Do not Leave Home Without It! Preparing For A Research Trip
Mary Clement Douglass, CG
“Be very careful—if you do not know where you are going…you might not get there.”
Yogi Berra
Would you leave on vacation without checking over the car to make sure it is road worthy? Would you leave without packing your suitcase? Would you leave without a road map? The more adventurous of us might, but I do not recommend it.
The best thing you can do for your research trip is your homework. As Yogi cautions, know where you are going! What do you need to do before you pack your bags?
- 1. Decide if this trip is purely genealogical in nature or are you combining research with another activity. Your preparation and expectations will be different if you are the only one going on a research trip or if you are planning an afternoon in the courthouse or library during a family vacation or business trip. If you are going with family, especially children, be prepared to have someone entertain them while you are researching. I pack differently if it is an overnighter, a long weekend or an extended trip—both suitcase and research kit.
- Know where you are going geographically.
a. Six months to a year before your trip, order, through interlibrary loan, books on your destination. Check out the US Library of Congress Card Catalog (http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/), OCLC or WorldCat to determine what books have been published about the county or area you are planning to visit. Study the local history and geography. Develop a sense of the place before you ever get there. If I can find them, I read the county histories, such as those published by Goodspeed and Chapman done in the 1880’s.
b. Check current and historical atlases of the area and photocopy the maps. Study migration trails into and out of your destination.
c. Order county maps from the state department of transportation. These show rural cemeteries and churches, and section lines.
d. Book your lodgings well in advance, especially if you are going during the local festival. You do not want to waste research time searching for housing.
e. If you want to visit family, make sure they would welcome you. They may have other family or work obligations that would preclude their having time for you or may be gone at the time of your trip. Do not just “drop in” unexpectedly.
- Know what you want to find. Set goals. If you have one or multiple destinations, decide which families might have left records in those areas. I use this opportunity to get a few files cleaned up and organized. How do you know what you need until you know what you already have?
a. Make an alphabetical list of all the individuals you are researching this trip. Add just enough genealogical data to separate one John Jones from another man of the same name.
b. Update your family group sheets and pedigree charts. Take extra blank forms along for those new lines that may open up.
c. Develop timelines for each ancestor. What are his life events in that area that would have left a record? What are the local, state, or national events that may have an impact on his life and generated a record?
d. Create a working report for each ancestor. Abstract the records you already have and note those records for which you are seeking. Leave your original documents at home, but take the information contained therein with you.
e. Mark your maps with places your ancestors lived, worshipped, or were buried. Marking residences on land ownership maps of the period may reveal patterns of kinship you may have overlooked.
- Know what is available for research at your destination.
a. Most Chambers of Commerce will send you a visitor or relocation guide or check their on-line site. These are helpful for finding lodging, restaurants, attractions, local festivals, etc. It may also list libraries, and have maps of business districts, showing the courthouse location.
b. Another source of information on a locality are the Internet mapping services. I use Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com), Google, and Yahoo! Search both city and county web sites for driving directions, local services, libraries and courthouses. Check the indexes at Bigbook (http://www.bigbook.com). I found libraries, cemeteries and churches with addresses and maps.
c. Review state research guides, such as those in Ancestry’s Redbook, Everton’s Handy Book, and the Family History Library. (http://www.familysearch.org/)
d. Then check USGenWeb [ or other country] for the county in which your destination is located. Most list local resources with addresses, hours, telephone numbers, etc. What records are on-line? Has the local historical or genealogical society published local records? Do volunteers do free lookups?
e. Check to see if the local library has a web site. Do they have a genealogy or local history collection? Is their catalog on-line? If it is, make a list of the materials you want to check while there. Put each title [with full bibliographic citation] on a separate page and write a note on what you are seeking in that resource. Another option is to prepare a detailed research calendar of what you hope to find. If the library is not on-line, write them for information on their holdings.
f. Check for a regional, specialty, or university library in the area. Does the local genealogical society have its own library? When is it open? Where is it located?
g. Check the hours the courthouse or other record repository is open. Some close for the lunch hour. Some close one day a week and are open on Saturday.
h. Find out if the cemeteries in which your ancestors were buried have a caretaker or sexton. Can he provide you with a lot map? Does he have burial records listing lot owners and who is buried where? Bigbook works for cemeteries located in cities, but try the USGS Geographic Names Information Service for rural cemeteries (http://geonames.usgs.gov/gnisform.html).
i. Using a directory of funeral homes and funeral directors, find the ones in business when your ancestors lived in that location. They may have burial records for your ancestor. http://www.yelobk.com/. In one case in Tennessee, the funeral home had the only map of burials in the municipal cemetery.
j. Check for the listing of newspapers in business when your ancestors lived in that location. Make a list of the obituaries, special anniversary celebrations, marriages, and births for that locality that you want to find. http://www.newspaperlinks.com/
- Pack your research kit
a. For courthouse and library research you need your laptop computer and pencils and sharpener or mechanical pencil with plenty of lead and erasers; blank charts and forms, a small stapler, a small ruler, a highlighter, return address labels, pre-stamped postcards, notebook paper, rolls of nickels, dimes and quarters. I take family group sheets, pedigree charts, research logs, abstract and extract forms for census, and courthouse records. Take your favorites. I pack my supplies in a zippered 3-ring notebook that has pockets for pencils, highlighters, coin rolls, etc. In a small zippered bag, punched for notebooks, I keep my stapler, staples, ruler, etc. The postcards are for sending thank you notes to the librarian or clerk who helped you. Get their name from their desk or nametag. You already have their office address. A short note mentioning your research topic and a thank you for their help, posted at the local post office, paves the way for the next genealogist and is just plain good manners.
b. For cemetery research pack a tote bag or small box with pencil, blank paper (examination table paper [ask your physician for roll ends] or butcher paper works nicely), masking or painter’s tape, chalk or fat crayons, a workable fixatif (from the art supply store for stabilizing the chalk or cheap hairspray), an old toothbrush, a garden trowel, a big bottle of water, a hat, a camera, a mirror tile or a piece of heavy cardboard or foamcore covered with foil, shiny side out (for casting shadows to bring out lettering). LEAVE THE SHAVING CREAM AT HOME! The Association for Gravestone Studies (has information on how to safely do rubbings and take photographs of tombstones without damaging the stone. http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm) Practice rubbing and photographing stones before you go.
- Do not research until you are exhausted. Eat a good breakfast, break for lunch, and quit before supper/dinner. Save the evenings for reviewing the days’ work and planning your next step or for visiting with the local relatives. A refreshed mind thinks more clearly than an exhausted one.
- When you get home, review what you found, tie up the loose ends and prepare for the next trip.
a. Review and evaluate your findings, clarify notes, and add citations to documents if you have not already done so.
b. Print your photographs and label them, if you have not already done so.
c. Integrate your findings into your filing system or database, comparing the new with the old information. Look for inconsistencies, contradictions, clues, etc. and follow up on them.
d. Write a summary of what you now know about that ancestor. Send a copy of your updated family group sheets, pedigree charts and your new research summary to the libraries you visited for their vertical files and to any relatives you may have visited.
e. Write an outline for future research.
References:
- Balhuizen, Anne Ross. Searching on Location: Planning a Research Trip. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1992.
- Kerstens, Elizabeth Kelley CG , Ancestry, May 25, 2000,“Organizing for a Research Trip”
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/together/1365.asp
- Morgan, George, Ancestry, April 30, 1999, “Planning Your Genealogical Vacation” http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/george/885.asp
- Neill, Michael John. “Before Your Trip: Doing Your Homework” and “Preparing for Your Library Trip” Midwest Historical and Genealogical Society workshop, 9 October 1999. www.rootdig.com http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/753.asp; http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/753.asp
- Smith, Juliana, Ancestry 4/10/2000, “Preparing for Summer”
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/compass/871.asp
- Sperry, Kip. “Planning for a Successful Genealogy Research Trip” Ancestry, February 6, 2001 http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/tips/3337.asp
Mary Clement Douglass, CG, B.A Ed. [Social Studies Education], has over 30 years experience researching, writing and teaching as historian and genealogist. Mary has been a classroom teacher, architectural historian, and was a museum curator for many years. She is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, graduate American Genealogy: A Basic Course, and member of several lineage societies. Her most recent work is “A Guide to Genealogical & Historical Research in Kansas,” available at $15.95 from Historical Matters, 259 N. Kansas, Salina, KS 67401-8515 URL: http://historical-matters.com
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