Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Find Out Who You Are by Researching your Family History


 by Pamela S. Meyers

To celebrate my first posting to the Christian Fiction Historical Society, I’m giving away a signed copy of my most recent release, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which is my hometown. It’s a 1933 historical romance. Leave a comment to this post and win the book!!! A lot of the town's history is woven into the romance between Meg Alden and Jack Wallace who work for the town's weekly newspaper. Will Meg lose her heart to the man who stole her job?

Most of us have seen the television show, Do You Know Who You Are? when a celebrity is given opportunity to trace a portion of his or her family tree back to a unique ancestor they knew nothing about. Long before tracing family history became as popular as it is today, I set out on my own journey to find out who I am. In the process, I found Revolutionary War soldiers, a bootlegger, and a myth about an Alabama man on my maternal grandfather’s side who fought off an Indian raid.

But one of the best discoveries for me was finding out where my creative strengths come from.


I knew only a little about my paternal grandmother’s father, Oscar Bancroft, until I started digging through papers that had been handed down . 

Patent Application
 I already knew from Dad that Oscar had fought in the Civil War for the North, and was a photographer, making his living taking family portraits and headshots. I have a lot of sepia-toned photographs of people staring stiffly at the camera with his name on the back of the mounting board. But, what I didn’t know until I started researching was that he was also an inventor. Here is a picture of an application he filled out to apply for a patent for a hair crimper.
Oscar Bancroft. His picture appeared in an article I wrote for a genealogy magazine






 




I kept digging further down that branch of my family tree and discovered that Oscar’s first cousin, George Bancroft, was a well-educated man who was Secretary of the Navy under President Van Buren. During that time he founded the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and Bancroft Hall still stands on that campus today. Not only that, I learned that George was a writer and wrote a history of the United States. That's him on the left.







George Bancroft's Manuscript
Out of curiosity I went to my local library and discovered they have a copy of the history book on the shelf! It's hard to describe the emotion I felt when I took his book off the shelf and read my ancestor’s words. I later purchased a copy of his biography through eBay. In the bio, I found a picture of his rough draft. Seeing that handwritten document made me grateful for computers and very emotional at the sense of connection I felt with him as a writer. 


As an extra bonus, the skills I’ve learned doing family research have carried over into research for my historical novels. My new story, also set in my hometown, takes place in the 1870s, and I’m having real people who lived there back then interact with my fictional family. I have used online sources to trace the real familys’ lines. When I first started doing family research, I had to go to the library or other physical sites such as courthouses to gain a lot of information that is now available with a couple mouse clicks.

We may not have the experts the celebrities on the TV show have, or the means to travel to the countries of origin our ancestors came from, but we still have resources available that with a little time and patience, we can learn so much about our family origins and what life was like generations ago.

Here are three great websites to get you started:

The U.S. Gen Web Project has been at work for least a decade with a goal to link researchers to every county in the United States for genealogy research. You can go to any state and any county in the state for information and history on those areas.

Cindi’s List has a wealth of information and links to all things genealogy It’s been around a long time and keeping improving over time.

The Ancestry.Com website is a treasure trove. They have many scanned antique records where you can look up your ancestors and find their birth, marriage and death records and link with others who are also searching your family’s history. You may even find a long lost cousin! Also, you can order or download their software to start keeping track of your family tree on your computer.

Have you already searched your family tree? What interesting people have you found there? 


Don’t forget to leave a comment with contact information for a chance to win a signed copy of  Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.


A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago, an hour's drive away from her hometown which she visits often to dig into its historical legacy. Her novels include Thyme for Love, and Love Will Find a Way,  contemporary romantic mysteries and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva,Wisconsin, released in April, 2013. She can often be found speaking at events around Lake Geneva or nosing in microfilms and historical records about Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

28 comments:

  1. What wonderful family history you have found! My maternal grandfather has done some research on our family history and it is fascinating to find out more about our ancestry. Thank you so much for sharing the links above. I hope to start doing some research of my own!

    texaggs2000 at gmail dot com

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    1. Britney, I hope you take some time to start delving into your family history. I don't think you'll regret it!

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  2. It is so interesting to find out about those that walked before us. Everyone has a story and so many stories are just waiting to be dug into and read. I loved reading your post. It makes me want to do some digging of my own.

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Melanie, you never know what you might uncover :-)

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  3. You have some very interesting ancestors! I haven't done any family research myself, but have an Aunt who has done a bit. I'm pretty sure she said that we are related to Winston Churchill! I know I read somewhere not long ago, that his mother was an American, so the connection might be through her.

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Winston Churchill??? Patty, you must start researching :-). Ancestry.com is a great place to start. And, no, I don't work for them LOL.

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  4. Thanks for your first blog posting! Since my parents were both born in what was then Russia, I don't think I can find any historical data, but I certainly enjoyed learning about yours. Thanks for the giveaway - would love to win.
    bettimace at gmail dot com

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    1. Betti,
      You might be surprised on what is on file somewhere. Start digging!

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  5. I really enjoyed reading about the path to your family history. I have not yet started researching ours yet but some other family members have. Thank you for reference sites to check into.
    Also thank you for offering your book. I have read several of the books about where love finds you and enjoyed them all. Lake Geneva sounds like a great area and setting for a love story!
    mcnuttjem0(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Jackie, if others in your family have done some research, it's pretty easy to start tracking back and filling in first with what your relatives have already uncovered.

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  6. I've never traced my genealogy, but my husband's mother did their side, so it seems that I've married into the King Charlemagne line.

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  7. I have done a little research -thankfully there are people who know our roots. Would love to read about Lake Geneva - I've been there and it's beautiful place! thanks for the chance.. truckredford(at)gmail(dot)Com

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    1. Yes, Eliza, Lake Geneva is a beautiful place to have grown up and to visit!

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  8. My cousins have done family research and it is very interesting when we've gotten together at family reunions to update our families and look at those still photos you mention! I was born in Wisconsin as was my husband. I would like to have your book to read. I hope I win a copy! Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House lanehillhouse[at]centurylink[dot]net

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    1. And... most importantly, welcome to the Christian Fiction Historical Society! You are going to enjoy it here! Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House ~ Historical Fiction blog reviewer

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  9. Always enjoyed the Lake Geneva area when I lived in Waukesha, WI most of my life. Loved coming across your website today.

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    1. Jo, you were really close to LG! I think you'd love reading about all I uncovered about the town since you are familiar with it!

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  10. I have always been interested in hearing about my family history, but have sometimes been told so much that it is hard to remember it all and keep it straight! So, I had just begun thinking this week about looking into it myself. Your post is very timely and I am going to check out those links you posted and look into my history and my husband's. I know he has some really interesting family ancestors on his side, such as John Howland from the Mayflower, Pat Garrett of Billy the Kid fame, another Garrett who died in the Alamo along with another ancestor who also died there. Then, there is the history of his family in Scotland who gambled away their family castle to the Campbells! I wonder if I can find anything to compare to his! Anyway, I loved your post. Thanks for the chance to win your book.
    Brittany McEuen
    kbmceuen(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Wow, Brittany, you do have some interesting folks lurking in your family's past! It would be great to bring it all together for the sake of documentation.

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  11. I find researching family genealogies so interesting. Though I have genealogists working on my family trees on both my mother's and father's sides, I do a lot of research like this for others at the historical society I volunteer at. I've found that the website findagrave.com is also a good resource, and if your area has old newspapers online (Northern NY Historical Newspapers for my area), you can find most anything you are looking for (or not looking for)!

    chillirosen@hotmail.com

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    1. Great suggestions, Mallori. I'll have to check out the link. I went to the big cemetery where a lot of my dad's past family members are buried and found all their graves. I wanted them to jump out and start talking to me LOL.

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  12. Hello Pamela. I really enjoyed this article. I sure would love to know more about my Ancestry. But I don't hardly have anything about my mother's family. My DIL is looking up for me. She has got a good bit and showed me some on her computer awhile ago. Had a picture of my great grandmother and Great grandfather, but no picture found of my mother's mother. Was so hoping there would be, for you see she died when my mother was only 5. Wish I had asked more questions before all of the older generation was gone, but wasn't thinking of it back then. I know mother had an aunt that lived where we did, which would have been her mother's sister. But still, I never heard stories of my family stories. I have heard about going to the Library but don't know how to start. Thanks for this interesting info.
    Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com

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  13. Maxie, I couldn't get the reply link on your comment to work. You can begin right on your own computer. Ancestry.com makes it pretty easy. Start with what you know and plug in the names of your mom and dad and then the names of their parents, if you know them. If someone else has already researched family lines that include those people and have their research plugged into the system you can link to those. Once you start it's hard to stop. Give it a shot!

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    1. I did try the free one, but after 10 days you have to buy a membership and I can't afford it. When I tried it only gave me what little I already knew and didn't have a place to put any more names to help. But, will have to check again. Thanks. I'm hoping maybe she will make me a copy of what she's found already found and give it to me for Christmas. Best thing she could give me. Maxie

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  14. I have a cousin who has done a lot of research that she has shared with me. My great grandparents immigrated here from Sweden and Norway. Very interesting!!
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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  15. My aunt has done some genealogy research for our family and it's interesting. Nobody famous found yet! Love to win and read your book . sharon, Ca wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  16. And the winner of a free copy of Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is:

    Mallori Norris!

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