The article I wrote about searching for my ancestors prompted about a dozen readers to contact me for information on how to go about their own genealogical search. With interest so strong, I thought I’d make a few suggestions, based on my own experiences.
Today’s researchers are fortunate to have the technology of the Internet available to them. Still, it is the visits to town halls in unfamiliar towns, the contacts with undiscovered relatives and trips to historical societies and libraries that make seeking one’s ancestors fascinating.
After my return from Canada and the Danish settlement, and talks with a few older relatives, I was able to pretty much complete that chapter of my own history, and I moved on to the Sawyer and Kelley connections. Common surnames (Jones, White, Johnson – and Sawyer and Kelley – are most difficult to research, simply because there were so many of them. Also in the old days, it was common to name children for a parent or other relative, and names like William and John will be repeated in several generations, making it nearly impossible to differentiate between generations.
When I was tracking down the Sawyers, I was fortunate that my mother (who was the Sawyer in my case) had a list of my grandfather Sawyer’s brothers and their birth dates. She could also remember them and who they married, the names of their children and even their spouses. This is excellent information and it really saves a lot of time. Otherwise, you should plan to find these names in old town reports, from obituaries, which can be found at local historical societies. I would have had no idea my grandfather had five brothers or their names. The Sawyer presence in these parts I discovered began when four brothers came from New Hampshire settling in the Cape Elizabeth/South Portland area. My ancestor among these siblings was a weaver – a couple of them ran a ferry providing transport from the Cape to Portland, hence the street names “Sawyer” and “Ferry”.
On the Kelley side, with very little information from either my father or grandfather, I contacted an aunt who provided the beginnings for my search. She knew the names of my grandfather’s brothers and a sister. I tracked them down in Washington County, discovered they were indeed Irish, and got stopped cold about 1811 when James Kelley (son of John) was born. Trying to find a John Kelley can be a challenge!
What I did find amongst the hundreds of Kelleys in that downeast neck of the woods, were cousins galore who hold a family reunion each year. They, like their forebears, are fishermen, carpenters and farmers.
My grandfather Kelley never mentioned he had a half-sister and most likely never knew that his mother was a widow when she married George Kelley. Finding a picture of Abigail who looked just like all the other Kelleys, was the kind of discovery you need to be prepared for in doing genealogy!
I’ve found veterans of nearly every war among my ancestors, and you probably will also, when you start doing research. In Augusta, at the state archives building, near the capital, there are many military (and other) records available to copy. They even have photos of a lot of the soldiers from the Civil War. You will also want to go to the library which is right next to the archives. The library has many town histories as well as whole books about one family.
Start by writing down your name and that of your brothers and sisters, and their birth dates. Then write your parents names, marriage date and place, and birth (and death) dates. If they have passed away, write the name of the cemetery where they are buried and note whether or not there is a headstone. Continue to do this, including your parents’ mother and father and any brothers and sisters you know about. Always use a pencil to write with because there will be changes along the way. Basic record keeping forms are available from the historical societies or from the Internet.
When you take one of these names and visit the town where they lived, you can often read about their occupation and where/how they lived, by referring to census reports, town reports and newspapers.
If there is enough interest, a very informal workshop may be planned at the library this fall. That is if I’m not tucked away at the Steuben, Maine town clerk’s office!
Send questions/comments to the editors.
