Category: Genealogy at the Library

Posts related to genealogical research at the library or archives

A genealogical brick wall… torn down in a few days

As I promised in my previous post, I’m excited to share what I uncovered during my trip to Salt Lake City last month. I was thrilled to finally break down this “genealogical brick wall” after so many years. Let’s start at the beginning…

My great-grandfather, George Weil, was born in 1889 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Conrad and Louisa (nee Metz) Weil. He had several siblings close to his age. His mother, Louisa, died when he was 9 years old. At this point, he and three of his siblings were sent to an orphan’s home where they were educated and grew up. When he was an adult, George and his sister Marie searched for their parents, trying to find out what happened to their father and discover more about their German heritage. Through the years, his son and grandson searched occasionally for information about Conrad and Louisa, and recently I also took up the search.

Continue reading “A genealogical brick wall… torn down in a few days” →

A successful research trip!

I just got back from my short trip to Salt Lake City! It was all around a successful trip! We celebrated our first anniversary, I was at the Family History Library almost every day, and my husband learned a lot at his workshop! We also fit in some relaxation and hiking on our day off. This was my first trip out west, and now I’m eager to travel more!

Research at the Family History Library revealed a lot about my genealogy, and I’m still going through the records that I found! Coming soon… a post about the 100-year mystery that I solved! In the meantime, here are a few photos from the trip!

After another successful day at the Family History Library!

Continue reading “A successful research trip!” →

Upcoming Family History Library Visit

Soon I’ll be traveling to Salt Lake City for a much-needed getaway! My husband and I are combining work and leisure for this vacation. During the day, he will be attending a Biology workshop and I’ll be free to spend my time at the Family History Library! I’m preparing for the research trip by following some advice given by Amy Johnson Crow. Her advice includes: have a plan, have a backup plan, check the catalog before you go, and more. (Update: Diana and Nicole at The Family Locket also give some great advice about visiting the Family History Library! I can’t believe that I missed it before.)

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Genealogy through the ages

During the past few weeks I have been busy working with a genealogical peerage from 16th century Spain, named Nobiliario genealógico de varias casas de España. It is a handwritten manuscript that describes noble families in the Iberian Peninsula, and includes drawings of each family’s coats of arms. Through the years, many people have used it, as evidenced by all of the notes and comments written in the margins! It is currently in safe keeping at the Newberry Library in Chicago. It is such a thrill to be working with such a unique and colorful book!

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I’ve been spending a lot of time at the Newberry Library trying to decode this manuscript!

The art of tracing one’s ancestors is not a new pastime. For many centuries families have kept track of their family histories. Your lineage would have been an important part of your identity. Even religious texts like the Old Testament and the Qur’an contain lineages of important religious figures! Genealogies (or peerages, as this book is called) were recorded in medieval and early modern Europe for a variety of reasons, but typically only for families from the upper classes. Continue reading “Genealogy through the ages” →

At the Library: Finding your Chicago Ancestors

I am a future librarian who is also a family historian. I am a heavy library user, especially for genealogical purposes. Many libraries also host genealogy presentations and workshops, which can be very valuable, even to more experienced genealogists! This post highlights one of my many recent encounters with genealogy at the library.

I recently attended a genealogy presentation at the library called “Finding your Chicago Ancestors.” The presenter was Grace DuMelle, who has published a book by the same name. She hosts many presentations in the Chicago area, and shared some valuable research tips for finding my ancestors in Chicago! Her presentation (and her book) highlighted many resources in Chicago and online that allow you to dig deeper in your research. I’ve struggled to do research for my Chicago ancestors because they had fairly common names and it was hard to trace them by searching by name in the common resources (census, BMD records and such). The presentation was a real eye-opener to different strategies that I should be using in my research. The resources that she shared were specific to Chicago, but the strategies could also be applied to my other urban ancestors. Continue reading “At the Library: Finding your Chicago Ancestors” →