What is Genealogy?
A Genealogist is NOT Ancestry.com
On more than a few occasions we were shocked to discover the confusion that people mistook their subscription to Ancestry.com or another similar online site with the work that a genealogist does. Once we were asked why we had a subscription to Ancestry.com if we were a genealogy company. This type of confusion is what prompted us to write this brief introduction to genealogy. Let’s explain! Ancestry.com is a great site for online sources and data. Online sources and data mean birth records, death records, marriage records and even local directories. It’s a great first stop for genealogists. With Ancestry.com many assume they can just get a subscription and wham…their relatives are properly put in place and the “hints” that are given are correct as well as the other family trees that have been compiled by others to merge with your tree. This is not so. This leads to frustration and confusion. Anything worth doing is worth doing well and your ancestry is worth doing well. That means taking the time to RESEARCH and check and double-check the sources: not just click and merge to rush through to a conclusion that is in error!
Now to be clear, Ancestry.com online subscription and their companies’ professional genealogist’s are two different things!!! (Genealogists ROCK!)
All Records Are Online Now! (FALSE)
With the help of amazing technology, dutiful archivist and volunteers, a lot of records have been made accessible online. Most are still unavailable online. Even if records were scanned to be “uploaded” to an online site, they can be waiting to be “unboxed” if you will and then “Indexed.” Indexed is where a record is looked at, reviewed and then the data from the record is typed out to be easily read by researchers and located. These Indexed records are the records you generally see on the online subscription sites. Even then, most records are still not online. Many counties’ records have to be physically looked for at a clerk’s office either by a mail request or by going in person. And just like your own home and your best attempts to keep it organized…it doesn’t always happen! To a genealogist, walking into a clerk’s records room is nirvana for the soul with all the old ledgers and stack of books…very large books! Remember, this is where the heart and soul of a town are kept. Anyone who did anything in the town is recorded SOMEWHERE in the clerk’s records. Unfortunately, sometimes those breadcrumbs to your past are in boxes, not organized, just lumped together, molded or stuck together, etc! We all have that one grandma who took us to the family pictures from way back and she had them stored the SAME WAY…so don’t judge, we are all guilty of it!
I Can Just Have DNA Testing To Find My Ancestors!
Argh! While Kudos to the DNA companies who are selling these tests and making bank!!! Thumbs up guys! This belief just is NOT true. While DNA testing can be a great TOOL…lets repeat that…a great TOOL..it is not a quick fix. It does not map out your family tree, it can assist but not map it out plus it has other concerns that were discussed in our article, “Just the Facts.” on DNA. First and foremost, a paper trail needs to be established such as documents and records. Then DNA can aid in the conclusion but DNA unsupported by the documents should not be considered a slam dunk!
What Does Trinity Genealogy Do?
Trinity Genealogy researches and discovers those “misplaced” relatives who deserve their rightful place on the family tree. Sometimes it is as easy as finding records online, but other times and actually most times it is about the hunt. A genealogist has a lot of correspondence to keep up with when they are on a hunt. If a genealogist is not physically traveling to locate the records, they are mailing requests for records…and waiting for replies. They are constantly keeping one eye open for that needle in the haystack that could be a random post, a familiar name, the coincidence that is too spot-on to not be a connection. We at Trinity like to think of genealogists as a part detective, part researcher, and part traveler…or like we like to think of ourselves here at Trinity Genealogy, modern-day Indiana Jones! We keep searching for that Holy Grail in each client’s family tree.
Lost or Damaged Records.
Trinity Genealogy will research a client’s tree as far back as they want and until the records and information stop. Sometimes, it is important to understand, some trails do run cold. Information can be lost, destroyed, never recorded, miss-recorded, you name it! But as long as there are blank spaces on your Family Tree, Trinity will keep looking for those relatives so they can have their rightful place in your family tree.
Range of Services
Trinity Genealogy offers a wide range of research services. We can start the ancestry research on your family tree if this is your first time researching. Research can also continue where you or another left off on your family tree. DNA testing is very popular right now and if you had DNA done or want to have it done, we can review the results and apply it appropriately with the correct timeline and documentation. Trinity Genealogy also works with professional organizations to find supportive documents or probate records to assist with their cases.
For all of our clients, genealogy is the research of a person in the past. Each client’s reasons for research can be different. For example, some want to belong to DAR which is the Daughters of the American Revolution. To belong to DAR you have to prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. Some clients have heard stories that they are, for example, Native Indians. Perhaps they want to find out if it is true. Even professionals have called upon our services to assist in the location of records such as probate records to prove a relationship.
Your Own Backyard!
We often hear how history is boring and how people do not have much interest in history and yet they yearn for adventure and mystery. They watch shows full of intrigue and drama, plot twists and political backstabbing …cough…Game of Thrones…cough! We at Trinity Genealogy say look no further than your own backyard or in this case, your own family tree to find all the intrigue, mystery, drama and backstabbing that you could ever want! Remember, history IS the development and creation of civilizations, of societies and of religions. YOUR ancestors and my ancestor’s choices. Each of their stepping stones brought us all to the point that we now stand, to the Discovery of YOU!
