{"id":3588,"date":"2018-11-03T20:08:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T20:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefhguide.com\/blog\/?p=3588"},"modified":"2019-01-16T21:31:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T21:31:13","slug":"when-seeking-turns-to-building-in-family-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefhguide.com\/blog\/when-seeking-turns-to-building-in-family-history\/","title":{"rendered":"When Seeking Turns To Building in Family History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Not long ago I had a very interesting experience\u00a0working with a\u00a0patron in the Oakland California Family Search Library. He had never been on FamilySearch\u00a0before and was eager to see what we had for him on Family\u00a0Tree.\u00a0 He had been on other big sites for a couple of free days in the\u00a0past and wanted to further his search for his great grandparents. He\u00a0is a 71-year-old African\u00a0American man; let\u2019s call him Frank for purposes of this story. He was interested in finding more information on his ancestors\u00a0who were slaves in Arkansas.<\/p>\n

Frank started his FamilySearch\/Family Tree by adding his information.\u00a0When we went to view his pedigree he was extremely disappointed\u00a0that his tree did not begin to populate across the\u00a0page. I explained that we needed to do a little research to find the\u00a0next person or two in his family, but he was resistant to the\u00a0idea. I then\u00a0took him to The Family History Guide and showed him where we\u00a0could look for possible records that might help him. We opened the\u00a0Countries page and\u00a0clicked on United States and then Arkansas. I showed\u00a0him the African American page as well, in the Ethnic link of\u00a0the Countries drop-down menu.<\/p>\n

We found one set of records in Arkansas that could possibly help,\u00a0but Frank became frustrated when the years he was looking for were not\u00a0available online. In about 15 minutes from\u00a0his first look at the pedigree, he was done. He was\u00a0thinking that he had given\u00a0his information\u00a0to Family Search and gotten nothing in return, so he started packing up to leave.\u00a0He was an intelligent man, quite computer savvy, and very nice and apologetic about his impatience. I realized that he\u00a0might have watched too many TV commercials and one-hour\u00a0programs that show simple solutions to complex genealogical\u00a0challenges. \u00a0He did not expect to have to work for his answers, or to have to\u00a0spend much time at it. What a shame. \u00a0I gave him the link to The Family History Guide\u00a0Guide website and my contact information.<\/p>\n

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As he stood to leave, we talked a little longer about how he just\u00a0wanted his great grandchildren to know about who they are,\u00a0because\u00a0he loves them. I realized that Frank needs to be\u00a0a \u201cbuilder\u201d now and not just a seeker\u00a0of his ancestors. He is not\u00a0ready to research, but he is ready to share his story and record his voice\u00a0telling stories about\u00a0himself, his parents, and his\u00a0 grandparents.\u00a0He is a great-grandfather who could leave stories\u00a0and vital\u00a0information\u00a0for his young great-granddaughters. He knew their 2nd and\u00a03rd great-grandparents, and he knows their parents and others that will\u00a0be important to those little girls as they grow up.<\/p>\n

Frank\u2019s attitude about family history changed in just a few minutes, before he reached the doors to leave the library. He will come back, and he will proceed\u00a0with his family history as a builder for now. I\u2019m pretty sure once he\u00a0does that, he will be fully invested\u00a0in seeking his ancestors.<\/p>\n

The best\u00a0part is he will have The Family History Guide\u00a0to help him with his efforts. On the website he can learn how to gather and upload\u00a0his documents and photos in the Memories Section of Family Tree. The Family\u00a0History Guide is surely a game changer for people. As trainers or mentors, it is so important for us to ascertain exactly what people want and need\u00a0before we jump right in with solutions for them. If we are beginning\u00a0our own family history, it is also critical to figure out what the desired\u00a0outcome of our work is in the beginning. Whether we are a learner or a trainer, the same basic principles apply. Of course that initial\u00a0vision can change over time but what is it we want in the beginning?<\/p>\n

I have learned that when records are scarce in a given locality it may\u00a0be time for the person to gain a mindset shift to beginning as a\u00a0builder<\/strong>\u00a0instead of a seeker<\/strong>. Frank left the library a happy man because he could now recognize what he really wanted to accomplish and how to do it.\u00a0 He left with a new vision where he could be successful and leave a personal legacy for his great granddaughters.\u00a0 He realized this was more pressing for him right now than adding to his pedigree of the ancestors in Arkansas.\u00a0 His success will create in him a desire to more on to that once he has accomplished his first priority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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