10/17/2009 10:00:00 PM
Genealogy: Do you know who's in your family tree?
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Courtesy/ Leslie Womack
Genealogists from the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society found this photo of Leslie Womack's great-grandmother, Mary Hoogerwert Van Duivendyk, while researching Womack's ancestors. |
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Les Stukenberg/
The Daily Courier
Leslie Womack, center, asks Raylene Junkins, left, and Nancy Miller of the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society about some pictures they found while researching her ancestors of the U'ren and Van Duivendyk families. The Northern Arizona Genealogical Society on Saturday will host a Genealogy Fair at the Family History Center (1001 Ruth St.) in Prescott. |
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PRESCOTT - Six weeks ago, Leslie Womack did not know her parents' birthdays.
Now, she knows not only their birthdays, but also the names and birthdays of seven generations of her ancestors.
"Seeing this book, I don't think this genealogy stuff is so nerdy anymore," Womack said while flipping pages that detail her family history.
On Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society plays host to a Genealogy Fair at the Family History Center, 1001 Ruth St., in Prescott. Genealogy experts will staff 17 informational stations and offer complimentary online research.
A three-woman team from the Prescott chapter of NAGS - Raylene Junkins, Nancy Miller and Sue Kissel - worked day and night the previous six weeks tracking Womack's ancestral history. They wanted to finish the work in time to display it at the fair.
The team dubbed it "The Leslie Project." On Tuesday, the NAGS' dream-team handed Womack a six-and-a-half pound binder detailing her family's Dutch, Irish, Danish and English lineage to the 1800s.
"Ten years ago it would have taken us probably five years to do what we did in six weeks," Miller said.
The Internet has become genealogists' best friend.
"Before the Internet, you would have to drive to different towns and states, look through records, newspaper clippings and order microfilm from government offices," Junkins said. "It was a lot of work. Now, we can do most of the work online."
Genealogists also are using DNA to help them "break through brick walls" in their research, Junkins said.
In Womack's case, she knew very little about her family's roots. The NAGS team had little information to start with.
"I had some old photos of people but didn't know who they were or anything about them," she said. Her ancestral knowledge stopped with her grandparents.
Womack's maiden name, Van Duivendyk, is Dutch. In 1912, the TSS Rotterdam arrived from Holland and docked in New York Harbor. Immigrants processed through Ellis Island and started new lives in America.
Ninety-seven years later, Womack learned that seven immigrants from the ship became the beginning of her American lineage.
The NAGS team found the ship's "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers" showing Womack's ancestors' names, and included a photocopy of it in her genealogy binder.
Included also are historic photos of Womack's relatives and photos of headstones from a Michigan cemetery. Her immigrant ancestors settled in the upper Midwest.
"Genealogy people kind of live in their own world," Womack said while looking at the tombstone photographs. "I mean, you call them and say, 'Would you mind driving 45 miles to get some pictures at a cemetery,' and they're like, 'Sure.'"
In spite of the Internet, libraries remain a vital tool for genealogists. Prescott Public Library members have access to Heritage Quest, which Junkins said offers a wealth of online information. NAGS houses its 25,000 digitized books at the Prescott Valley Public Library.
Although "The Leslie Project" did not discover any shady characters in Womack's family, it did reveal a previously unknown scandal - a divorce.
"Back then, that was bad," Womack chuckles.
Junkins and Miller admit they are "addicted" to genealogy. They liken it to "the thrill of the hunt."
"I'm going to hold onto this very tightly," Womack said of her genealogy binder. "This is a great heirloom that I'm going to add to and pass on to my children."
To learn more information about NAGS or the Genealogy Fair, call 928-445-6505 or 928-445-7575.
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Posted: Monday, October 19, 2009
Article comment by:
Dee
In 1989, I stepped into a LDS Family History center and my life's passion was discovered within the study of genealogy. A month later, I had a banker box of documents about my family. Some of my heathens could certainly benefit from "proxy baptism" especially since they have the option of choice. Many thanks to all the volunteers at the LDS Family History Centers that I have visited.
Posted: Monday, October 19, 2009
Article comment by:
Sam Womack
Hmmm, would like to know if Leslie would share which of her ancestors were Womacks? Can E-mail me at addy b elow. I am in AZ City.
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Mia
I haven't used local LDS assistance in my search, but I concur with Serge about their integrity and helpfulness in my internet encounters with them. So, thanks LDS! Corky, work with what you know and the internet; you might be surprised to find clues or even completed trees. The LDS church has their information posted for free.
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Serge Ainsa
Contrary to the erroneous and misleading inuendos from "Been there, done that", when it comes to genealogy, there is no such thing as a "Mormon conspiracy", at the Prescott's Family History Center located at the LDS chapel on Ruth Street.
The volunteer genealogists, at the Family History Center, are always eager to help anyone with their genealogy quest, regardless of religious affiliation.
I have never been asked, nor do I know of anyone who has been asked "to surrender their genealogical records".
Quite to the contrary!
These volunteers (some are LDS and some are not) are great individuals with high integrity who always demonstrate great respect towards anyone seeking help. I highly admire the volunteer's genuine passion for genealogy whenever I walk into that place.
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Get it right
To correct yet another misunderstanding of the LDS proxy baptism.....no one is baptized into the LDS Church. Proxy baptism only give that deceased person the CHOICE of accepting the baptism into the LDS Church. They also have the CHOICE of rejecting it. Why, Been there done that, do you find it neccessary to warn others of something you don't believe in the first place? If it isn't true then whats the threat. If it IS True, then what an absolute blessing for those who have died to have the opportunity to be baptized.
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Been there, done that
Unless you are non-LDS than the Mormons will baptize you into their religion in a ceremony known as proxy baptism. Be careful that your records remain within your family and don't let a mormon get hold of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_for_the_dead
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Corky
I'm glad they found her roots for her, but what about people with really common names like Smith or Jones? Where to begin, especially if no one in the family kept any records.
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