We have the names of our ancestors and we have the dates of their birth, marriage and death. We may know that they owned a farm, had ten children, and lived in a particular town, county, and state. Then we’re stumped. We want to know
what kind of person he was. Was he a successful farmer or did he just scratch a minimal living from the land? Was he a strict father or a kind father or a tyrant in the household? Did he hold his religious beliefs firmly or merely go through the motions?
To breathe life into our ancestor, we need to cast a wide net to gather as much information as we can.
1. Newspapers including neighborhood news as well as obituaries can often shed a more personal light on our ancestor. The headline of the obituary of one of my ancestors reads “Good Farmer Dies.” It continues, “W. S. Sutton, one of Polk’s [County] highly esteemed farmers, died Saturday.” Does this indicate that Sutton was just successful at producing a good crop – or does it infer more, that he was well-thought-of in his community for a number of reasons?
2. Court records may add more information. Was your ancestor always in debt? Or was he the man who sued other people? 3. Land and deed records may include deeds of gift, whereby Genealogy Rocks! your ancestor gave a gift of land or cattle or some other type of property
in return for “love and affection.”
4. Church records (frequently called church minutes) may tell you when your ancestor joined his church, whether he took any positions
in the church organization, when certain sacraments were performed, and when he left that church – perhaps to move to a different
location.
5. Diaries and journals written by your ancestor or by someone living in his community at the same time he lived there may reveal
economic conditions (depressions occurred at intervals throughout the 1800s), weather conditions (drought, tornados, floods), social
concerns (temperance rally, election campaigns, local scandals).
6. History books, including county histories and topical histories about the Civil War or the Dust Bowl or the Klu Klux Klan, may help you understand the conditions that affected your ancestor. Quick history lessons are available on www.google.com when you
enter search terms such as “Dust Bowl in Colorado” or “history of Greeley Colorado.”
As you spread your wings to include these valuable records and sources, you will learn about the conditions that affected your ancestor.
As you learn more, your ancestor will come to life.
Carol Cooke Darrow, Certified Genealogist, is an instructor andf past president of the Colorado Genealogical Society. For more information, CGS Website and for details about free beginner and special interest genealogy classes offered at the downtown Denver Public Library.