Researching your ancestry a treasure hunt through history

"How could we research our family history?," asked Sydney Lomax, 10, a fifth-grader at O'Plaine School in Gurnee.

The process of researching family history is called genealogy.

"Start with yourself and what you know," said Debbie Mieszala, president of the Lake County Illinois Genealogical Society, which owns a collection of genealogy reference books and family search information that can be accessed at the Fremont Area District Library in Mundelein. The society volunteers to staff the library's Local History Room and the group occasionally holds genealogy classes there. Check out the library Web site at www.fremontlibrary.net or call (847) 918-3208 for details. The organization also has a Web site with information on how to search family roots, www.rootsweb.com/~illcgs/.

"Ask grandparents what they remember," Mieszala added. "Write it down and make a chart with names. Research each name."

An unfortunate event in a high school class gave Mieszala the drive to begin researching her family history.

"I had to do a family tree project. I had a beautiful calligraphy chart in the shape of a fan that one of my family members I'd never met had put together." Mieszala's teacher displayed the students' family trees. When the assignment was finished, the teacher tossed all the students' work. "Being determined, I decided I had to recreate the tree," Mieszala said.

It's been about 25 years and Mieszala has traced her family roots on some lines back 800 years. "When I researched, I figured out that some of the information in the old tree wasn't right. I was able to answer some questions on the chart. Then I got hooked."

There are many resources available to people who are interested in starting to trace their genealogy. "The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has records from all over the world," Mieszala said. Genealogy enthusiasts can order information on microfilm or microfiche from the Salt Lake City library. For a fee, records are sent on loan to a local Church of Latter Day Saints Family History Center. The closest one in our area is in Buffalo Grove at the church's Stake Center. Call (847) 913-5387 for hours.

Some Internet sites offer free information about family history, like the USGenWeb Project which is directed by volunteers at www.usgenweb.org. The site includes what are called vital records -- birth, adoption, death, court records and military records. Records are posted for many counties throughout the U.S. including Lake County.

Mieszala said government records can reveal information about family history. Birth, death and property ownership records offer dates and names that can be researched further.

Newspapers record information about a person's life -- when they were born, when they died, who they were married to, children's and grandchildren's names -- in articles published at the time of death. These are called obituaries.

Sometimes, the search for a family member seems to lead nowhere. Using an obituary, Mieszala traced a tough-to-find family member. She read obituaries in more than one newspaper about her great-grandfather's brother, which revealed a different name for his son. Armed with the new information, she broadened the search and discovered that he was one of the first licensed U.S. airplane pilots and had an out-of-the-ordinary job -- he worked for a circus and was a stunt high diver and a balloonist.

Mieszala has found family members all over the world as a result of her hobby, which has also become a profession. "I do research for the Army and Air Force to find family members of soldiers who have been missing in action."

Mieszala said sometimes people who are adopted are surprised to learn that they can also research family history. "They can make two family trees, one for their adopted family and one of their birth family."

For more information

The Warren Newport Library suggests these titles on genealogy:

• "The Family Tree Detective: Cracking The Case of Your Family's Story," by Ann Douglas

• "Roots For Kids: A Genealogy Guide For Young People," by Susan Provost Beller

• "The Great Ancestor Hunt: The Fun of Finding Out Who You Are," by Lila Peri

• "Who Do You Think You Are?: Digging For Your Family Roots," by Suzanne Hilton