Doniphan County Genealogy Research Links

The best way to get information about your roots is to talk to family elders. Most of us are shy about contacting these wonderful people unless we're already close to them. I highly encourage you to speak to the ones you might not know as well. If you can, go visit them personally. Take a tape recorder and ask them if you can record them as they answer your questions. (Make sure you have a list of questions ready before you get there!) Most people are reluctant to be videotaped, but some might be willing. At the very least, take a camera, too, so you can have a photographic record of the person who provided you with the information. I shouldn't have to say this, but remember to be respectful to them and thank them for their time, especially if it is someone whom you don't know well.

Sometimes it's profitable to just let them talk about what they want. You can get some great anecdotes and family stories that way, which might not happen in a completely structured interview. It's amazing what knowledge is so easily lost when a family elder passes on, so try to record as much of that knowledge as is possible. You might even find that quite a few of them have done family research on their own, so you can gain information on several generations quite quickly.

My great-aunt, Isabelle, and great, great-aunt, Ena, provided almost all of the information that I have on that particular branch of my family. Aunt Ena passed on several years ago, so I'm very grateful for the information that she gave me. It certainly might have been lost with her passing, but now I can have it to give to other generations.