On Exhibit in Special Collections

Getting Started in
Family History

Take a walk up to Special Collections and check out the newest exhibit, “Getting Started in Family History.”  You’ll see how our staff here in Special Collections decided it was time to have some fun with our own genealogy research.  This display shows how each of us contributed unique and interesting items from our own family history.  For example, Division Manager, Judy James, was able to incorporate many of her findings from a special genealogy trip she took to Fayette County, Ohio where she found an original will and probate records of her 4th great grandfather, John Orr.  Her experience gives excellent examples advice about what one might encounter when travelling out of town to cemeteries and courthouses in order to gather more information about an ancestor. 

Judy also has family heirlooms such as a shawl that belonged to her great-grandmother, and a soda glass from her great-grandfather’s bakery in Monroeville, Ohio from around 1900.  Librarian, Cheri Goldner, has a family heirloom, a tar bucket that legend has it the Goldner family brought when they came from Pennsylvania to Ohio on a Conestoga wagon.  Cheri also has several items about her grandfather, Robert Goldner, from his time in WWII, many entertaining photographs of her relatives, and a memorial card and portrait of her 3rd great-grandfather, Daniel Moherman, from 1892.  Librarian, Iris Bolar, was able to provide an early photograph and a Freedmans’ Bureau Record from 1874 that belonged to her great-grandfather, Jerry Lee.  She also displays a picture of the early Bolar ancestral home in Kentucky. 

Librarians, Mary Plazo and Joanne O’Dell display copies of passenger lists showing when their immigrant ancestors came to America.  The lists are from different time periods and allow you to see how information documented on 19th Century lists differs widely from that on a 20th Century passenger list.  Librarian, Jane Gramlich, was able to provide examples of an early naturalization record and an early marriage record.  Jane also has a photograph of the headstone for her fifth great-grandparents, Peter Rush, who died in 1846 and Mary Rush, who died in 1853.  There is also a letter from Jane’s 2nd great-grandfather,  John Demaline, from his Civil War pension file.  Our Clerical Assistant, Kit Zerbe, has wonderful photographs to share of her grandparents and parents ranging from 1890 all the way to the 1950s.

All of these are just a few examples of what our staff in Special Collections has on display in our latest exhibit.  It goes to show that everyone has a unique collection of records, photographs and treasures to find once we start climbing that family tree.