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Solving the mysteries of a family’s history can be addicting
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Kristi R. McPherson-Burns of Austintown shows off her books and notes on genealogy. The photograph that she is holding is of her maternal great-grandparents and maternal grandparents..
AUSTINTOWN
It started with a horn.
Growing up, Kristi R. McPherson-Burns was fascinated by a family heirloom: a horn whittled and drawn on with a knife.
One of the images on it was an American flag with 18 stars, which dates to sometime between 1778 and 1813.
“After that I was interested in genealogy,” Burns said.
October is Family History Month, but Burns celebrates researching genealogy year-round.
Burns, who moved to Austintown a few years ago from Michigan, said she has seen the popularity of genealogy increase with the advent of the website Ancestry.com and TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?”
“It’s really exploded in popularity,” she said.
The increase can be hard to substantiate, but there seems to be more of an interest, said Stacey Adger, president of the Mahoning County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. She cited an uptick in requests to look up obituaries and marriage licenses as part of her reasoning.
Burns described the addictive nature of genealogy.
“The fun thing is that one question leads to an answer, which just leads to another question,” she said.
In her research, Burns has discovered that she is connected to the accused Salem witches, a Canadian sea captain who spoke Gaelic and a Civil War prisoner of war who died in the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia.
Adger had advice for newcomers to the field.
“Arm yourself with what you know. If you have parents or grandparents available, get as much information from them about time, dates and locations so you’re not starting with scratch,” she said.
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County is one resource for budding family historians.
“Of special note are the powerful research databases to which the library has purchased access rights. We offer links to related websites and year-round special programs about genealogical topics,” wrote Tim Seman, library researcher, in an e-mail.
Although people can find a lot of information online through FamilySearch.org and other sites, Adger cautioned that genealogical projects take time.
“People believe they’ll sit down an hour and find their family tree,” she said. “But it’s a process and takes a while.”
After 20 years of research and finding much of her family tree, Burns is still searching for definitive answers about the engraved horn’s owner.
“He’s rather elusive,” she said.