WANDERINGS FROM YOUR PRESIDENT
BY GAYLE STUART
GENEALOGY: People helping people – that’s what it is all about!!
Lately we have had a number of inquiries at Elk Horn from people in Denmark looking for relatives in America. Have you ever looked for someone after the 1940 Census? Have you tried to find a marriage date (Some states do not have recent records online) and then try to find out if they have children? There are places online where you may get a hint. Newspapers are becoming more available, good place to look for weddings, anniversary celebrations, obituaries and other events if you have the time and maybe have some idea on dates. Find A Grave is helpful, but all cemeteries have not been recorded, plus you need to have some idea of where they are buried. Facebook is sometimes helpful. I have not done this as of yet.
Sometimes when people ask for help and we start looking, we wonder where they got their information. Things just don’t match and then we have to ask more questions to figure out what is right. When they hire us to do all this, they want us to do it in 3-5 hours. Most of the time it will take anywhere from 15-20 hours. When a report goes to them, they do not get everything we find, but are told we have more, which is an additional fee.
DNA is becoming more popular to add to your findings. I will be attending a workshop in April to try to understand more about this additional tool.
Ancestry.com has added “Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997” to its digitized materials (at least partially). Also recently added to the Ancestry collection is “U.S. Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1914-1962” which has passenger and crew lists from both ships and aircraft. Military transports are included; lists may not be complete.
Remember genealogy goes on and on and on.
If you have not paid your dues for 2016, they are due now.
gbs