An Interview with MGC Staff: Meet Cecelia

August 20, 2012

In the coming blogs, you will be introduced to several staff members at the Midwest Genealogy Center. It is the hope of MGC that the experiences of various staff members will help guide you through your own family research (triumphs and frustrations alike). Therefore, it is my great pleasure to introduce you first to Cecelia.

Cecilia's start in genealogy came with the job, literally. She started as a page, putting books away in our former location on 24 Highway. She became interested in what secrets those books held. And so her research began, as did her career here at the Midwest Genealogy Center. Cecilia is now a member of our Reference Staff.

One of Cecilia's first brick walls was finding great-grandparents from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. Because her grandmother was an orphan, the research was a little difficult. But she remembers with satisfaction the day she connected her grandmother with her parents…through the database Ancestry Library Edition, which still remains Cecilia’s favorite MCPL database.

Cecilia remembers when, "I met with family members in Illinois to gather more information where my family settled. I discovered my mother, a twin, was the eldest of six other siblings. It was a small discovery, but thrilling.  Also corresponding with a cousin brought interesting copies of documents when my grandmother crossed the border."

The fabulous book collection we have here at the Midwest Genealogy Center is also another resource Cecilia uses, especially the published records for the various counties in which she researches. Her favorite periodical is Family Tree because she can always find practical help and suggestions in each issue.

Cecilia also recommends the website FamilySearch.org — Free Family History and Genealogy Records. By using this website, she was able to find records she needed to begin her research in the country of Mexico.

Charlotte M. & Cecilia G.
Midwest Genealogy Center