By Dee Haviland Fournier, Instructor, Heritage Quest Research Library and Dorothy Wilhelm, Humorist, Confused about her family
Join Dee and Dorothy for “From Hudson’s Bay to Downton Abbey and Beyond” – Dupont August 16. Register below. Why Am I Filling Out These Forms?
Dorothy: I’ve been collecting and downloading forms for two weeks now. I don’t think I’m getting anywhere. Tell me again why you think it’s important to go to all this trouble. You know, when I find these people, it’s a good chance I won’t like them.
Dee: It’s like having your own history mystery program like History Detectives, but you get to be the star and solve the mystery.
Dorothy: It’s time to fill out the forms we downloaded. I know there will be more rules.
Dee: Well yes – two more important ones.
1. Always work from the Known to the Unknown. Start with facts like death and birth certificates.
2. Always cite where your information came from. Such as, with your father’s death certificate – The citation will be, WA St Dept of Health, Certificate of Death, State File Number 146, local file number 1411.
Dorothy – We can find out other things than just where and when and how death occurred.
Dee – Yes. Be sure to note who the informant – the person who gave the information for the certificate was – and then other information. This certificate gives place of birth, name of father, and maiden name of mother, and it gives your father’s occupation.
Dorothy – I just noticed that I was the informant on that certificate. That certainly lowers the level of confidence.
Dee – Adventure – think adventure!
Note: Heritage Questions is a summer feature twice weekly exclusive in the Suburban Times. Your questions are encouraged. Plan to join Dee and Dorothy on August 16 at “From Hudson’s Bay to Downton Abbey and Beyond” family heritage workshop in a benefit for the DuPont Historical Museum. You may even win a copy of Dee Fournier’s new book, Stepping Stones to Genealogy. Probably not, but you never know. Details at www.itsnevertoolate.com.
FROM HUDSON’S BAY TO DOWNTON ABBEY AND BEYOND REGISTRATION
AUGUST 16, 2014 9:00 TO 3:30
Full Name
Street Address City and Zip
Phone number Email
Area of research interest:
$10 donation covers lunch, handouts, and ice cream social. Send check for Ten Dollars to DuPont Historical Museum, 207 Barksdale Avenue DuPont, WA 98327. Register online: www.itsnevertoolate.com Event info: 253-582-4565.
