By now we are acutely aware of all the negatives the coronavirus has brought to our shores. But one positive is time – time to reorganize the garage, time to plant a garden, time to research one’s past.
Delving into one’s family history can be a tall order and, quite frankly, a bit overwhelming. But genealogist Craig Pfannkuche of Memory Trail Research in Wonder Lake is ready to guide you through it.
“The first thing is to talk to your parents and grandparents, if they are still alive – and then don’t believe a word your parents say! Check it all out,” Pfannkuche said with a laugh. “Nobody want to talk about divorces, criminals and illegitimate children but that is part of family history. The family stories play an important part in what to do with this stuff.”
Property records provide an important opportunity to unravel these secrets. Often, when a person dies, the family property is passed on to the owner’s married daughter. Pfrannkuche said one can, by looking at the records, discover married family members who cannot be found in the “Index to Illinois Marriages.” In his own family’s history, Pfannkuche said an adult child was “blackballed” by her siblings because she, and not other family members, got the property. His parents never once mentioned that married daughter’s family name until he stumbled upon it in the property records.
Pfannkuche will present a “Tracing Your Family Roots” online workshop at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18. The interactive program is $5 for Society members, $10 for nonmembers. Participants may also buy an optional Archival Genealogy Kit for $25, which may be picked up at the historical museum in Union or shipped to your home. The storage repertoire includes one, letter-size document case; three, letter-size file folders; two letter-sized archival envelopes; five sheets of bond paper for interweaving in archival applications; Micron red pen, ideal for scrapbooks and archival recording; a No. 2 pencil, for writing archival labels and tags 15 presentation pockets – five each of 8 ½ by 11 inches, 5 by 7 inches and 4 by 6 inches.
This talk will take place virtually via ZOOM. All people registered will receive an email a few days before the event with log-in instructions and a link. This information is not to be shared. If you are unfamiliar with ZOOM, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E.
The webinar will discuss the method which one must know in order to search property records as well as where this work can be done. While one can use a “Property Index Number (PIN)” to find information about a specific piece of property, Sidwell maps are useful in finding neighborhood properties – even if a specific address and/or PIN number is not known.
Pfannkuche said most family research records became available online about four year ago – from land ownership to cemetery plots. Add to that the digitization of newspapers, obituaries and family scrapbooks, at places such as the McHenry County Historical Museum’s Research Library, and uncovering ones’ roots has never been easier.
Family trees continue to proliferate online, as do images. But are these tech-minded biographers bothering to manage that potential treasure trove of information properly? Probably not.
“They take these photos on their phones and when their phone dies their photos die, too,” Pfannkuche said. “That is a really serious problem in the modern world.”