Tracing Your Ancestry--March 18, 2015

The RFArea REA meeting for Wednesday, March 18, 2015--11:00 at the West Wind--will no doubt be interesting to everyone.  Kathie Otto, archivist at UW-River Falls Library, has an interest and special expertise in genealogy and family history research.

Kathie notes that "television shows like Who Do You Think You Are? and Genealogy Roadshow make such research look so easy--and sometimes it can be--but it can also take a lot of research, especially when you hit those 'brick walls'!  It can also be very rewarding, and when you get a few good 'finds,' you quickly become hooked."

Liverpool, England, summer 1901: Catherine
 Kinsey Morley (Jane's great-grandmother)
right rear, Jane Morley (Jane's grandmother)
right front, in white dress

Kathie will explore the basics of genealogy, using the collections at the UWRF Area Research Center
as examples.  She will also discuss what is available online at websites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

Some of us may be interested in moving beyond just looking at our family trees and exploring researching family history.  Using the UWRF library's collections as an example, Kathie will talk about how you can go deeper to find out what your ancestors's lives might have been like.

William Morley (Jane's great grand-uncle),
with  mustache, in the uniform
of the King's Liverpool Regiment, 1880s

Laura Zlogar and Jane Harred are particularly looking forward to this talk since both have been actively researching family history for several years.  Having time to pursue such research is one of the perks of being retired.

Jane has found a good deal of information about her forebears in Liverpool, England, even visiting the street named after them there as well as other family members in Germany and Sweden.  She has also helped Larry trace his family's long Texas history.

Laura has corresponded with the current resident in the house built by her great great-grandfather, Gavin Greenshields,  in the small village of Broughton in Scotland.  She even received the first photos of him and the village the family has ever seen.

Gavin Greenshields (Laura's great great
grandfather alongside his home
in Broughton, Scottish Borders

Maynard Graham (Laura's grandfather) and his mother Jessie
around 1910 in Arlington, SD

Bernie Brohaugh visited Norway a couple of summers ago, connected with distant cousins, and found the farms and villages of his Norwegian roots.

Lots of you may have similar stories to share or are anxious to start your  family history research.