Washington, DC's Top 3 Sites for Genealogists

Each summer Washington, DC plays host to throngs of tourists clambering to see our nation's gleaming marbled monuments and world class museums. 

Perhaps even your family is planning a trip? Perfect! Your cover is set. They'll never suspect a thing.

There's plenty of America's revered history and stoic patriotism on display to keep them occupied while you quietly slip away to indulge your inner genealogist. Let's face it, cherry blossoms are nice, but they're not adding-ancestors-to-the-family-tree nice. Washington offers the genealogist so much more! 

Having lived in the capital city for over 12 years, I can assure you that there are some very renowned and quite accessible research facilities certain to make a family historian's heart flutter and reveal a branch or two on the family tree. 

Here are Washington's top 3 sites that every genealogist must cross off their bucket list.

National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives building occupies prime real estate midway between the White House and the Capitol Building.

Here's the important trick: send your family inside the museum entrance on Constitution Avenue. They'll be so enthralled viewing the original hand signed copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution that they won't even notice when you tiptoe away to the quieter Pennsylvania Avenue entrance reserved for researchers (ahem, that's you!).

Inside, you'll quickly register for a research card (it's free) and can chat with knowledgeable archivists who are able to pinpoint records that may help you solve a family mystery.

Perhaps you have a Civil War veteran among your ancestors? If he had a pension (or just applied for a pension) he may have a file that you can request and thumb through. I mean the original stinkin' file in your hand, eyeballing great-grandpappy's handwriting in ink, perhaps detailing his accounts of bloody battle and war wounds while conveniently namedropping his lineage.

I've had very exciting experiences in the Archives. For example, I learned that two 3rd great-grandfathers both enlisted in the Union Army. I was prepared to read harrowing details of the battles they fought and won. Instead, I learned that disease was the leading cause of death for enlisted men (see Disease in the Civil War).

In another case, I learned that my ancestors were Union sympathizers who had to make a hasty retreat from their home in Virginia when the Confederates invaded (see Running From the Rebels). In the haphazard retreat, the family Bible was lost in the Ohio River (say it ain't so!).

Which of your family's stories are held safe in the Archives?

Library of Congress

First things first: this is Washington's most beautiful building. You have to wander inside its great hall and marvel at its ornate interiors. It's an ode to humankind's written legacy. You can even see an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible!

Today it's billed as the world's largest library. It wasn't always. Much of the initial collection was destroyed when the British marched on Washington and torched everything in sight. Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library to re-establish the collection and position it for its current grandiose state.

For the genealogist, you'll want to pick up a researcher card (again, free) and - like a VIP - bypass the hordes of tourists (your family can occupy themselves in the many exhibit spaces) and step into the members only Main Reading Room. It's otherworldly and certain to inspire your genealogical research.

The Library offers an array of digitized treasures like its large collection of public domain images, including many of Civil War soldiers (not all in the public domain). Its crown jewel, though, may be the Chronicling America project, which features digitized American newspapers spanning 1836 to 1922. It's an ever growing collection with new papers added each year.

But you don't come to the Library of Congress to take advantage of their online features. You're here because there are thousands of published family histories in the stacks.

I pulled a volume that documented the genealogy of my 7th great-grandfather Erasmus Rosenberger who was born in what is now Germany and emigrated to the New World in the mid-1700s. The hefty volume - long out of print and only available to me because of the Library of Congress' expansive collection - detailed thousands of his descendants, including my own great-grandmother who had corresponded with the author decades ago.

It's really something special to read your great-grandmother's name in a book in the glorious Main Reading Room.

Daughters of the American Revolution
The national headquarters for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is just a short walk away from the White House. Leave your family gawking at 1600 Pennsylvania and then make a run for it!

DAR headquarters include a large library that is open (free!) to researchers. No membership card is required. Simply sign yourself in, collect a visitor's badge and be on your way. The book stacks are organized by state and then county. Volumes include county histories, published vital records registrations, biographies, and countless other works that aid your genealogy.

DAR's library is a fantastic resource because it includes publications from genealogical societies across the country, and many dating back decades. I spent time reviewing published burial indices from Lawrence County, Ohio during a search for my 4th great-grandfather's grave. Although I wasn't successful, I knew I had personally reviewed the same resources on the shelves of the Lawrence County Genealogical Society.

There's something gratifying about knowing that you have reviewed the source materials instead of relying on a third party researcher.

What Did I Miss?
These three locations offer the greatest value to the broadest group of researchers. But it's a big city and there are a handful of smaller collections at other repositories, many of them quite niche and tailored to specific research interests.

What did I miss? What should be a part of this list?

Finding WWI Military Service Despite National Archives Fire

The author at Samuel Kirk's grave.

After using genetic genealogy to identify my paternal great-grandfather, I was eager to pay my respects at his grave. Samuel James Kirk is buried in the foothills of Golden, Colorado in the shadows of looming peaks.

While I had gone through great research pains to discover his identity and confirm his genetic link to my family, his grave taught me even more about his history.

World War I Military Service
His headstone was inscribed: PFC US ARMY, World War I. This was the first confirmation I had that he actually served in the military. To learn more about his service, I went back to his 1917 WWI draft registration card.

At 24 years old, he was single with no dependents, and described as short and slender with light blue eyes and black hair. Coolest of all, he worked as a beekeeper. Yes, my great-grandfather was an apiarist! These are the kinds of details not always apparent on the census (in 1930, for example, his occupation was enumerated as odd jobs. Oh, come on, tell me more! How odd?).

Samuel James Kirk - World War I Draft Registration Card

On Valentine's Day 1918, the Colorado Transcript published a list of 43 men who were examined by a doctor and found to be physically fit for military service. Among them was Samuel J. Kirk. I was unable to determine exactly when he was drafted into service, but I assume it happened shortly thereafter.

Of course, the 1973 fire that raged through a St. Louis National Archives repository and destroyed an estimated 16 to 18 million military personnel records didn't help matters. My inquiries for information from the National Archives were met with requests for me to help them re-establish their file for Sam's service. It was a catch-22. Perhaps there were local records in Colorado that could shed more light on his service.

I wrote to the Denver Public Library to see what information their Western History/Genealogy division may have on Samuel Kirk's service. An archivist with the library discovered another small but helpful clue. A published volume, Roster of Men and Women Who Served in The World War From Colorado 1917-1918, reiterated that his rank was Private First Class (PFC), but added that his branch was the Motor Transport Corps (MTC). That was new information!

The Motor Transport Corps
In its earliest existential conflicts, the United States depended on soldiers on foot, horses and later trains to transport men and cargo. During the First World War, military transit quickly evolved and the Army relied heavily on emerging 20th century technology including motor vehicles.

On July 11, 1918, as the War to End All Wars was nearing its end, the American Expeditionary Forces established the Motor Transport Corps (MTC) in order to provide oversight and maintenance of the Army's motor vehicles.¹ In August 1918 - fewer than three months before the armistice that ended hostilities -  the MTC released its manual that defined motor vehicles during the "existing emergency" as "all bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, trailers and trucks, by whatsoever staff corps or service they may have been originally supplied and for whatsoever purpose."²

At the War's end on November 11, 1918, the MTC "numbered 1,135 officers and 26,957 enlisted men."³ Samuel Kirk was among those enlisted men, but where did he serve? An answer eluded me.

Photographs Illustrate Clues
On Memorial Day, I received a wonderful gift from a Kirk cousin: a collection of original photographs of Samuel Kirk that were nearly 100 years old. Until this point, I had only seen a couple grainy images of him and owned no originals. The prize among the photos was a fantastic portrait of Samuel in his MTC military uniform.

There were also three tiny photos about an inch in height that were difficult to make out. Each had Sam's name penciled on the back. There was no other identifying information about the location or about the other men pictured.

Samuel Kirk in MTC uniform pictured left.

Samuel Kirk pictured left.

Samuel Kirk pictured right with perhaps an MTC officer.

His studio portrait was embossed with the photographer's name and location: the Presidio in San Francisco. According to the National Parks Service, the Presidio was a "preeminent military post under the U.S. Army." Was Sam stationed stateside during his enlistment?

I was able to further confirm his location by zeroing in on the curious backdrop in the last photo. A Google search found a matching San Francisco domed monument. The photo appeared to be taken in front of the Palace of Fine Arts, which was constructed in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. The monument was less than a mile from the Presidio.

Collectively, the photographs provided my research a location to focus on Sam's WWI service. What was the MTC doing in San Francisco?

Coast-to-Coast Military Convoy
I learned that the Army organized a coast-to-coast convoy that saw the MTC haul nearly 70 trucks and vehicles from Washington, DC to San Francisco in 1919.⁴ Under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. McClure, the convoy traveled 3,251 miles in just 62 days with 258 enlisted men and 24 officers, including a young Dwight D. Eisenhower.⁵ (Check out Eisenhower's photos from the military road trip.)

Did Sam know of Eisenhower's role in the MTC convoy? Would he recall their service in the 1940s when Ike was the commanding general overseeing D-Day operations and in the 1950s when he was President of the United States? An interesting side-thought to ponder.

Given the early 1918 medical clearance Samuel received for the draft, I speculate that he was already pulled into wartime service with the MTC long before the convoy set out. I haven't been able to confirm whether he played a role in the convoy.

The cross-country convoy had several interesting purposes that may have inspired America's nascent love of the automobile,⁶ including promoting highway construction, recruiting men to enlist with the MTC, and demonstrating to the American public the value of the motor vehicle for military purposes.⁷

The gentleman pictured with Sam in the last photograph wore very distinct trousers. I wonder if it was an officer's uniform. Was Sam photographed with Lt. Col. McClure? (Click on the hyperlink for McClure and view a photo for comparison. What do you think?)

The MTC Trains Mechanics and Unites Disunited Families

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs
Division, WWI Posters, Public Domain

The MTC lured young men into service with the promise of equipping them with the skills that would make them marketable following their service. Wartime recruitment posters boasted that men who enlisted with the MTC would learn to be mechanics. I can only imagine the exciting appeal of learning to work on the newfangled automobile.

While Samuel Kirk, to my knowledge, never met his son - my grandfather - I find it an interesting quirk of fate that both my grandfather and father (who also didn't have much of a relationship) would become mechanics.

The profession - from the beginnings of the auto industry to the modern day - would link three generations together who otherwise had almost no interaction with each other. Perhaps I have the Motor Transport Corps to thank for that.

And to think that I was inspired and able to learn all of this - despite the disastrous military records loss - from a visit of homage to Samuel Kirk's grave.

Footnotes
¹ Killblane, Richard. "70 Years of the Transportation Corps." United States Transportation Corps. 19 June 2014.

² "Manual of the Motor Transport Corps." American Expeditionary Forces. June 1918.

³ "Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War." Center of Military History United States Army. Washington, DC, 1988.

⁴ Scheck, William. "World War I: American Expeditionary Forces Get Motorized Transportation." Military History Magazine. June 1997.

⁵ "The 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy." Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home.

⁶ Preston, Benjamin. "How An Army Convoy Crossed America in 56 Days to Prove We Needed Better Roads." Jalopnik. 18 February 2013.

⁷ "1919 Motor Transport Corps Convoy." Wikipedia.

Family Sleuther is Now a DOT COM!

When I first created this blog three years ago, I did it to entertain my budding yet amateur interest in genealogy.

I toyed with several blog titles trying to find something catchy that illustrated my interest. I reflected on what I enjoyed most about genealogy and family history research. I kept coming back to the thrill of the ancestor hunt - the detective work. It was the sleuth work that excited me, and so I quickly settled on Family Sleuther.

Months later, when my burgeoning interest in genealogy became more serious and I decided to lock in my social media accounts and domain name, I discovered that FamilySleuther.com had been created in 2011 and was already owned by someone else. Frustratingly, the page sat unused - taunting me in its dilapidated state with digital tumbleweeds drifting across the screen. I was disappointed, but didn't want to relinquish my growing brand and decided to set up shop under a .org domain.

Why a .org? Admittedly, the .org was unusual for a personal genealogy website, and did elicit questions from readers who were curious about the domain choice. Simply put, it was available, cheap, and familiar (I work for an international non-profit organization in my day job).

I decided that I would have to play the long game in order to secure the .com. Three years ago, I found out when the ownership of the .com domain was slated to expire and set a calendar reminder. On May 6th, the domain quietly passed its expiration date, was not renewed, and went to auction.

I had set up a backorder on the address just prior to its expiration, which gave me a heads up that the domain had not been renewed. My backorder also secured me an initial bid on the address at auction. On June 10th, the domain went to auction. For weeks there had been no competing bids. I thought I had it locked in - the domain would finally be mine!

With just minutes to go before the auction closed, a competing bid was submitted. I was outbid! Fortunately, I was on email and received a notification. I quickly logged in and submitted an updated bid. A small bidding war - that I was determined to win - played out, but I emerged victorious (Yes, it really felt like I was going into battle. After all, I'd been after this domain for three years!).

Despite my auction win, the owner still had another week to decide if they wanted to renew their ownership. I was anxious all week. Yesterday, the clock had finally ticked down. It was mine. The domain was transferred to my ownership, and FamilySleuther.org became - at long last - FamilySleuther.com.

The Lesson of My Elusive Grandmothers

Only a few sparse clues hint that I had two grandmothers who lived in Colorado in the late 1800s. Two women - my direct ancestors - lived in my home state and I had absolutely no clue!

I've been researching my ancestry for six years. While I am embarrassed to admit that I have yet to map out my link to Adam and Eve or Charlemagne, I thought surely I had already identified and plucked all the low-hanging fruit. How could I possibly have overlooked these two women - my elusive grandmothers?

Well, if I need an excuse then I blame the missing 1890 census. Without this catchall resource, I very nearly missed them and their presence in the Centennial State. Fortunately, a few records hinted at their existence and location. They're on my radar now, and I'm prepared to research the heck out of them!

Elusive Granny Stevens
A fourth great-grandmother whose name still remains unknown to me was briefly mentioned in a newspaper account detailing the untimely death of her son Thomas K. Stevens.

Thomas was killed in November 1886, along with his eldest son, in a Colorado mine explosion. It was a ghastly end, although not altogether uncommon in the state's dangerous, poorly regulated mining industry.

A Rocky Mountain News article offered a gory play-by-play of Thomas' final hours after the explosion (Yes! Tragically, he was not killed instantly and lingered in agony just long enough to absolve the mining company of any wrongdoing). The reporter added a single line that hinted at great-grandma Stevens' presence in Colorado: "Mr. Stevens leaves a wife and four children, two girls, the oldest 16, and two boys quite young, besides an aged mother who also resides here."

Rocky Mountain News - December 1, 1886

Records that might reveal Thomas' parents identity were slim for that time. Colorado did not keep death records in 1886. The 1880 census showed him working as a miner living with his brother Richard in Idaho Springs, Colorado. This same census stated that Thomas was born in England as were both his parents. However, brother Richard's birth location was listed as Wisconsin. At 23 in 1880, Richard would have been born in about 1857. The Stevens family must have immigrated to North America before that time.

Furthermore, I know that Thomas married Susan Day in Nova Scotia in 1866. Did Thomas immigrate with his family to North America, but stay behind in Nova Scotia while his parents continued to Wisconsin where they had more children including Richard?

Prior to discovering this newspaper article, I mistakenly assumed both Thomas' parents pre-deceased him and were perhaps buried in Wisconsin.

The puzzle hasn't come together yet, but further research into the extended family may provide the clues that give a name to my anonymous great-granny Stevens.

Elusive Granny (Raimondi) Ruoti
In October 2015, I traveled to Potenza, Italy and walked the streets of my ancestors. I assumed that my third great-grandparents Vincenzo and Vinceza (Raimondi) Ruoti both lived their entire lives in the tiny mountain town.

After all, I had found documentation of their Italian births and Vincenzo's death record. But I was never able to locate Vincenza's death certificate. Recently, a distant Ruoti cousin shared with me a typed family genealogy that included basic vital dates for Vincenza. Her death date and location were provided. Surprisingly, she didn't die in sleepy Potenza, but in Denver!

Apparently, my third great-grandmother - whose full name was Angela Raffaela Vincenza (Raimondi) Ruoti, or Vincenza for short - had traveled from Italy to the United States to live with her immigrant children following the death of her husband. I had mistakenly assumed she lived out her life in Italy. Her emigration explains why I never found her Italian death record. She didn't die in Italy.

On a recent trip to Colorado, I jumped onto a microfilm reader at the Denver Public Library. I wanted to see if there was an obituary. I knew the odds were not in my favor. Obituaries were less common during this time, particularly for immigrants. However, I immediately landed on an article that raised my eyebrows.

In the March 20, 1890 Rocky Mountain Daily News - the day after Vincenza's purported death - I found an article detailing the passing of an "aged Italian woman." Her name was Beatrica Raymonde. Beatrica is very different from any of the given names for my third great-grandmother.

Rocky Mountain Daily News - March 20, 1890

Despite the obvious discrepancy in first name, the article had several similarities that aligned closely with my great-grandmother. For example:

• Beatrica and Vincenza were aged Italian women in 1890. 
• Both women died on March 19, 1890. 
• Both women died in Denver.
• Both women suffered from heart disease.
• Both women shared the name Raymonde. Vincenza's maiden name was Raimondi.

Collectively, the commonalities between the two women make it difficult for me to dismiss the article outright. 

I Googled the name Beatrica to see if it was a nickname for any of Vincenza's given names. It was not. What I did learn is that Beatrica is Latin and means voyager. That's quite apt for Vincenza who did voyage across half the world, leaving behind everything she knew to start a new life in the Mile-High City.

I've written to the Denver Catholic Archdiocese to see if they have funeral records that may shed light on the identity of Beatrica Raymonde and help me determine whether she's my great-grandmother Vincenza.

The Lesson of My Elusive Grandmothers

My elusive grandmothers have reminded me of an important lesson in genealogy. Never make any assumptions! Keep all possibilities on the research table until you have evidence to refute or support a theory. Duly noted!

The Power of Blogging for Genealogy

Today, I'm celebrating. June 4th is my three year blogiversary as Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers has branded it. Three years ago I published my first post as the Family Sleuther.

In that piece, I wrote of my burgeoning interest in family history:

"...there's something compelling about placing your own kin in their historical place and rediscovering people the world has long forgotten. It has captivated me and sparked an addiction to genealogy."

That addiction continues unabated and has yielded a handful of successes. Since its inception, I have published nearly 100 posts and the blog has racked up more than 45,000 page views. In the past year alone, I've published over 40 posts, including my most read piece about genetic genealogy's role in revealing the identity of my paternal great-grandfather. Not too bad for an amateur family historian who can only dedicate time to research and blog when his demanding day job permits.

While increasing my publication output and growing readership are gratifying, blogging has been a powerful tool for my genealogy. For example:

• Writing my family history forces me to carefully process my research and think about about the gaps that become apparent once it's in black and white. Blogging makes me a more focused, discerning genealogist. I ask more questions.

• Blogging puts my family history into the public domain for others - even distant cousins - to find. One day a distant cousin is going to take the bait, realize we share a family bond, and reach out with a long-lost bible, family photo, or [insert family treasure here] that allows me to finally bust through a previously impenetrable brick wall.

• This blog has become an archive for my family history. It documents my finds in real time. If I find my enthusiasm to pursue a challenging research puzzle starts to wane, I can pop onto the blog for a dose of motivation. It's inspiring to be reminded of past success.

For the year ahead, I aim to consistently blog, hopefully expand readership, tell more of my family's history and answer some of our outstanding mysteries, and even polish the technology I use to deliver and present this blog.

Grab your pipe, deerstalker cap, and Sherlock wit, we have an exciting year of family sleuthing ahead of us!

A Family Reunion Revived

Growing up, Memorial Day always meant family reunion. Each year, we would travel back to Kansas to decorate the graves for our loved ones. We would also celebrate my 2nd great-grandmother Minnie (Hawks) Barber, her eight adult children, and - over the years - her hundreds of descendants.

Minnie (Hawks) Barber pictured center with her eight adult children.

Minnie Hawks married John Lumpkins in January 1897 in Rossville, Kansas. They had six children, of whom four lived to adulthood. On his 37th birthday, while walking home from work, John slipped on ice and sustained a fatal head injury. At 28, Minnie was a widow. In October 1914, Minnie married Joseph Barber. Together, they had four sons. Joseph raised Minnie's children from her first marriage as his own. Minnie lived out the rest of her life in the small prairie town of Plainville, Kansas.

It was this family history that gave rise to the annual Lumpkins Barber family reunion at Webster State Park. Over the years, the reunion was routinely featured in Plainville's society pages.

However, as the years passed and Minnie's own children began to pass away, the number of attendees started to dwindle. In recent years, the reunion nearly ceased. A few family members would meet at a local steakhouse and reminisce. But the days of hundreds of cousins reconnecting seemed a thing of the past.

This year, I was eager to see if I could rekindle the reunion experience that seemed lost.

In January, I reserved a site at Webster State Park. I next turned to social media, creating a Facebook event invitation that invited all of the family who were members of our online Lumpkins Barber Facebook group to a Memorial Day weekend potluck lunch.

I sent regular reminders to make sure the reunion stayed on everyone's radar. I even brought Grandma Barber into the mix, hoping she would be a compelling saleswoman for the reunion.

Would they show?

Happily, the ancestors looked very favorably on our revived reunion. It was a huge success. The weather forecast calling for a 60% chance of rain gave way to warm sunshine. Attendance was remarkably robust with 100 people from across the US showing up to reconnect and remember. There was a fantastic energy and a strong interest in ensuring that the reunions continued.

2016 Lumpkins Barber Family Reunion

I think Grandma Barber would have been very proud to see her descendants gathering to remember her legacy - a legacy that seems positioned to continue for years ahead with renewed purpose and commitment.