Each time we discover a new ancestor [happens all the time if we are diligent genealogists], we need to begin a new search. Someone was asking about the Rector family of Germanna. This is what I recommend: 1) as my old research professor cautioned us: Survey the literature. (In other words, what work has been published on your research project?) 2) Start with the grandfather [or mother, depending on your inclination] of all genealogical databases--the catalog of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which has been set up to help all of us struggling genealogists. (Don't stop to fill in the blanks--you will be diverted from following these instructions! And besides, some of the responses you get are dead wrong!!!) The catalog can be found on this website: _www.familysearch.org_ (http://www.familysearch.org/) Look for the tab on the opening screen entitled *Library* to the right. Click on that and choose *catalog* Then, either choose PLACE, such as Germanna, or SURNAME, such as Rector. 3) If there is a film of that publication, contact your nearby or local Family History Center. Sometimes the best place to start, if you are unfamiliar with navigating the familysearch.org website is to look in the yellow pages of your phone book under Churches. Look for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and see if a Family History Center is connected with that church. If not, then try surrounding communities. (The search for a center is sometimes off base, because the website has not kept up with the times!!!) For a fee, for a limited time, you can borrow the selected film from Salt Lake City through your nearby Family History Center. Just be sure the center does not already have the film--the volunteers generally make you check!!! (Take lots of change, plus your check book. If the film is at the center, you will want to make copies of selected--or many--pages. That is why we genealogists have such cluttered rooms.) Now to the Rector surname. You will find many publications at the Family History Library relating to this family. I highly recommend that you begin,however, with any of the publications of B. C. Holtzclaw, who did a lot of research on many Germanna families. (You may want to do an Author search instead of Surname search.) But this selection should not keep you from studying all the other publications of the Rector surname, as some may pertain to your more immediate family!!! (Years ago, I had a classmate whose surname was Rector. I did not dream, kid that I was, that possibly he might have been a cousin!!!) As more and more of these older family histories, particularly those where the copyright has expired, are being digitized, you might find some information if your local [or nearby] public library has subscriptions to online databases, such as HeritageQuest and Ancestry.com. In many cases, you can access through your home computer HeritageQuest. Ancestry.com [library version] is generally confined to use in the library. My large city library, I noticed, charges $25 for a library card if you live outside the city limits. That is a small price to pay for a year's use to the databases which you can access at home. So--if your local library does not subscribe to one of these databases, ask the reference librarian [the one at the desk] what nearby libraries may have HeritageQuest. I do know that HQ has several books by B. C. Holtzclaw. He, like most of us genealogists, overlooked some facts or did not find the facts--so there are errors. But, you as a researcher, should set out to correct those mistakes. And perhaps publish an aritcle giving your arguments. Good luck!!! E.W.Wallace **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://news.aol.com?ncid=emlcntusnews00000002)

Thanks for the info. It will be put to good use. And we might be cousins as well. My mother was a Wallace. Debby -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Hdanw@aol.com Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2009 1:59 PM To: germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMANNA] Suggestion for Those Just Beginning Research on a Family Each time we discover a new ancestor [happens all the time if we are diligent genealogists], we need to begin a new search. Someone was asking about the Rector family of Germanna. This is what I recommend: 1) as my old research professor cautioned us: Survey the literature. (In other words, what work has been published on your research project?) 2) Start with the grandfather [or mother, depending on your inclination] of all genealogical databases--the catalog of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which has been set up to help all of us struggling genealogists. (Don't stop to fill in the blanks--you will be diverted from following these instructions! And besides, some of the responses you get are dead wrong!!!) The catalog can be found on this website: _www.familysearch.org_ (http://www.familysearch.org/) Look for the tab on the opening screen entitled *Library* to the right. Click on that and choose *catalog* Then, either choose PLACE, such as Germanna, or SURNAME, such as Rector. 3) If there is a film of that publication, contact your nearby or local Family History Center. Sometimes the best place to start, if you are unfamiliar with navigating the familysearch.org website is to look in the yellow pages of your phone book under Churches. Look for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and see if a Family History Center is connected with that church. If not, then try surrounding communities. (The search for a center is sometimes off base, because the website has not kept up with the times!!!) For a fee, for a limited time, you can borrow the selected film from Salt Lake City through your nearby Family History Center. Just be sure the center does not already have the film--the volunteers generally make you check!!! (Take lots of change, plus your check book. If the film is at the center, you will want to make copies of selected--or many--pages. That is why we genealogists have such cluttered rooms.) Now to the Rector surname. You will find many publications at the Family History Library relating to this family. I highly recommend that you begin,however, with any of the publications of B. C. Holtzclaw, who did a lot of research on many Germanna families. (You may want to do an Author search instead of Surname search.) But this selection should not keep you from studying all the other publications of the Rector surname, as some may pertain to your more immediate family!!! (Years ago, I had a classmate whose surname was Rector. I did not dream, kid that I was, that possibly he might have been a cousin!!!) As more and more of these older family histories, particularly those where the copyright has expired, are being digitized, you might find some information if your local [or nearby] public library has subscriptions to online databases, such as HeritageQuest and Ancestry.com. In many cases, you can access through your home computer HeritageQuest. Ancestry.com [library version] is generally confined to use in the library. My large city library, I noticed, charges $25 for a library card if you live outside the city limits. That is a small price to pay for a year's use to the databases which you can access at home. So--if your local library does not subscribe to one of these databases, ask the reference librarian [the one at the desk] what nearby libraries may have HeritageQuest. I do know that HQ has several books by B. C. Holtzclaw. He, like most of us genealogists, overlooked some facts or did not find the facts--so there are errors. But, you as a researcher, should set out to correct those mistakes. And perhaps publish an aritcle giving your arguments. Good luck!!! E.W.Wallace **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://news.aol.com?ncid=emlcntusnews00000002) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message