Pulling the thread of one’s family history can be a tedious yet rewarding long-term process, but a handful of volunteers in Lebanon make themselves available so the hunt is not so intimidating.
The Lebanon Genealogical Society has command of a small room at the Lebanon Public Library for use as a research library. Within those walls reside shelves of books, quarterlies, files, maps, photographs and microfiche, all ready to give up their secrets to those who wish to know them.
Those secrets, bits of information from the past, are intended to enhance a family’s understanding about themselves, about where they came from, about where-why-or-how they belong in this world. It’s an exercise in exploring and unearthing the facts – and even the gossip – that make up the family’s larger narrative.
National Family History Month, observed every October, is a time set apart to encourage families to preserve those stories, remember where they came from and, ultimately, record their own present-day information to pass down to their future generations.
Family History Month was first enacted and proclaimed in 2001 after Senate Resolution 160 was passed, a bill sponsored by former US Senator Orrin Hatch.
A genealogy librarian at Indiana State Library quoted Hatch as saying, “Essentially we are all immigrants to this country. Our ancestors came from different parts of the globe and by searching for our roots, we come closer together as a human family.”
It does not take a stretch of the imagination to understand that tracing one’s family history is akin to treasure hunting. George Morgan, an author recognized as a genealogy expert, said he revels in the “thrill of the chase” as he meets new people and uncovers new information by researching through libraries, archives, courthouses and other means of investigation across the states.
“Sometimes there are brick walls, but often there are immense breakthroughs,” Morgan said.
It’s a hobby that Lebanon resident Wayne Dykstra has committed himself to for more than 40 years now. As a member of the Lebanon Genealogical Society and volunteer at their research library, he takes advantage of the opportunity to continue his own hunting while helping others achieve the same feat.
Their little room gives people access to books of historical information, state and county data, old phone books, records on local houses and businesses, files of already-gathered bits of history on some family names, quarterlies from various genealogical societies, local history, high school yearbooks, reference books, microfiche from old local papers and information on the Revolutionary War, old photographs, and maps.
Digitally, they provide access to Ancestry.com, digitized Lebanon Express newspapers on Newspapers.com, and the Library of Congress’ “Chronicling America.”
New York Times writer Bruce Feiler set out to discover the “secret sauce” to stronger families and determined that the most important ingredient is developing a strong family narrative. Through research and tests, a pair of psychologists had concluded that children have a stronger sense of control over their lives, are more resilient and have a higher self-esteem when they know more about their family’s history.
Dr. Marshall Duke explained that a child’s sense of belonging to a larger family, to something bigger than themselves, builds in them that strength. Feiler noted that even companies and military organizations find more success when their teams understand the history of the organization.
Feiler concluded that to help build a stronger family unit, parents should create, refine and retell the family’s positive moments as well as the hardships they’ve overcome through the many generations; but even knowing the following answers can build that foundation: where the grandparents grew up, where the parents went to high school and how they met, terrible things or illnesses that happened in the family, the child’s birth story, what jobs past family members worked, and the history behind the family’s country of origin.
Dykstra has been compiling his family history, adding to a work his uncle had started some time ago. He has been able to trace his roots as far back as 1310 and, along with that, gather tidbits of information that answer those questions that help develop his family narrative.
For example, his great-great-grandfather once owned 1,000 acres of land near Heppner, Ore., and farmed that ranch until he moved to 360 acres in the valley, land that eventually got passed down to the family and divided.
He also learned his great-uncle changed his last name to Dexter because he was mad at the family for unknown reasons. Dykstra believes it may have to do with the fact he had married a Native American woman, which may have been frowned upon by the family.
And there’s the story he learned from a newspaper article that one of his distant relatives had located his run-away horse and, upon retrieving it, tied it to the bumper of his car and drug it home, causing the animal’s hide to be torn up.
“He was mad,” Dykstra said. “That tells me that he had a temper.”
It’s these kinds of family stories that fall by the wayside as new generations are raised up, getting lost like a whispering wind unless it was written down somewhere.
“These little snippets that you get from the newspaper is so important,” he said, adding that it’s a “pleasant” experience when he learns things about his family.
And so he continues to build his family narrative.
“If you want to do it, you need to really appreciate it as to remember it’s going to take a lot of time,” Dykstra said. He’s been researching since 1983 “and I still don’t have all the answers to the questions I have.”