Genealogy as a Hobby

Genealogy – Definition • from Greek: γενεά, genea, "generation"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge“

• Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history.

Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives.

Why Genealogy?

• Validate Family Stories – To determine if family stories about their ancestors are true.

• Historical Event – To gain a better understanding of an ancestor’s involvement in a famous historical event.

• Trace Medical Conditions –To assess the risk of getting certain medical conditions that run in families.

• Community History – To document a community history by understanding the families that founded and influenced the community.

• Historic Studies – To provide insight into history through the scholarly study of a famous family, such as a royal family.

• Famous People – To find out if they are related to someone famous.

Why Genealogy?

• Heritage Societies –To provide proof of lineage to quality for a heritage society.

• Preserving Family Traditions – To preserve knowledge of ancestors who contributed to family traditions, such as a family recipe book.

• Preserve Family Culture – To allow families that have migrated to another country the opportunity to preserve some of the culture of their old country.

• Reconnect with Family – To find and reconnect with living relatives.

• Family Legacy – To fulfill a desire to pass on a legacy to future generations.

• The Detective work is fun!

Squire Adolphus Simmons Born: 1852 in Pickens County, GA Died: 1943 in Inola, Oklahoma Squire told a grandson that he and his brother had to leave Georgia after they accidentally killed a man in self defense. A newspaper article found online told a different story.

Asa Patterson

Montgomery Norris Born: 1841 in Tennessee Died: 1930 in Tulsa, Oklahoma Served in the 85th Indiana Infantry during The Civil War. When first researching him, my family only knew of his having one child. After a year and a half of tag team research with another person, we discovered that we are 3rd cousins.

Getting Started

Rule #1: Start With Yourself!

• The first step in genealogy research is to start with what you know.

• Using a Family Group Sheet, start with information

yourself and work backwards, one generation at a time. • Make a note of your sources along with any information

you record. It is a good habit to get into at the start. It will save time in the long run.

These can be printed free from the internet.

Ask Your Family

• Start with your closest relatives and work your way out. • Ask for the names of parents, brothers, sisters, and spouses. • Also note locations and dates of marriages, births, deaths, or other

important events, it will help in later research. • Your family might have documents that can be of use to you as

well. If they have birth, marriage, death, school, or hospital records, see if you can make a copy.

Local Resources • The 8th floor of the Dallas Public Library. • Family History Libraries. (locations found at:

https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator ) • County Clerks Offices. • Courthouses. • Historical Societies. • Genealogy Societies.

Internet Resources Free Research Sites

Family Search - https://familysearch.org/ National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/ Ellis Island - http://www.ellisisland.org/ Castle Garden - http://www.castlegarden.org/ Find A Grave - http://www.findagrave.com/ Bureau of Land Management - http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Civil War Soldiers & Sailors DB - http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm US Dept of Veterans Affairs Gravesite Locator -

http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1 Library of Congress – Chronicling America - http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Sites that Charge Membership Fees Ancestry.com - http://www.ancestry.com/ Fold3.com - http://www.fold3.com/

Texins Genealogy Club • Host a monthly presentation, drawing from local genealogy experts. Our members

are also encouraged to present information in areas where they have experience or expertise.

• Membership dues - $12 per year - just $6 for the remainder of this year! • Meetings on the third Tuesday each month from 7pm – 9pm *exception tonight* • The club meets at the Dallas Texins Activity Center

Benefits of Membership

• The Texins Genealogy Club provides information on resources and programs geared

to helping its members with where to look, what to look for and why. • Membership includes shared access to Ancestry.com for research. • Tips for family history research. • Ideas for archiving and sharing family photographs. • Information on writing and publishing family stories. • Provides a place to discuss research problems and exchange ideas with others with

mutual interests.

August Club Meeting

Tonight’s speaker is Tara Carlisle with the UNT library system.

She will be doing a presentation on the Portal to Texas History (available online at http://texashistory.unt.edu/)

The meeting starts at 7pm in room CR3.

We hope you can join us!