As a Genealogist we are always searching for information. We naturally gravitate to the easy sources first. All those great sources that are at our fingertips online. As we go back in time many records are harder and harder to find. Where to go from there? Local records seem to be a great place to start.
Searching for records about my paternal grandfather’s family
seems to be a little bit easier because I grew up in the area and have a good
understanding of the history of the area.
Have you ever tried to find out who might have the written cemetery
records for a smaller local cemetery?
Who kept the records if any were kept for a family reunion? Who holds the church records for a church
that is no longer in existence? Where
can you find old newspapers? All of
these ‘other’ records are not as easy to locate. Many records are kept by individuals and not
in a central location that is easy to access.
How do you locate those individuals?
Many people don’t have the advantage of traveling to the area to search
for records.
Once you find these lesser-known records what do you do with
them? Yes, I can use the information to
add to the stories of my ancestors but is that enough? In this digital age I often wonder how to
share the tidbits of information I can finally locate with other
genealogists. Large companies like Ancestry and Family Search
have done such an amazing job of locating and scanning information for us to
access but what about the rest, often small collections, that are out
there? Often, it takes me a while to
search for these ‘other’ sources and the people who might have the records. Frequently, I have found, it takes making the
personal connections to locate and see these records. Recently, I have been fortunate enough to
find some valuable sources of local information and think I can share them with
other genealogists by not only describing the sources in an article on my blog
but by also posting them in separate tabs on my blog for others to be able to
access.
The first one I’d like to share comes from the Warner
Family Reunions. (see blog posts Family
Reunions-Warner Family Picnic, Warner
Family Picnic 2017) For many years (starting
in the 1970’s) the secretary, Clara Mae Crouse Ryder (great granddaughter of
Daniel & Eleanor Howell Warner, granddaughter of Eugene G. Warner) would
interview and write a biography about a family member. Each summer when it was
time to send out a notice about the upcoming family reunion, she would include
one or two of these biographies along with the minutes of the previous reunion’s
business meeting.
Last Summer before our reunion I happened to remember these
biographies and decided I would try to collect all the ones I could find. So much time and effort were put in to researching
and writing these that I thought, what a shame it would be for these to be lost
to future generations. I will place as
many as I can find on a tab on my blog entitled Warner
Family Biographies. What a great
source of information, usually, directly from the person themselves or an
immediate family member to give us information and insights into ancestors who
may no longer be with us.
It is only fitting that the first biography is about Clara
Mae herself, written in 1994:
As I obtain other biographies, they will be posted on the Warner
Family Biographies tab on the blog home page. Hopefully, I can obtain many of these and you
will be able to learn more about a family member you are interested in.
Please let me know if you have any of these tucked away
somewhere.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby
