You can research your family

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 12, 2003 by Mike Hall Capital-Journal

WHERE TO GO

Kansas State Historical Society's Research Center: 6425 S.W. 6th, (north from Interstate 70 to S.W. 6th, west along winding road), (785) 272-8681. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The main function of the center is to maintain historical records from Kansas.

Topeka Genealogical Society: 2717 S.E. Indiana, (785) 233-5762. Hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month. Resources include old records from Columbian Title Co., index for the Shawnee County Probate records and an index of the obituary files at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

Topeka Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 2401 S.W. Kingsrow Road, (785) 271-6818. Enter on the west side. Hours are noon to 3 p.m. Monday, 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday; and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. The center has information about people stored on computer disks and microfilm.

Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library: 1515 S.W. 10th, (785) 580-4400. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. The genealogy section is near the Adult Service Reference desk. Four computers and three microfilm readers are dedicated for genealogy research, plus rows of reference books.

SEARCH SOFTWARE

Family Tree Maker: Costs about $30

Personal Ancestral File: Available for free download from familysearch.com, the Mormon Church's research site

Brother's Keeper: Free trial version available by download from www.bkwin.org; full version costs $45.

WORK THE WEB

Kansas State Historical Society: www.kshs.org

Mormon Church: www.familysearch.org

Topeka Genealogical Society: www.tgstopeka.org

Cyndi's List: cyndislist.com

Kansas GenWeb project: www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ks/

state/state.htm

Google.com: If you are looking for information about an ancestor whose name is unusual, a Google search might be worth trying.

By Mike Hall

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

No matter where or how you start, genealogists have the same advice.

"You have to begin with yourself. You usually know something about your grandparents and their background," said Katy Matthews, librarian for the Topeka Genealogical Society.

Experts said people wanting to get started with the process should obtain some blank copies of a pedigree chart and begin filling in what they already know. The blank charts are available for a few cents each from several of the Topeka research locations.

A number of sites on the Internet offer pedigree charts for free download, too. One example is www.ancestry.com/save/charts/ ancchart.htm.

The pedigree chart looks something like a basketball tournament schedule in reverse. Instead of beginning with 16 teams that become eight teams, then four teams until there is a champion, a pedigree chart begins with the champion --- you --- then provides lines for two parents, four grandparents, etc.

Room is provided for whatever information is known or can be learned later, things like date and place of birth, date of marriage and so on.

A modern alternative is to obtain computer genealogy software to print out pedigree charts from information typed into the computer.

The more information the person has initially, the easier it is to get started.

It helps if the new researcher has some birth dates or death dates or information about where the parents and grandparents were born and where they lived later.

When the pedigree chart is filled, the researcher is ready to search for more information about more ancestors.

One good way to start is to enroll in a "Basics of Family Research" class sponsored by the Topeka Genealogical Society.

Each session consists of five two-hour sessions. The next session will begin on July 14 and end Aug. 11. The classes are 7 to 9 p.m. at the TGS Library, 2717 S.E. Indiana.

The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library has a different solution for those who show up there asking for help.

Christina Callison, reference librarian, usually directs new researchers first to a shelf containing "how-to" books, including "The Idiot's Guide to Genealogy," and some with less insulting titles.

Mike Hall can be reached at

(785) 295-1193 or mike.hall@cjonline.com.

charting

"Some people have created a new lifestyle around it."

LIN FREDERICKSEN

head of reference in the KSHS Research Center

"It's a connection to immortality, really."

SARA KECKEISEN

family history librarian for the Kansas State Historical Society

"It kind of brings history to a personal level."

CHRISTINA CALLISON

reference librarian

at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

"It's a thrill. That's what you want to get across. It's a thrill."

JANN MCCARTER

a volunteer with the Topeka Genealogical Society

Why dig?

As technology moves into tomorrow, many families are looking to yesterday to preserve their history for future generations

JUNE 12, 2003

GENEALOGY

P P CULTURE