Who Are The Nuts On Your Family Tree?
GENEALOGICAL WORKSHOP HELD

By BILL RETTEW JR.

SEBRING — Most of the workshop might have centered around old news, but two dozen attendees discovered new ways to learn about their ancestors through genealogy.

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) held a genealogical workshop Saturday at the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Sebring.

Guest speaker Linda Soloski, DAR Florida state lineage regional chair, told the group that her ancestors included female spies for the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, plus a accused witch who was burned at the stake in Salem, Mass., and was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.
Soloski said that researching into the past in search of a family history is addictive.

“Shake your family tree and then watch all of the nuts fall out,” quipped Soloski. “Through genealogy we’re looking for a better class of ancestors.”

Soloski noted several ways to conduct a genealogical search:

u Begin with yourself. Don’t try at first to reach out to great, great, great ancestors. Your family begins with you. Don’t fall into
the trap that everybody does and try to reach out for somebody famous.

u Prepare a five generation chart, filling in the names for the family tree.

u Adopt a plan of organization and collect all available materials.

u Soloski said solid information might be culled during each of three life experiences.

“Your relatives have three things in common,” she said.  “Each was ‘hatched’ (born), each was ‘matched’ married and if each is no longer with us, they were ‘dispatched.’ (deceased.)”

u Use libraries, including the genealogy center at the Lake Placid Memorial Library.

u The Latter Day Saints are widely acclaimed for the church’s Family History Centers and the research facility in Salt Lake City.

u The Internet is a good tool, but Soloski warns that not all information gleaned can be deemed “most reliable.”

u Take advantage of any books published about your family.

u Family heirloom Bibles often contain a family tree.

u Use old Wills and personal papers.

u Court records are some of the best sources.

u Indexes of, logs from and searches of graveyards add extra information.

u Talk to relatives and others. Listen to family stories.

Soloski said her search started in 1977 and it then accelerated when she joined the DAR in the mid-90s and how it changed her.

“It has reshaped who I am,” she said. “I was just a little girl from the hills of Tennessee.

“When I discovered what my progenitors had done it gave me a sense of purpose to do something for my generation and future generations that is beneficial.”