Sutton Room & Intro to Genealogy

Peabody Institute Library By Erik R. Bauer

archivist

Eben Sutton 10, September 1803 to 26, December 1864

Owned mills in North Andover; director of the Eastern Railroad; Library Trustee; director of Danvers Bank. He was also a Unitarian.

Eliza Dustin Sutton 4, April 1826 to 1889

Born in Peabody, but is from the Dustin Haverhill line. Schooled at Saugus Female Seminary. Founded the Eben Dale Sutton Reference Room; Sutton Home for Aged Women among other causes.

Eben Dale Sutton 8, February 1848 to1862

Sutton’s second son, wheelchair bound, loved to read and spend many hours at the Library. Died at the age of 14 due to unknown health issues.

Eben Dale Sutton Reference Room

1866 Elize wrote to the Trustees’ saying she was making at donation of $20,000. Opened in 1869. Restored in 1976 and 2003.

Outline

• Introduction

• Sources and How To’s

• Local History Collection

• Questions

Where to Start?

• YOU

• Have a question ready. Who do you want to find out more about?

• Start with what you know.

• What materials do you already have?

• Interview your family.

• Take family stories with a grain of salt.

• Birth, marriage and death certificates

• Family Bibles

• Naturalization and related docs.

• Letters

• Diaries and journals

• Other records

Personal Belongings

Interview Your Family

• Ask about family stories

• Get people to talk about other relatives

• Listen and ask followup questions

• Recording is better than writing and consider videotaping the interview

Software

• For Windows

• Family Tree

• Legacy

• For the Mac

• Family Tree

• Reunion

There are others so research your options

Useful Websites

• Ancestry.com - (Library use)

• Americanancestors.org (NEHGS)

• Pilot.FamilySearch.org (LDS)

• Cyndislist.com

• Footnote.com (military records)

• Google

• Genealogybank.com (newspaper)

• Archives.gov/genealogy

• Allen County Public Library

• JewishGen.org

• findagrave.com

Vital Records Death Records

• Easiest to obtain

• Person is dead less of a privacy issue.

• Info includes

• Date and place of death

• Cause

• Parents’ names and the deceased's birth and place of birth

• Last address

• Occupation

• Marital status

• Place of burial (if not cremated)

• Over looked but very important record

• Can obtain bride’s maiden name

• Also names both parents

• Possible ages of both

• # of marriage for each one

• Date & Place of marriage

Marriage Records

Pitfalls for Marriage Records

• Married in a different state than you think may cause you to go fish.

• Because of privacy concerns you may have to provide proof of death to obtain a record.

Birth Records

• Hardest to obtain

• Person may be alive creates privacy issues

• Many cases need death record to get birth record

• Limits on records

• Some records can only obtained after a certain number of years.

• In many cases you need to know:

• Place of birth

• Village, Town, City or County

• Year

• Who to contact?

• Vitalrec.com

• deathindexes.com

Vital Records Websites

Military Records

• Types of Records

• Enlistment and Draft Registration

• Personnel Records

• Compiled Service Records

• Bounty Land Warrants

• Pension files

Which Wars?

• Seven Years War

• Revolutionary War

• War of 1812

• Mexican-American

• Spanish American

• Korean

• Vietnam

• Invasion of Grenada

• Panama

• Gulf War I & II

Advantages

• Physical description

• Any injuries

• Where they are buried

• Awards received

• The more one is denied benefits the longer and better the paper trail

Genealogy is like going back to School

• Cite your sources!!

• Primary documents

• Birth, marriage and death certificates

• Military records, among others

• Secondary documents

• Newspapers & Books

• Recommend

• Chicago Manual of Style

• Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace

• Or use a system that works for you, but make sure others can understand it.

How complicated can it Get?

• 1980 & 1990 Census lives in Illinois

• 2000 Census lives in in Iowa

• Married in Kansas City, KS (2003)

• 2010 Census lives in California

• City Listing in Peabody (2011-2013) & Salem (2014-Present)

• Purchase of a house in Salem

Passing the Torch

• Share your findings be creative

• Organize it so others can pick up where you left off

Local History Resource Center

• Ancestry.com & Heritage Quest

• Street Indexes (Peabody, Salem & Danvers

• Vital Records - South Danvers and other Cities (Years vary)

• Church Records (South Church)

• Probate records

• Back issues of the New England History & Genealogy Register

• Back issues of New England Ancestors

• Issues of The Essex Genealogist

• Some World War I records

• Some naturalization information

• Have a goal & be prioritize

• Look for one maybe two people