Why Volunteer for Your Local Genealogy Center?

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by Make Family Tree (http://www.make-family-tree.com/) to do an online interview for their website. Of course I agreed once I reviewed their website and deemed it to be a useful tool and an exciting approach to educating customers and genealogists. Actually, I was honored to have been asked.
While answering the interview questions, I realized the breath and depth of what I have experienced as a genealogist. And what was so amazing, is that much of my experience has come from volunteering, which of course is good since I can’t think of one paying customer who wants to pay me to learn with their project.
Of course we volunteer to give back to our community, to have what the author Paulo Coelho terms in El Zahir (I’m not sure of the title in English, I read all Coelho books in Spanish) as “The Bank of Favors Account” (my translation, which should be correct, unless he uses something else in his English translated books). The theory is that you deposit in the Bank of Favors account so others are indebted to you or to pay back a favor; or you withdraw from the account where you are amassing debt, or cashing out.
Well for this very reason, I volunteer. I like to have mi cuenta del Banco de Favores[i] balanced in all of my active communities, so of course I have volunteered for various genealogical projects and of course I still volunteer at the Mid-Continent Genealogy Library in Independence, Mo (KC Area). Through these volunteering opportunities, I have been able to gain experience working with records, genealogical technique and translations that may have never passed my desk at a3Genealogy. I often work with patrons, who need assistance in the basics or with those who have just hit a brick wall. What is amazing is that from my eyes often their brick walls are very transparent, but mine are solid through and through! I’ve had chances to collaborate with other genealogists, analyze data, and assists with tracing down resources.
Every time I volunteer, I seem to learn at least one more thing. I’m now working on an indexing project of the vertical files. Often I spend my break taking a one hour seminar, as I did today, on the History of Jackson County, Missouri. Just being in the library, has given me these learning opportunities and notches in my knowledge belt.
So, somewhere between researching impossible maiden names, or some other needle in a haystack, I still take out time to volunteer and to learn. It’s not just to deposit in mi cuenta del Banco de Favores anymore, I’ve seen many other benefits!Hope you are continuously learning and gaining from your volunteering opportunities.
[i] Mi cuenta del Banco de Favores = my Bank of Favors account

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

What is Genealogy?

“Genealogy is more than cold dates and endless hours of research. It is more than who was born, who was married and who died. It is more than who a family was, and more than what they did or where they lived. Through the study of the names, dates, migrations, census information and DNA, the cold dates become milestones in the life of someone connected to us. The births of the past become as momentous as a birth today, the marriages, jobs, and setbacks as poignant. It is not only discovering a history but also uncovering a human journey. It allows for a grand perspective and realization that we will be the birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates of a future generation. We will be the nameless faces that stare from a faded picture. And so Genealogy becomes our future. By honoring our past we teach our children to honor theirs. When we honor the struggles and triumphs of our fathers and mothers, we honor the struggles of all families at all times in all places.”

Kathleen Brandt, Edited by John Brandt
For Wiley J. Morris Family
June 2007

In 2009 the 3rd annual Wiley J. Morris Family Reunion was held in Las Vegas, NV. Like most family reunions, the family genealogist or historian, researches the past to find the present. Cousins seem to be in abundance, and so are new friendships. The family history was presented at the first reunion in Kansas City and the second family reunion in Louisville. The emphasis was just to get to know one another, to share family stories, and explore the new connections.

By the third family reunion in Las Vegas we had familiar faces and names associated to our once unknown cousins. By then we were no longer “the people off David’s branch", or Tobe’s branch, or Sarah Adelade’s branch, we were just the Wiley J. Morris Family. There was an ease to the acceptance that the Morris family was comprised not only by the Morris surname but Cox, Carson, Howell, Ray, Thompson, Strader, Brown, Hilliard…oh the list goes on, but so does our family.

The youngest in Las Vegas was about six months old, the eldest a spry ninety-five. We ate together, laughed, and shared DNA. In Las Vegas our theme was “Where Roots Grow Deep”. It was the platform for discovering our Morris Genetics. Family stories had some betting that the Morris’s were Russian-Jews, German-Jews, American Indian (pick-a-tribe), and Irish. Oh, we had some that were hoping for African ancestry – Angolan, West Indies, or whatever Oprah was touting from her recent DNA results. But in the end, it didn’t matter that the Morris Family was R1b1 (European Population) with what appeared to have been an Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales migratory combo. We were still related – the light, the dark, the freckled, the thin, the stout, the young and the old.

We are connected by the past – our ancestors. And most of all, we are family!

Kathleen
a3genealogy@gmail.com
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The Intruder - Genealogy and the Internet

While searching for your family or trying to fill in holes the size of Texas on that one branch does not increase the Internet’s credibility. You might as well ask the person holding the Tarot cards at the Psychic Fair to verify that Sallie Davis really is your 4th Great Grandmother. Sure she lived in the same county as expected! Sure she is about the same age based on the 1880 census! And, heck…her name was Sallie after all – you saw that in the family will and in the 1880 census with 4th Grandpa Morris.

But the social network and plethora of genealogy postings from every genealogy-expert-cousin across the county spouting that Sallie is the same Sallie you are looking for should not be accepted. For one, they did not provide any sources, or cite anything verifiable.

So, my question to you is “why do you want SOME Sallie hanging off your tree that may or may not be any blood to you or even an adopted family member? Why would you want to trace this Sallie into the 1700’s when you have no idea who she is, or where she came from, or if she was even distantly related to you?

What if the origin of Cousin Ted’s posting was from great aunt Jessie who ended up in the State Mental Hospital? Perhaps Cousin Ted got it from the county marriage records, and since this was the only John Morris in the county and he was married to a Sallie, it must be the right one. So for 8 years you have been chasing the wrong John Morris, or have been interweaving several of them to put the pieces of your family puzzle into one large conglomerated mess.

I have just gone through such a search (actual names withheld), and seem to get several a year where I reject the wrong Sallie from the family tree, and off to search for the real one. Searching for maiden names is one of the most challenging searches for genealogists.

Why am I telling you this? Because, you cannot, and should not, trust anything you read on the internet, including Cousin Ted’s post, unless you have verified it all yourself, analyzed it to a very high probability based on evidence, can prove genealogical evidence (as Elizabeth Shown Mills likes to say), or at minimum cite a reputable source. It is better to leave the maiden name as unknown, rather than have the wrong person.

If you can’t prove it, just leave Sallie off your tree and consider her an intruder, like a weed, a dandelion, or a fungus, but not a leaf or a branch!

Happy family searching and take the time to cite your sources or to footnote your reasoning before posting. That distant cousin will appreciate the extra information, since it will be easily verifiable.

Kathleen

a3Genealogy

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Civilian Personnel Records at the NARA

It’s not often that a customer will request civilian personnel records from the 1940’s. It’s even less likely that they want research for a worker on an American Indian reservation who isn’t a native American. But I’ve received several requests to write about how to search non-military NARA personnel records, and I decided to use this case as a teaching tool, but respecting my customer’s anonymity.

The only information known was that the search was for a “medical doctor” on an Indian reservation during WWII, amongst the Sioux Indians, perhaps in South Dakota, based on a photo with a member of Chief Sitting Bull’s family. With the help of the customer, we were able to narrow the reservation to Standing Rock (or at least to start there).

Luckily for me, I live within two miles of the Kansas City National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and they have a GREAT staff! Upon verifying that they had at least payroll documentation for Standing Rock, I was feeling pretty lucky!

Who knew that the Kansas City NARA also had boxes and boxes of stuff? They wheeled in five years of boxes, filled with what seemed to be an eternity of loose leaf payroll papers, into a private room, made me sign away my right to breathe should I remove a piece of paper, and closed the door. Crying wasn’t an option, so I began to dig.

Sometimes everything just falls into place. The second page, literally the second piece of paper I picked up had his name, position and salary on it. But what I needed was the beginning and ending of his service. So, jumping around years, I was able to find all I needed, with handwritten notes on his start date, his contract date, and even his resignation date, shortly after the war , on the ledgers.

But I was hired to find his service records, not his payroll. So, I weaved through the paperwork for the Civilian Personnel Office in St. Louis to have the records pulled. They needed the employment dates to pull the personnel file, but it still took over two weeks before the folder was accessible to me. Maybe they were stuffed in a cave somewhere?

Finally the papers were ready for viewing. I left Kansas City with the sun shining, but expecting 1-2” of snow, but St. Louis had a surprise for me. I was scheduled to meet my contact at the Personnel Office at 8:30am the next day, but a 7-9” snowstorm decided to fall overnight. Well, I’m from Kansas! I was there at 8:15am, and with a bit of shuffling from the poor understaffed persons in the office who braved the weather, they found the complete folder (with my name on it) on my contact’s desk. And I was off to work! I copied pages and pages of pertinent personnel information, and even a photo. The bonus for my customer: his parents names – they were from Russia, so they were pretty much unknown before then (I believe). It also appears as though, this service fulfilled military service requirements during WWII, but that is another topic!

So, using the phone as my first tool, I was able to stay within budget. I learned more about the KC NARA while doing my pre-search, even though I visit there all the time, and worked with the Civilian Personnel Records in St. Louis, because I truly believe my life purpose is to master government forms!

I hope your experience is as smooth as mine was. I have attached the website for your perusal, should you need such a search:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel/#hours


Happy Searching!
Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Disappointed Customer

Although I religiously send out customer satisfaction surveys, I do not get them returned as often as I wish. Never do I want an unsatisfied customer; that is not to say I won’t have disappointed customers. What’s the difference? An unsatisfied customer believes you took them for X-amount of dollars, and did not apply the work or your professed skills into the job. But a disappointed customer may have hoped you would fine a needle in the haystack in the 10 hours, 1 month, etc., timeframe, and you did not prove their theory or family folklore to be true.

Getting a disappointed customer’s from time to time is inevitable, but as genealogist we must keep the expectation realistic. If I’m pulling military records, I always send to the customer information beforehand on the 1973 fire and its affect on military records, and an estimated timeframe for the job to be completed. But what happens if there aren’t records, or the records found and reconstructed aren’t clear enough to get copies. Well, I do the next best thing, I transcribe, and I send them any and all information that I do have. It might just be a draft registration card, or payroll information.

I realize the customer does not know what goes into getting military records, the pre-search required by a3Genealogy: obtaining of release forms, coordinating the meetings with the NARA, verifying that the information they gave you guarantees that the John Doe you are searching for is the correct John Doe, etc. But, I must be accountable for due diligence - maintaining a log and action report, not just for the customer (included in part of their final report) but also as a checklist for me to keep that tinge of guilt, caused from disappointing them, at bay, (although it never goes away).

Of course there are other options that you can offer a disappointed customer. What about a Morning Report? Yep, it costs more, but let the customer decide if that solution is within their budget. I try to be creative and provide other options in their final report.

Now, an unsatisfied customer says “something needs to be put into action.” But how would I know, if they did not send back the survey? How can I make amends? How can I redeem the only thing I really sell: my service?!? My pledge is to serve the customer with his/her genealogical needs utilizing my research skills and willingness to try creative ways to possibly obtain the information (even if I’m doing research on a William Smith!)

By using the survey, I can not only learn from what I did right, but why I have an unsatisfied customer. Now, based on information given, I can resolve an issue, or at minimum analyze the situation: Does the customer feel cheated because he was certain in 10 hours you could find his family legacy in 1840?, or was it you who did not read all the documentation that the customer sent you carefully enough, and you missed a vital part of what was expected? The list of what could go wrong is endless, but the best part, is the list that can go right is also infinite.

Great Gifts

Who knew family trees and compilations of family documents, stories, and data would serve as a great holiday gift? I have spent all of November and December putting together Christmas gifts for spouses and children as well as Anniversary gifts for couples.

Some of the gifts were extremely fun to research. One, for example, was to prove a family myth as accurate. (Her husband didn’t believe her family folklore that she came from Irish royalty.). Well, it was proven possibly, maybe, perhaps, TRUE! No, I couldn’t prove in 40 hours that she was related to a Royal family of the 9th century, but I could give her the history of her maiden name, trace her family to the arrival to the USA and place her family in the same country and “general vicinity as the Royal Family.” Well, that was enough for my client, and her husband, who decided to give up the argument and accept his “possible royal-blooded wife.”

Another set of clients (cousins) needed to prove which GGF built the first grist mill of some secluded town in Missouri. I have no idea what the wager was, but it sounded like a family feud, and I really hope I proved it correctly. I haven’t heard from them since.

Basic family trees, with census records, marriage licenses, military service, death certificates, and sometimes newspaper articles, seemed to be the most popular. When accompanied with old photos and even family stories (concocted, believed, or true), these gifts are personal and lively.

Don’t forget: if you wish to have a family history prepared to coincide with a birthday, anniversary, or family reunion, the genealogist needs ample time to complete the research and to create a memorable keep-sake.

Hopefully, you too are gifting and giving for those special occasions! Happy New Year.

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy

Accurate, Accessible Answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Pulling WWI and WWII Military Records

I will be going to St. Louis Dec. 2 - Dec. 3 to pull WWI and WWII records. These military records are in St. Louis (those that did not burn in the fire - read below DD214.

At a3 Genealogy, we verify that your records are available. If they are not available for us to pull, we refund your money minus a $15.00 service fee ($60.00). We, of course, do not know what is available in any veteran file, but we copy the entire file for the client, up to the first 25 pages. Most files are less than 25 pages. For additional pages, we charge .35/per page. We will send you a separate invoice if this is necessary. Please note, that we have not had this issue on WWI or WWII records, but on Civil War records and Civil War Pension records.

If you opt for a3 Genealogy to pull your ancestor's military records (must be deceased), you will need to provide the following information, if known:
1. Veteran's complete name used while in service
2. Service number (if available)
3. Social security number
4. Branch of service
5. Dates of service (if available)
6. Date and place of birth (especially if the service number is not known).

The $75.00 charge includes the $15.00 preliminary search and paperwork, up to 25 pages of copying, research in St. Louis, and mailing. I will mail US mail 3 day unless express shipping is needed (extra charge).

Kathleen
a3 Genealogy
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