Finding Your Folks

By JUDY FOWLER KILGORE
jkilgore@thecitizennews.

One of the “players” in the Alpheus Chandler saga of a couple of weeks ago was kind enough to write a wonderful e-mail, defending the benefits of the Internet as a tool for genealogy research. Many of you know that the old-timers sometimes pooh-pooh the Internet, saying it is not “real” genealogy research and, until a few years ago, they were probably right. However, things have changed and there are now official records online straight from the courthouses and cemeteries of America, making it possible to do a lot of basic work online before heading out to find those official records in person.

Robert Chandler of California points this out, as well as other things about the value of the Internet in genealogy.

Mr. Chandler writes:

“Ms. Kilgore,

“I’m the Beverly Hills, CA man referred to in your 16 April column. Having almost by accident met your reader, Jill Prouty [of Newnan], online, I discovered that youthful photo of my grandfather which she had in her collection.

“Let me second your admonition to your readers not to underestimate the astounding power of the Internet in matters of genealogy research. Or, for that matter, virtually any kind of research.

“I have, at most, a very casual interest in genealogy. But, perhaps because my father was from Maine, and I was brought up in California, I do have an interest in tapping my roots there from time to time. Also, my father sired me when he was in his forties, and both his father and mother died decades before I was born. This distance from my grandparents, perhaps, has given me extra incentive to learn more about my family past.

“I visited my Aunt and Uncle in Dad's ancestral town of Columbia Falls, ME (pop. 140) a few times in the 1950s & ‘60s, and always enjoyed my time there. And I’ll never forget, there was a lady in the neighborhood who knew the town’s entire family history by heart and used to regale me with all the details of my own family connections at age ten, long before I could much appreciate it.

“The extraordinary coincidence that Jill Prouty conveyed to you was put into motion this way. From time to time I do Google searches on my father’s name, Alpheus Chandler. Now, Alpheus was an unusual name even in the 18th and 19th centuries, so I'm never overwhelmed with citations. It’s also a name that appears often in my own family.

“A week or so ago when I ran the search, I saw the name ‘Alpheus Spring Chandler’ (my father's full name) and ended up at Genealogy.com in the Whitney family forum on a ‘string’ of open communications. The most recent one was three or four years old and referenced ‘Alpheus Spring Chandler Whitney’ of Washington County, ME. That’s where my father was from, and it seemed certain this fellow must have been an ancestor. So I responded to the string.

“It was only by chance that Jill should see that communication. And it was by further amazing chance that her husband should have just recently read my grandfather's name out loud when he saw it written on that old photo, he happened by chance again to be perusing.

“And it was rather extraordinary that Jill would remember him saying that name out loud a little later when she came across my e-mail sent into the Whitney [messages].

“Through the simple use of Google, I have also found a complete chart of every headstone in the Columbia Falls, ME cemetery. Almost all my forbears on Dad’s side are buried in that small acreage, going back 200 years or more. Again, I'm not a serious genealogist, so I had no idea that old cemeteries were charted online.

“It was through this one source that I was able to pretty well trace most of my forbears on my grandfather's and grandmother's side of the family to the 18th century. I even discovered, poignantly, that I had an uncle who died in his infancy.

“Seven years ago, an Alta Vista search for ‘Ruggles,’ another family important in my lineage, turned up a diary written from 1859 to 1861 by one Benjamin Frankling Ruggles from Columbia Falls (which is why I'm certain he's an ancestor). It records, among other things, a trek from Salt Lake City to Red Bluff in northern California. This diary is in the Clement Library archives of the University of Michigan (dedicated to the Old West), and by e-mailing them, I was able to obtain a copy of its 70 pages. (Made poignant by the information that the writer died young, not long after his long journey to Redding.)

“Also online, is a Web site about my Great Aunt, Mary Ruggles Chandler. She was responsible for restoring an important architectural artifact. The Ruggles House, built in the early 19th Century by her forbear, is, thanks to her, a state historical site in Columbia Falls. The house, too, is well chronicled at its own and other sites on the Web.

“I recount all this, not to bore you with my particular history, but to underline how vast are the particularities of family information online.

“None of these finds would have been practical before the Internet became accessible to all only a little more then ten years ago. It means that people who are not dedicated to the rigors of genealogy can find out significant information about their families, starting with their parents.

“You don't have to be ‘hard-core’ to appreciate that. In this era of extreme mobility, it is both emotionally satisfying, and I believe valuable, to have some understanding of your own history and your family roots. The Internet has made it simple for anyone with only the mildest curiosity, and just a bit of time, to find out much.

“Robert Chandler (RCPinfo@aol.com), 1635 Tower Grove Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210.”

Robert, I couldn’t agree with you more. Thanks so much for taking the time to write.

I welcome your letters about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Any letters and/or e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)