Have A Blast With The Past

Have A Blast With The Past

I’ll warn you, if you ever do a little casual genealogical research, be careful; you could easily end up with a new hobby. Go to www.ellisisland.org and you’ll see what I mean.

Pat Matuschak, product manager for GOJO Industries of Akron, Ohio, is a genealogy research buff. Pat, a Memphis native, happens to live today in the place her relatives settled in the 1800s. “It is a total coincidence that I live in Ohio within a 90-minute drive of where my relatives came from.”

Pat did her first genealogical research at the Akron library. “I picked up a book published in the 1800s about the county my grandfather was from and found several articles about my family. It was like opening Pandora’s box,” Pat said.

She was hooked. She took a genealogy class and learned how to read a census report, how to get copies of birth, death and marriage certificates, and how to use library archives to find newspaper articles and obituaries.

“You get to a certain point, though, and you have to go to the actual birthplaces, cemeteries and settlements for the whole story,” Pat said. She had always heard that a grandfather once got drunk and blew up his town by throwing dynamite into a well, and she is still working to confirm this story. “Some of the townspeople remember an explosion, and also that two people hid in a cornfield for a week.”

In a recent visit to that town, Pat did some on-site research. She saw rocks that had been embedded into some of the houses from the explosion.“You just keep on digging up information,” she said.

Pat’s advice to anyone interested in this hobby is to take a class, keep your files organized, and buy a genealogy software program. You begin by documenting the genealogical details on yourself, then your parents, and take it from there.

It’s pretty colorful stuff. Pat learned that her great-grandmother used to hunt down ladies of “ill repute” and take them to church. She also found out that her grandfather — before he was even a teenager — sold sandwiches in a saloon. He wasn’t allowed into the saloon itself, so he’d make the sandwiches in a stable, and sell them through the window into the saloon.

George Bell, owner and manager of Bell Janitorial Supply of Ogden, Utah, and his wife June are also very involved in the study of genealogy through their membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church). George is a family history consultant for the Church. His job is to get people active in genealogical studies. He urges people to write their family histories, especially while older relatives are still alive.

The Mormons have sent envoys and missionaries all over the world to get genealogical records. They visit old churches and cemeteries and copy death, birth, and marriage records. Then they work to connect those records. Once they are confirmed, they are put in the Mormon library in Salt Lake City — the largest genealogical library in the world.

Ever wonder why you have relatives with different last names than yours? June Bell explained that she has relatives from Denmark, who, when they arrived in America, disagreed on the pronunciation of their name. One uncle said “Wallentine” and the other said “Valentine.” Consequently, June, who is from the Wallentine family, has direct relatives who are Valentines.

George Bell has a good story about his great-grandmother. She used different birthdays from 1824 to 1841, and nobody ever knew how old she was, or where she was born. She married a man who had been blinded in an accident, and with him, had three sons. Family researchers believe she lied about her age to her blind husband — he thought she was 17 years younger than she actually was. Her husband couldn’t see her, so her secret was safe.

Are genealogy buffs ever embarrassed about some of their findings? If they’re like Pat Matuschak, the answer is no. “My family’s a little wild, and I’m proud of it.”

Gretchen Roufs, a 15-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns Auxiliary Marketing Services of San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “freetime,” e-mail her or phone (210) 601-4572.