I am SO excited to share with you… genealogy expert Barry Ewell. As a professional organizer, I am often called in to help when a family member has passed and their children need help with the estate.
Very few memories are filed away in easily accessible totes! It is so hard to make decisions about your family home, possessions and historical information WHILE you are also planning a funeral, potentially selling a home and grieving.
It has been 5.5 years since my father passed, and just this week I started looking at the contents of his safe – land deeds and property information for family properties in the 1800’s and 1900’s.
Barry will guide us through his advice on where and how to look for those tidbits and treasure troves of genealogical gems, just waiting to be discovered in your own family’s homes and hearts.
Organizing Your Family’s Genealogy -PART ONE-Where will you find artifacts and memories?
Barry Ewell says you can find them…in very unexpected places.
Barry J. Ewell writes a blog entitled Genealogy by Barry, is the author of “Family Treasures: 15 Lessons, Tips and Tricks for Discovering your Family History” and is founder of MyGenShare.com, an online educational website for genealogy and family history. He shares his experience with us in today’s post.
The following are several simple experiences to introduce you to the concept that your family’s history can be found almost anywhere. Let’s let the expert tell us how to start!
Look again in the bottom left-hand drawer. My very first experience in searching for artifacts came following the death of my mother in August 1998. Following Mom’s passing and funeral, my brother, sister and I met for one last time in Mom’s front room. My sister’s parting words were direct and expected, “You are welcome to stay the night. Whatever is left when you leave is mine.” My sister pointed to a pile of things that were in the middle of the floor and instructed my brother and me that we could take what we wanted. Whatever was left would be given to the thrift store. And then she left to go back to her home.
As soon as she left, my brother and I knelt in prayer and gave thanks to our Father in Heaven for our mother and asked a blessing that relationships with our sister would heal in time. Upon the conclusion of that prayer, there was a sense of serenity. We were both emotionally and physically drained. Where do you begin? I was standing in my mom’s home. What I was looking at…just things. Mom had been a waitress at the Las Vegas Horseshoe Club for over forty years. She raised three children by herself. I always loved coming home, just to be with her. Now here I was, standing in the middle of her front room, feeling lost and in need of direction regarding where to begin. And in almost that very moment, there was clarity. My mind filled with two thoughts: First, that this would be the last night that I would ever stand in this home, and, second, that I needed to preserve the records—gather photos, certificates, letters and other related documents that would tell the history of my mother.
I knew I needed to follow the direction I was receiving. My next thought was, where should I begin? Within seconds, the thought came. I was first led to look in a cupboard in the kitchen where Mom kept coloring books. I couldn’t see anything. As I began to close the door, I felt the need to look again. In the back was a bank pouch with unused check registers. I pulled it down, and inside was an envelope with pictures from Mom’s early childhood. I was next guided to a drawer in the kitchen where I found, in a plastic bag, key photos of Mom’s life.
Next, I was directed to a spare bedroom dresser. As I went through the drawers, I found them all empty except for a larger drawer that Mom had filled with paperback books she had read. I pulled out half the books, became frustrated, and put the books back in the drawer, thinking that there was nothing there. As I stood to leave, the thought came: Look again. I returned to the drawer again and removed all the books. At the bottom of the drawer, was a sack filled with Mom’s important papers, such as her birth certificate, marriage license, photographs, and other documents.
Throughout the night, I went from room to room, having the same experience of knowing where to look in each room. My brother and I worked and packed until just before dawn. I privately asked for the last time, where else should I look? The answer was a total sense of peace. We were done.
Look EVERYWHERE in a home—and follow your heart!
Pull down that old brown suitcase. I was conducting research on my grandfather’s second marriage and had made an appointment with a distant cousin named John to learn more about the family. During our discussion, I asked if John if he by chance had any artifacts like photos, cards and letters or other artifacts that would help me learn about and tell the story of the family. John thought for a moment and said that he thought there might be some photographs out in the garage.
As we entered the garage, John asked me to pull down a very worn and traveled brown suitcase. He told me that it had been over 25 years since he last looked inside but he thought there might be one or two photos I could have or scan.
When I opened the suitcase, there before my eyes were hundreds of black and white photographs from the 1940’s and 50’s. John was surprised as I was to find the photographs. I was permitted to look though the photos and take any I thought were of value to me. Together, we spent the next several hours looking, finding and remembering.
Don’t overlook an opportunity because it seems too shabby or distant to matter.
I kept a scrapbook about your mother. When I was researching my mother’s history, I was introduced to a childhood friend of my mother that until that time was unknown to me. I set up a time to speak with Ann and during the conversation, she let me know that she had kept a scrapbook of her 50-plus year relationship with my mother. When she asked if I would like to see the scrapbook, I replied immediately in the affirmative. The scrapbook was filled with photographs from when my mom was in Jr High in the 1940’s, cards and letters that represented their life long relationship in correspondence, newspaper clippings of my mom’s marriage, my birth and much more. The scrapbook was a tremendous find of which was permitted to scan and digitize the artifacts.
Call on longtime friends for the longest lasting memories.
Where do I search?
You will find artifacts anywhere and everywhere. As I started to research my family, it dawned on me that each generation had treated the artifacts of their parents just like I had with my siblings; we divided and shared what we found. Sometimes the belongings are divided by wills, given away in private moments when you are alone with the parent, and/or simply found as you searched the place of residence. The biggest mistake I made early on was thinking that all the information that existed about my family was in the possession of my parents.
When I interviewed my mom’s sisters and my dad’s brothers, I found artifacts that were given to them at the time of their parent’s death. I asked and was permitted to make digital copies of most of the paper related items (e.g., photos, cards, and letters), LP records, images of rings, watches, and more, all of which helped me organize and tell the story of each generation. When I studied all of the material I had gathered from that generation, what a story it told. Separately, the artifacts were interesting and valuable. Together they become the story of you.
The further back I went in my family history, the more dispersed the artifacts became among family members. Great grandpa’s journal was now in the hands of a second cousin who lived across the country, who had inherited the artifact from his mother.
So, where do you begin to find family history clues, artifacts and resources? Family history clues and artifacts are as close as your home, and the homes of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
The homes of close relatives will reveal many treasures you are not yet aware exist. Family gatherings are an important time to reach out, get to know family and begin and/or continue family history activities. Many local, state and national resources exist to help further research.
People are the most important sources, but places can be rich with historical family clues, too.
Here are some lists to help you brainstorm places you may have overlooked. You’ll be surprised at how commonly material is left behind simply because someone didn’t think to check in that too-obvious location.
Completely search your home
All kitchen, desk and storage drawers
Attic rafters
Books
Briefcases
Closets
Computer and internet accounts
File folders
Garage and long-term storage facilities
Purses
Safes or safe deposit boxes
Shoeboxes
Under beds or in under-the-bed boxes
2. As permitted, ask to see artifacts in the homes of close relatives and friends. I have reached out to:
Mom & Dad
Grandma and Grandpa on your Dad’s side (paternal grandparents)
Grandma and Grandpa on your Mom’s side (maternal grandparents)
Brothers and sisters (any siblings)
Aunts and uncles on your Dad’s side
Aunts and uncles on your Mom’s side
Great -grandparents, great aunts and uncles
First and second cousins
Selected neighbors & co-workers
3. Don’t miss a chance to research in person! Family gatherings are perfect time to spread the word and locate artifacts, talk about families and set appointments. Family gatherings may include:
Chanukah
Christmas
Family celebrations like graduations and baptisms
Family reunions
Thanksgiving
Vacation visits
Where else can I search?
I have found many artifacts and information about my family in local, regional, state and country repositories. I had one relative who donated their entire history to a university archive. I have found pictures of my family from the early 1900’s in a local antique store that had a large collection of old photographs. If you are really looking to learn more about your family, you can also search:
Local, regional, state and genealogy libraries
Genealogy and historical societies
Court house and municipal resources
Religious organizations
Internet resources
Professional genealogists
Libraries and genealogical/historical societies are great starting point. The following resource will get you started and provide you resources for all 50 states.
Libraries and Societies Genealogists Use in Genealogy Research in the United States
http://genealogybybarry.com/genealogy-united-states-library-society-resource-list-50-states/
http://goo.gl/RA5QKM
WHEW! What a lot of information! I am wondering if there are any hidden treasure troves just waiting for me somewhere—either in a person’s memory or in a spot I may have overlooked. Barry Ewell’s detailed guide to starting the search has my gears turning!
What about you? Did part one of this mini-course spark an idea in your mind? Where will you go search for family history clues, maybe for the first time?
Be sure to read next week’s post about what you might expect to find on your search! Contact me if you’d like help preserving your memories.
The post Organizing Your Family’s Genealogy appeared first on Organize 365.