Oral History and Beyond: Researching My Family History

Until recent years, I never considered searching for my ancestors; and if I had, there was very little information to be found. As slaves, my ancestors were forced to abandon family ties and native tongues. They were banned from learning to read or write, so few had the ability to document their lives for future generations. Finding family history beyond a few generations had been unimaginable until Alex Haley published "Roots" and revealed to the world a successful search by means of following his family's oral history.

Alex Haley sparked everyone's curiosity and In the late 70s and early 80s many began research to find hidden branches in their family tree. I was busy raising my family so I didn't hop on the bandwagon right away; but by the 90s, the Internet had made the trend a bit easier, and I began my own family history research in the comfort of my own home.

Oral Traditions-

Alex Haley was right; even if you can't find formal records, every family has oral traditions, stories with little bits and pieces of information that might take you where you want to go. Begin by talking to the oldest members of your family. Listen to their stories, those tales they tell over and over again. You may usually tune them out when they start talking about great aunt Lily or Uncle Festus; but your grandparents and great grandparents, even your parents know names, cities and dates and other details they can share with you.

Make a list of questions to ask your elders before too much time passes and their memories start to fade. Keep detailed notes or videotape your conversations and use key points as starting places for your investigation.

Lost Opportunities-

By the time I became curious about my past, the eldest members of both my mother's and father's family had passed on. My father was orphaned young. He had old photos of his mother and other family members; but otherwise he knew little about his parents. My mother knew some information but not much and many of her siblings had passed on as well.

Cyndi's List-

With little other than curiosity, I began my personal online family research. It was the mid 90s and online resources were limited then, but Cyndi's List proved helpful. Even during its earliest days it provided a wealth of listings, free resources and genealogy links.

The Cyndi's List site is still around today and has been expanded to include many resources organized by ethnic origin, country and cultural background. Unfortunately many of these links now lead to sites that charge subscription fees.

Posting A Name-

I began with Cyndi's List and followed link-by-link to several genealogy websites. In the 90s some family research websites were mostly message boards and form-submission pages where you posted a family name and waited for someone looking for the same family name to contact you. The fact that most of the resources were free was encouraging and I posted my maiden surname, George, my mother's maiden name, Duett, and my email address to several sites. From there it was a waiting game.

I followed other links to information on "Colored" troops who fought in the Civil War. I found information on post war housing settlements and schools started for former slaves. I also found freedman bank records, but none of these records contained information on the George or Duett families.

I found death records for the counties where my grandparents had lived but nothing in available inventory records where slaves were recorded by sex, condition and first name only, like livestock. It was interesting information but it didn't help because I didn't know my ancestor's plantations of origin.

So I Waited-

One day I received an email from a man who had been researching his family history and found my name posted on a genealogy website. Since the family name was rare, he believed we might have a family connection.

His name was Duett and his grandfather was from Berea, Kentucky, as was mine.

We traded emails and found out a few things about each other. His parents were from the Midwest but he had relocated to California. He had been born and raised a White man; but after his grandmother died, he found personal records that showed he had a black Grandfather who was born in Berea, Kentucky. That bit of information forced him to reconsider everything about his life and had motivated him to research his family history.

Cousin S___-

After a trading a few emails, he started calling me "Cousin Carol" and I called him "Cousin S___ ." Eventually he emailed his photograph and he certainly did look like a lighter version of my deceased grandfather, although that could have been my imagination. One day he told me he was HIV positive, which was why he felt it so important for him to find the information he was seeking. He wanted to fill in the missing pieces of his life.

Neither his family research nor mine ever turned up enough information to verify a family connection, still we kept in touch by email and traded phone calls for a number of years. One evening he called as I was on my way out on a blind date. He said "Be careful, Cousin," he warned. If he wasn't family, it certainly felt like it.

Somehow we lost track of each other; still I think about him sometimes. I remember how kind he was, how eager he was to resolve the puzzle of his life. I remember he was sick and who knows what might have happened over time? I could have tried to track him down again; but I preferred to leave things the way they are, thinking of him as my long lost cousin, still alive and living in California.

After finding S___, I gave up searching for ancestors and family ties; but my son, Gregory and my brother, Damon, started their own documentation. My mother has Alzheimers, so she's lost track of a lot of little details, but my father has plenty of old stories. Damon also tracks down old family photos, scans them, records them to music and passes along family photo DVDs at Christmastime. And we have family reunions where we meet relatives we never knew existed. They offer great opportunities for in-person family history research.

Family Search.Org

It's easy to conduct your own search these days. Cyndi's List is still free, but some of the research links take you to services that provide genealogy information by subscription only. Of course you can search the records at your library for free, or peruse your local historical society documents; but the largest genealogy site in the world is still on line and still completely free of charge.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose Family Search.Org explains they have been gathering genealogy records for over 100 years, and they began their genealogy project because they believe all family members- past, present and future- share a bond that "reaches across generations." On their site you may search birth, death, marriage and other records.