Climbing the family tree without leaving home - using personal information to trace family genealogy

American Visions, June-July, 1994 by Eileen Beal

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints operates more than 1,000 family history centers throughout the United States and Canada. The centers are open to the public, and through them patrons may obtain access to microfilm containing census data, family surname data, and other vital information from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City--the largest genealogical library in the world.

The family history centers are staffed by volunteers and do not offer professional genealogical services, nor do they answer mail and telephone requests, so much of the research you need to do at a center must be done on-site.

Research on other collections may be conducted by mail, however. "Before you write to a major institution requesting information, find out if they have a system in place for requesting information or require the use of specific forms to request documents," says Cook of the National Archives. "Then plug into the system."

While it's wise to call institutions to verify that the particular document you seek--say a land deed book dating back to the Civil War that lists slaves' names with their owners'--is in their collections, you can't expect them to conduct your research for you over the phone. Genealogical collections are not easily accessible from the front-desk phone, and research on requests takes time and money. The costs, which average between $3 and $6 to service a mail request and from 20 to 50 cents a page to copy documents, must be paid before information can be released.

There is a well-established protocol for writing institutions for information. Keep queries brief. "Don't offer a long-winded explanation for your request; be specific about what you are asking for," says Logan. Be sure to include the dates and the geographic areas you want searched.

"Keep a copy of the letter you send, and, after a reasonable time--a month is reasonable--follow up on it if you have not gotten a response," says Western Reserve Historical Society's Sindelar. She suggests keeping a correspondence log. "It helps keep track of letters and responses and serves as a strategy log [by showing] where the holes are in your research," she says.

Lastly, even though you're doing your long-distance research by mail, don't forget to say thank-you. Keep a stack of 19-cent postcards handy, and when a packet of information--one page or 100 pages--lands in your mailbox, dash off a quick "Thanks, I couldn't do this without your help" note to the person responsible for sending it. It makes you feel good, it makes them feel good, and it keeps the mail carrier busy!