Get Those Skeletons Out of Your Closet: Find Your Own Ghosts!

See how this week's Book-A-Week Challenge author, Elizabeth Eagan-Cox, author of the Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery series, brings to life ghosts from the past.

Enjoy Elizabeth's article!


Get Those Skeletons Out of Your Closet: Find Your Own Ghosts!
By Elizabeth Eagan-Cox, author of the Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery Series.

As an author of a paranormal mystery novel series I use genealogical research techniques to bring to life some of my characters… especially the ghost characters, whom I treat as real characters, not mere novelties.

Discovering my own ancestry has been a journey of self-discovery. I believe that when you unravel the facts regarding the births, marriages and deaths of your ancestors, you find intrinsic information about yourself.

I was the first in my family to connect the dots all the way back to Revolutionary War Patriots of America in the 1700s. Because of being able to authenticate my lineage with evidential proof provided in vital records and military files, I joined one of the oldest lineage societies in America: the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, known in American culture as The D.A.R.

I know from having taught genealogy and helping others that my journey into documenting family ancestry of over 300 years ago is not unique! Anyone curious enough to want to know more about where they came from can do what I did. As your time and schedule allow, I urge you to find your own ghosts!

Here’s a few easy and free ways to get started taking the first steps back in time to meet your ancestors:

1. Get the facts down on paper. Using some kind of form is the easiest way to
organize and chart the lineage you are hunting for. This web site provides free forms that you can download and print up: www.misbach.org. From the menu on the left, click “Free Stuff.”

2. Finding the dearly departed. Start with death records and trace an ancestor’s
life from death to birth. If your ancestors are buried near you, go to the cemetery, locate their grave and then go to the cemetery office. Ask for burial records. A cemetery/burial record will provide additional information, you may want to order an official death certificate and a burial record will indicate in which county the death is recorded. Most often, death records are kept at county clerk level. If you don’t know the place of burial, try this web site: www.findagrave.com. Find a Grave allows you to search by surname. Remember to try different spellings of the surname.

3. Once you have death information you are ready to tackle the every-day life aspect of your ancestor. You’ll want to locate them on government census records. In the USA, official census records have been recorded every ten years since 1790. There are numerous Online paid subscription services with census data banks. However, before you pay for those services, I advise searching for free through Heritage Quest. The Encyclopedia of Genealogy web site: www.eogen.com has an index, Choose “H” on the index and follow it to the listing for Heritage Quest. Find your state and you will find public libraries that subscribe to Heritage Quest, contact a library near you and sign up to use Heritage Quest from your home computer.

Once you locate your ancestors on census records you’ll discover a wealth of information about them: Their primary occupation, residential address, annual income, names of family members. And as you travel back into the census you’ll see how your relatives moved from one place to another, each move taking you further back in time and to a different location.

If you run into a dead-end, then back up and:

1. Look at siblings. Women can be difficult to track, but often their brothers
aren’t.
3. Remember to use different spellings of the surname, think phonetically.
4. Eventually you will want to locate birth and marriage records in addition to death records. However, never overlook the potential that death records provide for unraveling clues and leads. Burial records often name the religious affiliation and that church may have additional information. Burial records also name closest kin…another clue to follow and in some situations, a death record may name a hospital. Never forget that you can get patient care records.

Death can be the beginning!
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Find out more about Elizabeth Eagen-Cox at www.ElizabethEaganCox.net