Who Do You Think You Are? Library Edition

August 16, 2012

Who do you come from? Not where, but who? 

I’ve always believed that if you don’t know the past, you are doomed to repeat it. And, you should especially know your own roots. As such, I have been researching my ancestry for years, and I am still amazed at the things I find.

Recently, I discovered several American Revolutionary War patriots in my lineage, and I have taken the next logical step and joined my local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. When I started my application process to join, however, I had no idea the incredible amount of research that it would require! 

You have to be able to prove with paper records that you really are related to your relatives. Now, I KNOW who my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. are, but I had to prove it! I’m talking about having birth, marriage, and death records for each generation. 

Now that didn’t sound too terribly difficult when I first started, but I soon realized how daunting this task would be. And I would have been absolutely lost if I didn’t have access to Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, and the myriad other incredible genealogical resources that MCPL offers for free. 

I’ve always been a big Ancestry.com fan. I avidly scour the census records, (In which I might add, the records for 1940 are now available.) military records, marriage records, death records, and family trees on a regular basis.

HeritageQuest was a database I was less familiar with, but I found the most amazing document from one of my patriots. It was a complete account of his Revolutionary War service. Just to be able to see the original document with the beautiful handwriting, and read, in his own words, about his harrowing experiences was so inspiring! 

Knowing who you come from is priceless, and the Library, with all of its resources, is here to help you as you make your own genealogical journey. Even though it can be a lot of time and a lot of research, I know that it is, without a doubt, so worth it. I enthusiastically recommend these two resources to anyone searching for information on their ancestors.

And THAT’s something I don’t have to prove!

Jennie B.
Platte City Branch