WANDERINGS FROM YOUR PRESIDENT

BY GAYLE STUART

Always beware of a half-truth: you may have gotten hold of the wrong half.

When doing research or when we help someone get more information on their family, one question is where did this come from. Sometimes, at Elk Horn in the Genealogy research center, we have people who come in with stories passed down in their families and when we start finding records, they may not agree with the stories they have heard. At times, some people have a hard time accepting what we find, even having shown them the records we have found. Do you have the proof?

Family Bibles were where births, marriages, and deaths were recorded by someone in the family. That is a good place to start. Early births were not always recorded in the county courthouse. If born at home and a doctor was not present, it may not have been recorded; it was not required until the early 1900’s. Try church baptismal records.

Beware of people with the same name who lived in the same area. Look at wives’ names (could be the same), children and other clues found on a census.

DNA – More and more people are having their DNA tested. Some are doing it with two or more companies and the results are somewhat different. There are workshops that are available to attend to try to understand the results.

We would like to do another workshop this spring. We have had two full-day workdays with a good turnout and have gotten lots done on obits. Some of us try to be at the library each Tuesday afternoon. Come join us; we can always find a project.

Hope spring is soon going to be here to stay.

gbs