, and he was a founder of the Farmington Public Library Association. All of this information was part of his obituary.

Above all, the key for the beginning genealogist is to contact other family members to see what information they may have. While it is generally traditional that the oldest male child be given family records and memorabilia, there is no telling who has what and who may know what.

If you have lost track of relatives but have a general idea of where they live, a call to information is a simple way to locate them. Also, there are phone books for every locality on the Inter- net. Contacting a long-lost relative can provide a good deal of pleasure as well as information. Another idea is to do a bulk mailing to family members and individuals who knew the person you’re researching. Make up a questionnaire to send out and see what you get.

The ideas suggested above are just the basic nuts and bolts of genealogical research. Once you get started, there are any number of good sources to look into for additional ideas. One of the best books for the beginning family researcher is Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources It is put out by Ancestry Publishing of Salt Lake City.

Once you get started on your research, you may be surprised at the connections you find, as I was when I discovered the connection between the newspapers of Belfast and Farmington.