Genealogy in Family History Month

Two GenTalks, two repeat sessions of online genealogy searching and a session on research at courthouses and other government facilities are planned at the Seymour Library for October -- Family History Month.

The GenTalks are where we discuss our genealogical successes -- how we solved a problem -- as well as the places where our ancestors have stonewalled us. Sometimes a suggestion or two from others at the session for finding the elusive ones can work wonders to get us thinking of new ways to succeed.

GenTalks will begin at 6 pm Wednesdays, October 13 and 20, in the Seymour Library meeting room. Registration isn't required but is appreciated by calling 522-3412 ext 243 for either or both sessions. Questions can be addressed to me, the local history specialist, at 522-3412 ext 240.

The Family History Mystery series will continue with Gathering Clues Online: More Census, Lots of Records, and All Those Books. These sessions in the computer classroom at Seymour will meet at 10 am Thursday, October 14, or 6 pm Tuesday, October 19. The October 19 session will be more or less a repeat of the first and you are welcome to sign up for one or both. The class is repeated to give participants a choice of hours.

More and more genealogy can be done online every day, as long as you pay attention to the sources. Those in my classes hear me say again and again the theme from the X-Files: Trust No One! That applies especially to data entered without sources but you need to check the sources as well. You may have a different interpretation of what's there.

What makes online genealogy so much fun is that you can do in a weekend what once may have taken years. You just have to think of the various ways to search! And you probably will have more than a couple of windows open at a time. That's what we will be talking about -- more than about specific databases. Sign-up can be done by calling 522-3412 ext 243.

The final class for the month is Courthouse and Government Navigation Basics at 10 am Thursday, October 21. Government records are my favorite because I often have found so much more than I expected. Government records can help put flesh on the ancestral bones, giving a more complete picture of how the families lived.

What are you going to do to observe Family History Month? Hope you can join us ... !

-- Charlotte

Family History Mystery Series Starts

The Jackson County Public Library’s popular and free Family History Mystery classes will begin again in September as the Seymour Library also introduces its reorganized reference and local history area.

Registration for the classes is open now and is encouraged to help with planning by calling the library at 522-3412 ext. 240. Researchers also are invited to stop by for a tour of the new area.

Our researchers have more room to spread out now. Researchers looking for families any place in the United States and in some other countries will find material they can use in their searches. Online databases and microfilm supplement the print collection.

The local material is in the same shelves it has been for several years. Surrounding counties, military and Indiana state materials plus non-circulating “how to” volumes also are along the north wall of the area behind the Information Services Desk.

Family histories are on the shelves on the south side of the local history area as are city directories and phone books from years past. The Indiana Magazine of History also is on those shelves while materials for other Indiana counties, other states and the colonies are in nearby shelves. Yearbooks still may be requested at the IS Desk.

The library has local newspapers and local government records among its microfilm holdings in the same area.

In addition to classes this fall, the library will continue its GenTalk series of roundtable discussions focusing on moving past the stone walls that hold back research. Those sessions will begin at 6 pm Wednesdays, September 22, and October 13 and 20 during Family History Month.

Individuals are invited to bring their charts and tell how they have gotten to the point they are unable to move past in their research. The group then will suggest possibilities for finding additional information and generations.

The Family History Mystery series will focus first on Puzzle Pieces: The Census, Obituaries, Directories and Your Ancestor in Time and will present ideas for finding information and organizing search results. That class will meet in the computer classroom at 6:30 pm Wednesday, September 8; 10 am Thursday, September 16; or 6:30 pm Tuesday, September 28. The class is repeated to give participants a choice of days and hours.

The second Family History Mystery class will focus on Gathering Clues Online: More Census, Lots of Records, and All Those Books. Participants may choose between a class at 10 am Thursday, October 14, or 6 pm Tuesday, October 19. With a timeline underway, participants will learn where to look for more information about their ancestors.

The third class will consider Courthouse and Government Navigation Basics at 10 am Thursday, October 21. Records kept by various government entities can help create a fuller picture of an ancestor’s life. Land records, apprenticeships, taxes, military service and court actions are among records that also include births, marriages and deaths.

If You Don't Do Genealogy Today ...

... then when? If you don't come to a beginning genealogy class in May ... then when?

Sure, you have lots of other things to do. But if your family history is something you've always planned to seek out, there's no better time -- and you owe it to yourself.

When you find out about your family -- or families, actually, because every generation you go back adds a new female line for each male, new stories, new surprises -- when you find out about your family you may look at yourself differently.

You may not always be proud of every action of every one of your ancestors, but you may gain understanding. Most likely you will find many actions in which to take pride -- actions never mentioned in the family but actions that show up in the records when you read between the lines.

Every Thursday is Genealogists Day Out at the Library ... where beginners and more experienced researchers alike participate in GenTalk, to share what they have found that works or what they know about a place they have researched.

Join us in May and June when we return to basics -- how to set up your genealogy, how combine searching records in person with searching online where resources grow each day no matter in which states your ancestors resided.

You can register for the free classes by calling 522-3412 ext. 240 or drop by in case there's an open seat in the classroom. Not required but helpful are basic computer experience (the library also offers free computer classes to help you get started with that) and a JCPL library card.

Here's the class schedule for May and June -- with an evening class for those who can't come during the day:

Tuesday, May 4, 6:30-8 pm -- Beginning genealogy

Thursdays, 10-11:30 am:

May 6, Beginning genealogy

May 13, Searching databases

June 10, Beginning genealogy

June 17, Searching databases

Let us know if you need a different day or time and we'll try to set up a class.

Now's the time ...

Classes for March & April

Here's a look at GenTalk classes and discussions planned for 10 am Thursdays in March and April. More March details in a couple of weeks ... although the titles are pretty self explanatory.

March 4 - Getting started with census & directories
March 11 - Mining obituaries & published histories
March 18 - Using other databases
March 25 - Organizing & regrouping
April 1 - Tracing tricky ancestors
April 8, 15 - No classes, local history specialist away from the library. You still can come and research on your own!
April 22 - Googling for genealogists

April 10 I'll be attending the annual conference of the Indiana Genealogical Society at the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne. I hope some of the rest of you can go as well. Dick Eastman, whose online newsletter you've probably seen, will be the featured speaker.
April 29 - Genealogy software: uses & choices

Genealogists' Days Out in February

Genealogists' Day Out @ the Seymour Library will continue on Thursdays this month. Remember you can come for an hour or stay and research all day.

If you want to join the computer classroom discussions at 10 am, we'd appreciate having you call the library at 522-3412 ext. 243 to register ... but if there's room in the class, you're welcome to sit in anyway. We will understand if the weather is bad that you might not want to venture out.

GenTalk this Thursday, February 4, will find us talking about ships and immigration. Tell us what you know that may help others in the class. We will all learn together!

February 11 we will concentrate on how to search Heritage Quest Online and Ancestry Library Edition. There's a lot more than census to help find ancestors on these sites. The Books section has directories and county histories as well as family histories. The Revolutionary War section has scanned images of pension application papers. The Freedman's Bank and the Serial Set have many more names.

February 18 we will take a look at finding more print and online articles as well as book chapters to help with your research. Even if your ancestor's name isn't in the article, you may learn about the place the ancestor lived or the occupation or some other bit of information that can break through a stone wall. Many articles give tips on how to look a particular kind of information or record.

February 25 will find us exploring more online databases that we can access for free or for fee. You can visit the library's local history website at http://www.myjclibrary.org/localhistory to view some of the databases. Bring any questions or comments you have on using the databases.