Tracing Your Pioneer Ancestors

Many of the people living in the Western United States have family roots that go back to ancestors who joined the Church and then traveled to the Salt Lake Valley. If your ancestors crossed the Plains between the years of 1847 and 1868 when the railroad arrived in Utah, those ancestors are considered to be pioneers. Over the intervening years, there has been a concerted effort to memorialize these early pioneers. One such effort is the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database.

During the years between 1847 and 1868, over 300 companies of pioneers traveled from different locations and walked, rode in wagons, pulled handcarts or rode horses into Salt Lake.  In all, more than 60,000 LDS Church members traveled in these companies.

Some of my own ancestors died in the attempt to cross the Plains. Of my ancestors, 18 of them either arrived in Utah or died in the attempt, during that time period. A few more arrived later, after the railroad had already been built. But even then, many of them traveled in wagons down into Southern Utah, California and Arizona to settle. I grew up with pioneers that were not just something you read about in a book, but who were members of my family.

The Mormon Overland Travel Database is described as follows:

This database is a compilation of names obtained from rosters and other reliable sources of individuals who immigrated to Utah during this two-decade period. Each company is listed under its captain's name, and basic information is provided, including a photograph of the captain where available. Many companies include a list of diaries, journals, letters, and reminiscences written by company members, as well as contemporary reports about the company. The content of several thousand of those narratives has been transcribed and is included in the database.

Whether or not you had family members who were pioneers, this database helps to provide a living and useful memorial to all those who make the trip and is a valuable historical resource and very helpful to genealogists.

Important Resources for Stake and Ward Indexing Programs

In a blog post of 12 December 2013 by Courtney Connolly, FamilySearch outlined the resources available to the local Church units to support the Indexing program. The list includes the following:

• Stake Indexing Director Forum Recording: Hundreds of stake indexing directors attended this forum to receive direction and support in their calling. Watch this recording to learn about the upcoming indexing website and web-based indexing program, and also hear from Elder Dennis C. Brimhall, managing director of the Family History Department.
• Indexing Is Vital Presentation: This presentation was created to help you communicate why indexing is so important to family history and temple work. Use this presentation in a fifth-Sunday lesson, a ward council meeting, or a meeting with your priesthood leaders to help explain the many blessings indexing provides. It is available in both PowerPointand PDF formats.
• Stake Indexing Director Website: Newly revised, this site is now organized according to the four main responsibilities of your calling. Use the stake indexing director newsletter archive to find all prior stake indexing director newsletters.
• Arbitration Webinar: Were you able to attend the arbitration webinar for stake indexing directors? The recording and PowerPoint are now available. View this presentation to understand your role in arbitration and how you and your stake members can become qualified to arbitrate.
• New Website Webinar: A new indexing website has been released to pave the way for the new indexing program, which will roll out in stages during 2014. Learn how to help your stake take advantage of the new site.

At the Mesa FamilySearch Library we are seeing a greater participation by the local units in the classes we are holding for Indexing and for Family History Consultants. Both of these programs are receiving a much greater emphasis on the local level than even was evident a year ago. 

FamilySearch Centers as resources

As I travel around the United States, I find that the FamilySearch Centers are staffed by wonderful, competent people. They do an outstanding job in supporting genealogy research at their facilities. Unfortunately, the high quality of the FamilySearch Centers is not matched by the knowledge of the facility by the surrounding community even in the Wards and Stakes. Another under-used asset is the various websites maintained by the Centers and Libraries around the world. Here are a few of the outstanding websites maintained by FamilySearch Centers:

• Mesa, Arizona FamilySearch Library
• Los Angeles FamilySearch Library
• Ogden FamilySearch Library
• Riverton FamilySearch Library

Many of the Centers have websites incorporated into the FamilySearch Research Wiki. You can find them by going to the Research Wiki and searching for the name of the city where they are located. To find a Center near you, go to FamilySearch.org and click on "Get Help." You can then click on a link to "Visit Us" and that will let you search for a FamilySearch Center in your area or you can click on this link to the FamilySearch Center Locator.

Here are some basic observations I would make about using a FamilySearch Center;

1. Make sure of the Center's operation hours. Some of the FamilySearch Centers are only open certain hours during the week. Before making a trip to the FamilySearch Center, make sure that it will be open and staffed during the time of your visit. If you have special needs concerning a particular area of research, make sure that someone at the Center is available to answer your questions. It is entirely possible that only a small number of the volunteers at the Center will be well-versed in any particular area of expertise.
2. When you visit the center for the first time, take a short tour of the facility to become acquainted with the resources available in any details of the operation of the Center. Some of the Centers have limited resources and mainly provide access to the online subscription services which are free at the Centers. In addition they may only have the capability of receiving microfilm orders which are now made online.
3.  If you have specific questions that cannot be answered by the volunteers at the Center, be patient with the staff. You may need to call the helpline for FamilySearch regarding some of the questions about Family Tree or other programs that change frequently.
4. If you are an expert in some aspect of genealogy, please consider volunteering to help at the Center. Volunteers are always welcome and at the very least you could provide telephone service to patrons who have questions in the particular area of your expertise.

Remember that the Centers are staffed by missionaries or volunteers that may not know the answers to all of your questions.

The Role of the High Priests Group Leader in Family History

The High Priest Group Leaders in the Wards have a very specific calling and function in the Family History work in the Ward. Their basic responsibilities are outlined in the Leader Resources section of LDS.org and in the Handbook 2, 5.4 where it says:

“Priesthood and auxiliary leaders teach members to participate in family history work by identifying their ancestral family members, requesting temple ordinances for them if needed, and providing these ordinances in the temple themselves if possible.”

The Family History Consultant's Guide also says:

Guidance from the High Priests Group Leader

The high priests group leader coordinates temple and family history work in the ward. (If your ward does not have a high priests group leader, the bishop assigns a member of the elders quorum presidency to do this.) He oversees your service as a family history consultant. If you need assistance or have questions about your responsibilities, he can help you. The high priests group leader reports in priesthood executive committee and ward council meetings on temple and family history activities. Under the direction of the bishop, members of the priesthood executive committee and ward council identify individuals and families for you to contact. The high priests group leader meets with you regularly to provide you with the names of members to contact, to discuss your progress in
helping members, and to provide counsel.

Of course, it is possible that the High Priest Group Leader in the Ward lacks the specific computer skills presently required to function in Family History callings, but this should not limit him from supporting the work of others and teaching and helping the Ward Members. The qualities of successful Family History Consultants are also those that will assist the High Priest Group Leader in his calling. These are stated in the Family History Consultant's Guide as follows:

Qualities of Successful Family History Consultants

You will be an effective family history consultant as you serve and love the members of your ward and patiently help them with their family history. You do not need to be an expert in family history research. Successful consultants are:

• Skilled in teaching and working with members.
• Comfortable using technology to help members with their family history.
• Able to exercise good judgment and discretion when dealing with sensitive family matters.

(See “Temple and Family History Work” [handbook, 2006], 265.)

Family History work in the Ward works best when the activities are directed by the participation of the Ward Council. Quoting from an Ensign article entitled, "Family History: In Wisdom and Order" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, he counsels,

Our efforts to promote temple and family history work should be such as to accomplish the work of the Lord, not to impose guilt on his children. . . . In the work of redeeming the dead there are many tasks to be performed, and . . . all members should participate by prayerfully selecting those ways that fit their personal circumstances at a particular time. This should be done under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord and with the guidance of priesthood leaders who issue calls and direct the Church-administered portions of this work. Our effort is not to compel everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something.

Do you have questions about family history or genealogy?

If you have any questions about family history or genealogy, I can help you find the answers. Please use this website as a place to ask for help. I may not know the answer immediately, but I can certainly tell you where to go or who to talk to to get the answer. So please, at any time, feel free to leave a comment asking a question.

Now I have been consistently asking that same question to hundreds of classes and presentations that I have done over the years. Sometimes I get questions, sometimes I don't. But the questions always fall into very predictable and definable categories. That is why I feel safe in making this offer. One very important thing however you must know, I am usually more than likely to end up asking you questions back about the problem. Usually the questions asked are too vague to answer and I need more details.

Additionally, I find that when I tell someone the answer to their question they are not usually happy with the answer. Genealogy is very open ended. There are usually no simple answers. My answer may involve a great deal of work on your part. You have to be prepared to do the work and usually, you will find the answer yourself.

We must also be realistic. Some questions have no answers at all. There are real end-of-line situations in genealogy all the time. If that is the case, then you need to know that and move on. Perhaps through time, the answer will become available.

OK. So start asking.

Three useful steps to competency in family history

I have been thinking about what people need to do to move towards becoming more involved in family history. It seems an insurmountable task to go from being mildly interested in genealogy and having no background to finding ancestors that are candidates for Temple ordinances. I think there are three things that are not challenging that will put you on the path to competency in family history endeavors. Here are my suggestions.

The first step is to become involved with your ancestral family on a regular basis. Set aside a time each week to think about your family and organize and review the documents you have. How about an hour every Sunday or some other day, when you organize photos, dig out the old letters and documents and begin to look at them as the history of your family. How about finding and organizing all your own certificates and documents. You could go online to FamilySearch.org and spend some time looking at the Family Tree program. Take some time to look at the photos and read the stories online about your family, if there are any. If there are no photos online, start putting your own online.

The second step is a little more involved. Look for any genealogy or family history that may have already been done in your family. If there is a book containing some of your family history, do you have a copy? Is there something online in one of the huge digital books sites about one of your ancestors? Have you searched your family's surname in FamilySearch.org's Books website? If you have or learn of a book about your family, read it. Look online at the Family Tree program and match up the information in the book with what is online. Think about whether the information you have is consistent and believable. Take some time to study the history of where your family came from and how they originally came to America or any other major historical events. Look for prominent or interesting ancestors.

The third step is now the one that puts you on the path to competency. It is the really the first step in your education. This step is to talk to a Ward or Stake Family History Consultant or visit a Family History Center. Don't just talk, ask questions about classes and the training available. Take the time to learn about the local resources you have to help you learn about the process of doing your family history. Find someone who will help you get started. If you are the type of person who wants to do this all on their own, then use the vast online resources available to help you on your journey. Here are some websites that will get you started:

• FamilySearch.org
• Begin your genealogy quest
• Principles of Family History Research
• Starting Your Family History
• Getting Started
• Getting Started in Genealogy and Family History
• Getting Started
• How To: Getting Started in Genealogy
• Starting Your Genealogy Research - The Basics

That's probably enough to give you and idea of what is available. So now, take the first step. 

A Perspective on Local Ward Genealogical Efforts

I have lived in my present Ward now for eight years. During that entire time, with a few very limited breaks, I have also been a Missionary at the Mesa FamilySearch Library (formerly the Mesa Regional Family History Center) and also acting as one of the Family History Consultants in our Ward. Early on in my experiences in this Ward, we focused on holding periodic classes on genealogy using the very well done and basic lesson materials supplied by the Church. What we found was that, for the most part, the class members would sometimes become interested in pursuing their own research, but that the classes did not provide the tools they needed to advance beyond looking at what was already recorded online. It appeared that the main obstacle to increasing family history activity was a way to capture the interest of the members, but at the same time, provide a pathway for them to advance in finding their ancestors from a practical standpoint.

In our Ward building, we do not have a FamilySearch Center, but we do have room with some computers. After some discussion, we decided to change the focus of our efforts from holding periodic classes to providing an open forum for members of the Ward to come to us every Sunday during our class period and work with individuals on their particular needs. Although response was slow at first, our persistence in the being available for consultation every Sunday eventually resulted in a marked increase in research activity among the Ward members with the results of some discovery hundreds of their ancestors. It is not unusual now to have every chair in our small computer center filled and people standing around asking questions.

Two events in the last month or so have dramatically changed the family history atmosphere in our Ward. First, the Stake implemented an Indexing program among the youth with active Stake representatives organizing and teaching the youth about Indexing. In addition, during the past month, our Bishop gave us permission to visit, very briefly, with each of the member families as they came for Tithing Settlement. We agreed not to do anything to interfere with the appointment times, but since our computer room was right next to the Bishop's office, this was not a problem.

We have now had a full month of meeting with most of the members of our Ward. The key factor to the success of this effort was using the Photos and Stories on FamilySearch.org's Family Tree program. We took less than five minutes, in most cases, to have one of the members of the family sign on to FamilySearch.org and showed them what the program had in the way of photos and stories. If their family did not have any photos online, we showed them briefly a file where there were a lot of photos and stories.

The results of this effort have been dramatic. What has been missing from the genealogy efforts in the past is engaging the class members in their own families. With stories and photos the reaction from the members, most of whom had not seen anything like this before, was extreme. We had people burst into tears and become so involved we had a hard time getting them to go to the Bishop's office for their appointment.

To reinforce what we had been doing every Sunday for a month, the Bishop held a "Fifth Sunday" meeting earlier in the month of December on the subject of FamilySearch and the Photos and Stories. We were able to present a brief overview to a a large number of Ward members, most of whom had already seen their own file online. When I went to a Ward gathering after these experiences, every person I talked to for over an hour wanted to tell me what they had found online about their family and how they are going to put more photos online.

I think there are some specific points here that need to be made. First and foremost, the Photos and Stories part of FamilySearch.org is a fantastic success even with all of its problems and challenges. Second, the members of the Ward need a specific experience that gives them an emotional interaction with their ancestors and the Photos and Stories provides that link. Last, the effort needs to be supported by active Family History Consultants that can provide the information to the members about how to translate their interest into concrete research on their family lines. If this is done consistently, day after day, week after week, the members will begin to take their own initiative and become actively involved in research. We are also fortunate to have the Mesa FamilySearch Library so close to our area for backup to our local Ward efforts.

Think about whether some variation on this type of approach might not help your own Ward.