Tell All the Stories, Everywhere

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Research Workshop

We had a full house at Friday's Research Workshop, which is what our superstar SKCGS Member Winona calls our Members-only monthly hours at the Kent FamilySearch Center. 

CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED
by David Gurteen: "Research Workshop"
Every person with whom I had time to talk, whether new to research or life-long genealogists, talked about the stories they have uncovered and their inner pressure to tell them. Some feel most comfortable telling them only to family members who are interested; others want to put those stories in our Auburn Library Vertical Files, and/or in the files at the White River Museum or other local archives. 

Ideas which came up in our conversations included adding those memories, stories, photos and record images to profiles in the FamilySearch Family Tree, on Wikitree profiles  and even in Ancestry, MyHeritage or other public (or private, but shared with family) trees. Not everyone is comfortable sharing their research online, of course. 


FANS Want to Know Too

FAN Club: Bing Image Creator, generated by AI, 17 May 2024.

Not just our own relatives will be interested! How about those whose families moved with ours, lived in the same neighborhood, attended the same church or schools and club meetings, fought in the same military unit, worked for the same company or in the same professional field - the list goes on, as any of us who have done so-called FAN (Friend / Family, Associate, Neighbor) research know. Our families were part of history, and those FANs shared some or all of that history. 


Spread the Word

If you visit an archive local to where your people lived, sign the guestbook and mention for whom you were looking! The archivists look through the guestbook and sometimes use contact information left there to alert visitors to new items added to the collection in which they might be interested. Most also have vertical files, so if you have even a paragraph about your person of interest, take a copy along and add to the files. Be sure to include your contact information on those shared documents. 

Try the same in libraries close to the old home places. Be sure to chat up the librarians and bring those stories. If the small town still has a newspaper, drop by the office and tell them who you are and why you are visiting. They may do an interview and a story about your visit or even call people who might help you in your quest. Local genealogical or historical societies are worth a visit as well; you can email any of these folks ahead of time and mention what you want to find. A local museum? Ditto! And it is worthwhile to contact the county courthouse in advance as well. 


Finding Help Locally

Bill & Lola in front the chicken house, Brule.
Sometimes we just have to improvise! In Brule, Nebraska, the little town where my mother-in-law grew up, people gathered for breakfast in one cafe, and many of the older retired guys headed to the local hardware store to hang out there after they were full of coffee and eggs.

After chatting with the locals, we found answers to Lola's questions from those folks, starting with the centennial book, and where the house Lola Kammer Zimmerman had grown up had been moved. When we visited her old home place (photo above), she noticed that the house there was not the one in which she had grown up. The guys remembered who bought the house and moved it to their own property, and we were able to find it with their directions.

Most important question: who had the card file index of the local town cemetery. Lola knew where her daddy was buried, but was very young when her youngest brother died. She was able to locate his grave with the help of a friend she had known in high school, the keeper of that card file. We got her name and number from those fellows at the hardware store!


It is worthwhile to "go there" -- and useful to prepare by not only creating a great research plan, and contacting repositories in advance, but also by preparing materials to leave behind, ensuring that your contact information is included. Have fun!


Send your stories to m.strickland@skcgs.org



Valorie Zimmerman


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