Genealogy Networking Update

We enjoyed another evening of genealogy conversation last night at our Genealogy Networking Group. We shared research successes and tips and we brainstormed as well. High points of the evening include:

• Coming up with ideas for one of our group who is doing a one-name-study on his surname and who wants to contact living relatives in Canada. He is developing a website to collect family information and lend legitimacy to the folks he will reach out to.
• Hearing about how another member helped out a friend doing Polish genealogy. The Polish surname had been Americanized and she was unable to find any records prior to the name change. She dispensed with wildcards and alternate spellings, and searched Ancestry with only first names of the ancestor, his wife and a child. Success! She found the family with their Polish surname, 14 letters long and only 5 consonants.
• Listening to another member who had great results contacting historical museums in the towns of her ancestors in Ely, Nevada and Joliet, Illinois. Staff at both museums were able to find and copy information to send to her, including pictures. State archives and academic institutions can also be a source of great information. Lesson: Be creative and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and ask for help!

Our next Genealogy Networking Group meeting is Thursday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room at Cook Park Library. Plan to join us. You can share your own tips or perhaps pick up some new ideas for your research.