The Importance Of Libraries With Your Genealogical Search
The Importance Of Libraries With Your Genealogical Search
Libraries are vital institutions in our society. Libraries can help with a variety of research queries. Libraries provide access to genealogical resources. If an individual did not have access to a computer to perform genealogical research, a library can provide a computer to assist in this endeavor. There are wonderful websites such as www.ancestry.com and www.familysearch.org which can assist with genealogy searches. In particular at the Monterey Public Library, with the use of your library card, provides access to the Ancestry.com Library Edition, Gale Primary Sources Archives Unbound, Heritage Quest Online, Gale In Context Us History and Gale In Context World History databases. To locate these resources, you can access them at https://www.monterey.org/library/Research/Articles-and-Databases (Monterey Public Library, 2021). At the King County Library System you have access to Ancestry.com Library Edition, Cyndi’s List, Family Search, Gale In Context Biography, National Archives, US Gen Web Project, and World Gen Web Project. These resources are accessible by visiting their website at https://kcls.org/resources/genealogy-biography/ (King County Library System, 2021). Libraries are available to help with a variety of genealogical queries.
My personal genealogical journey began with wanting to learn more about my own family history. As an African American, it can be difficult to learn more about your family roots. In my family, I have heard many stories about various relatives who were deceased before I was born. In my family, my grandfather had photos of various family members which he did not share with ease. Photos and oral history passed from generation to generation is highly valued and loved. Oral history in my family is how I learned about previously deceased family members. I began my journey wanting to learn more about my fathers lineage. I also wanted to learn about my mothers family lineage. Admittedly, I was hesitant to embark on this genealogical journey. Being a graduate student, I am very busy with my graduate studies. Genealogical research is also very time intensive. My cousin eventually convinced me to join ancestry.com. Despite my hesitancy, I decided to join the database. After joining ancestry.com, I began looking for family history using Facebook. I found family members from my fathers lineage previously through Facebook. I wanted to locate any information I could about my extended family. Through many hours of research I was able to locate a family website which I still use today to maintain contact with various family members across the United States.
Upon visiting the family website, I discovered that my great, great, great grandfather Solomon Green was able to purchase 287 acres of land from Augustus S. Cross who was a slave owner. This purchase happened on October 23, 1866. This was monumental because only one year earlier, slavery was still in effect. Solomon Green was the first African American landowner in Emanuel County Georgia (About Solomon Green, 2021). With this monumental family history knowledge, I continue to perform research using ancestry.com.
In my genealogical quest, I met two brand new cousins!!! I was so excited to see the difficult but rewarding work of genealogical research come to life. Speaking with them using ancestry.com allowed me to learn more history about my family. My cousin is a descendant of the Cross family. Meanwhile, I am a descendant of the Green family. Regarding my family history, Augustus Cross’ parents were Issac Cross (born 1780) and Elizabeth Cross who were slave owners. Augustus Cross was one of their nine children. Augustus Cross had several sisters. One particular sister was named Calcedonia Cross. Calcedonia married Robert Green in 1826 at the tender age of 14. Mr. Green owned slaves and gave an unknown number of slaves to Calcedonia. Upon their divorce Mr. Green initiated a lawsuit against Calcedonia with the intent of having his slaves returned to him. The outcome of this lawsuit is unknown. This information was received from the Swainsboro, GA library. At this time, this was the first connection between the Cross and the Green Slaves. Under the circumstances, it would have been extremely difficult for the Cross and Green slaves to know the outcome of this legal connection. The Cross and Green slaves were located at the same plantation. They were under the control of the Cross family during the time Calcedonia ruled over them. This is tumultuous but vitally important family history. Without performing this research, I would have never had the opportunity to learn this valuable piece of family history.
Within my fathers family lineage, I discovered a man named Strap Walker who was born in 1790. With my mothers lineage, I discovered her family contains British, German and Scottish ancestral roots. I am still locating detailed information about these family roots. However, my genealogical journey is still leading me to further knowledge about this research. I am using online databases from my local library to learn more about British, German and Scottish history.
I continue to expand my knowledge of my family history. I hope to keep growing in my knowledge. Performing genealogy research using the internet and using the help of a library is vital in understanding your own family roots. Understanding your family roots helps you to understand more about yourself. You understand why you may enjoy certain types of food or understand where your family comes from geographically. Using a library can help you to uncover parts of your ancestry that you may not be able to discover on your own. I spent time online using my local public library searching through their genealogy database. In this era of COVID 19, many librarians are available online and are willing to help you locate genealogical information. Libraries are important in locating free and internet based genealogy information. Supporting libraries are vital so genealogical research and other types of research can be performed. Please support organizations such as EveryLibrary which help support libraries nationwide. If you are interested in supporting EveryLibrary, please visit www.everylibrary.org/donate. Libraries continue to be an important part of our society. Please help to support libraries.
References
Ancestry.com. (2021, January 24). https://www.ancestry.com/
Ancestry.com. (2021, January 24). About Solomon Green. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/168217099/person/352184266216/media/53997191-ffc5–45c0–9635–14e233761290?_phsrc=pFu71&usePUBJs=true
Ancestry.com. (2021, January 24). Gallery. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168217099/person/352184266991/gallery
Cross-Green-Smith Family Tree. (2021, January 25). Our family history. http://cross-green-smith.org/fam_history.html
FamilySearch.com. (2021, January 24). https://www.familysearch.org/en/
Harris, R. (2020, March 21). 5 years ago see your memories. [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009926975130
Harris, R. (2020, March 21). 2 years ago see your memories. [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009926975130
Hines, B . (2021). Solomon Green [Photograph]. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/168217099/person/352184266991/media/f988aeb6-d0f6–487a-83d4–1b3be3297334?_phsrc=pFu72&usePUBJs=true
King County Library System. (2021, January 24). Genealogy and biography. https://kcls.org/resources/genealogy-biography/
Monterey Public Library. (2021, January 24). Articles and databases. https://www.monterey.org/library/Research/Articles-and-Databases.
Truell, V. (2021). Green links ’99. [Photograph]. Facebook.com. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10152662707302448&set=g.131468146934312
Wilson, J. (2021). Green county. [Photograph]. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/168217099/person/352184266991/media/beeb2542-447c-40d4-9c91-406e91ade824?_phsrc=pFu72&usePUBJs=true
Wilson, J. (2021). Green links. [Photograph]. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/168217099/person/352184266991/media/5d7ecb44-5fb7-42cd-b6b8-ed0e74278046?_phsrc=pFu72&usePUBJs=true