Irish Genealogy News - Reverse Genealogy

Hi folks. If you’ve ever “survived” my Course I presentation, you’ve heard me encourage the use of reverse genealogy. This Wednesday (May 4th) in Rochester there is a presentation on that topic. (6:30pm, Community Room on Second Floor, Barnes and Noble at RIT, corner of Jefferson Rd & John St)

Ed Groszewski, a professional genealogist, will be presenting. He works with a company that does genealogical research so the armed forces can contact kinfolk of missing service men and women. The focus of the talk will be on using sources for twentieth century searching. I expect that Ed will present tools and techniques which will be relevant to your reverse genealogy project.

What is reverse genealogy? Our typical research is aimed at going back in time. Reverse genealogy (or descendancy research) works forward to the current day. You simply select a couple from your family (maybe grandparents or ggp or etc.) and work to identify ALL of their living descendants. Identify all of the couple’s children and then all of their children’s children, etc. To reap the full benefits of reverse genealogy, it’s important to CONTACT the living descendants. Someone out there knows something about your family that you don’t know. If you never contact them, you won’t be able to benefit from their knowledge.

When you make that first attempt to contact someone, DO NOT overwhelm them. Give them a very SHORT explanation of your relationship (~1 sentence) and indicate your willingness to share more info. Ask them ONE question that is simple and straightforward. Make it easy for them to immediately reply (ex: self-addressed stamped envelope). Once you get a nibble, then you can go into more detail.

Is it Spring yet?

Take Care,
Dennis
www.dennisAhogan.com