Tracing Family Heritage through the pages of time

We are all related. The New York Times recently reported that Sen. John McCain is sixth cousin to First Lady Laura Bush. Sen. Hillary Clinton's relatives include Madonna and Jack Kerouac. Clinton is also the 9th cousin, twice removed, to Angelina Jolie, while President Barack Obama has a common ancestor, 11 generations removed, to Brad Pitt.

It gets better. According to the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Obama is also related to six US Presidents: George W. and George H.W. Bush, Gerald R. Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison.

While many of us may not be able to trace our roots to celebrities or presidents, there are still fascinating connections to be found in the tangled roots of our common heritage.

Mary Singley is the current president of the Alachua County Genealogical Society. The group formed in 1973 as the Genealogical Society of Gainesville with 35 charter members. In 1980, the name was changed to the Alachua County Genealogical Society and incorporated under the laws of the state of Florida as a non-profit organization. The group has been meeting regularly ever since to share their stories and trace their roots. Some have computerized their family trees while others still have them recorded with pen and paper.

Singley's interest in genealogy began after hearing an oral history recorded by her grandfather on a reel-to-reel tape.

"My mother inherited that [recording]," Singley said in a telephone interview. "Then I tried to find things to document what he told me - proof of the people he talked about - to find things that told me who they were. He was in his 90s when he did this."

Singley set out documenting and confirming things revealed on the tape. Every summer her parents would visit their home state, and when her father became unable to drive, Singley drove them.

"I took them to Illinois and they took me around to show me places that had meaning to them," she said. "This sort of got me started. It can get very addicting."

Singley took community college courses to learn how to research the books and the written records. Since then, she has learned how to find things online. While the Internet is a very useful tool, visiting libraries is still an important part of genealogic research.

"I've also made some trips up to Illinois since my parents died and I have gone to various tiny libraries and tiny towns and found things that people have put in these tiny libraries," she said. "You would never find them otherwise."

Bobby Powell is the current vice president of the Alachua County Genealogical Society. She works in the Alachua County Library and has been deep into history for the past 17 years.

People beginning to dig for their family roots can go to any of the libraries and ask anyone working at the reference desk to learn how to get started, Powell said.

"Even people who have been doing this a long time want to know what we've got," Powell said. "You need to find out, if they have started, how far along they are. If they have no idea, normally I give them a pedigree chart."

People begin this chart with the names of their mother and father.

"You have to work from the present back, unless someone has done this for you," Powell said. "Then, you see, I know my grandfather's name but not my grandmother's name. That's a question. You have to start with a specific question."

Powell said she has traced her mother's side of the family because they were farmers and did not move. The other side of her family was sharecroppers and did not own their land.

"Their lives were much more unstable," Powell said. "No land. Less records. And then there are those things like that courthouse burning down."

Sometimes old records are simply lost. But in Alachua County many records have been preserved, Powell said.

"They've done real well here," she said. "Jim Powell works for Buddy Irby and he has created the ancient records coordinator. He scanned giant books. I don't know of any other county who has done such a thing. This is very nice and people in other counties are so envious."

Unless you are Barack Obama or John McCain, and the work is done for you, research can get expensive, especially before the days of the Internet.

"You had to be wealthy to drive to Atlanta and get documents," Powell said. "People will still do that, but you can do research first. You can find out, from us, where they were, and you can go with that knowledge."

Such research not only educates people about their ancestors but can also connect families. Plus, Powell said, genealogy cannot be separate from local history. In her own quest to learn about her ancestors' move from Marion County to Melrose, it took a visit with family to help fill in the gaps. She asked if anyone knew why Hiram Alderman moved to Melrose after the Civil War. Her 103-year-old cousin had the answer.

"She said, ‘My momma always told me he had bad malaria.' The rumor was that malaria wasn't as bad in Melrose."

Finding the connections and learning about ancestors can be fascinating experience.

"I believe I am very much my parent's child," Powell said. "Not just the way I look, but my attitudes. I know it gets watered down as you go back generations. I am still the result of those people who came before me. The more you learn about them the more you know about yourself. I absolutely really love it. I am very fortunate to have a job like this."

Helpful Web sites
http://www.clerk-alachua-fl.org/Archive/default.cfm
http://heritage.acld.lib.fl.us/
http://HeritageQuestOnline.com

Anyone interested in joining the Alachua County Genealogical Society should contact Mary Singley at 352-371-4339.