Genealogical Musing with Fran

We who live and breathe St. Louis baseball are in the midst of another wonderful time of watching or just listening to the play by play. There have many a champion player born in St. Louis and not all played for the Cardinals. One, St. Louisan Yogi Berra, has been quoted many times and as I was rereading his book, I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said, I was amused at a few of the quotes that “synced” with genealogy research. Quote #1: “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ‘cause you might not get there!” Just think about it! I am smiling as to how many times I have not known where I was going on a family line only to be pleasantly surprised––or not. Each and every name has a possible surprise behind it, and as we dig deeper and deeper we get to the essence of the person. We might find out that a relative was not law abiding, or not sane, or a wanderer. Or on the flip side, perhaps he was a steady provider for his family, a community supporter, and/or a solid moral person.

A second quote: “ We’re lost, but we’re making good time!” is one where you have to pause and then smile and then think about all those waste-of-time, hasty false starts. Think about those long paths that you go down only to find they lead to the wrong place or nowhere at all. All that energy that could have been saved if, at the very beginning, we would have gone step by step to prove the connection.

Quote #3 “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Oh, yeah, here we are with two people in the same place at the same time with the same name! Which road to follow and research first? Which one will take us to the right destination?

And the fourth and last quote, “Slump? I ain’t in no slump––I just ain’t hitting.” Well, we have all been in a slump and and not hitting but there is always another turn at bat as long as we stay in the game! I, like you, I hope, am staying in the game! The game of genealogy that is.

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My latest interest has been finding out more about the history of StLGS as many questions pop up about how this organization has continued to grow and prosper with “only” a volunteer staff. The mission has always been the same, to “promote family history research by providing educational and research opportunities, offering community services, and collecting, preserving, and publishing genealogical and historical records.” From the very first meeting, there was a togetherness to the group, which stemmed from the common subject of St. Louis genealogy.

Here at StLGS we work as a team to achieve our goals. Volunteers, all of whom are home run hitters, know that it takes a full team effort to continue to keep up the quality of the work to the standards set fifty years ago by the founders of StLGS. If you don’t know us, then I hope you will go to www.stlgs.org and investigate our past and our present projects and events and join our team.

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Our 46th annual Family History Conference, which featured Cyndi Ingle, Jan Alpert, and Bruce Buzbee, was quite the success. We want to thank our special sponsors: the History and Genealogy Department at St. Louis County Library, the Genealogy Department at St. Louis Public Library, the Missouri History Museum, NoWaste Publishing, Travel Leaders and Nancy Mettes, Vagabond Information Services and Peggy Thomson Greenwood, Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, Ancestry.com, Carol Whitton, cg, Findmypast, Fold3 and Newspapers.com.

Also our exhibitors: Acclaim Press, Jefferson County Genealogy Society, Once Upon A Trip Travel, Perry County Historical Society, Voices of the Past, Sons of the American Revolution, Missouri State Archives, St. Louis County Library, and Missouri History Museum.

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We have two events coming up in July, the first of which, The Missouri Research Institute, 17–20 July will be held at our office at  #4 Sunnen Drive, St. Louis, MO 63143. The second is the Summer Speaker Series, “Mining Online German Research,” featuring James M. Beidler, on Saturday, 22 July. This will be an all-day in-depth learning opportunity for those researching their German ancestors. As the events are back to back we are offering a package deal for those who want to attend both. The Institute is limited to thirty attendees but the Speaker Series is open to many more. Remember that as a member you are entitled to a discount on the cost of attending most StLGS programs.

          There are so many perks to being a volunteer and a member of StLGS but for most of us it is the people we meet and the service to StLGS that keeps a smile in our hearts and a spring in our steps. I encourage you to come and join this “merry band” of searchers and seekers.

Thank you to all who continue to support us and volunteer for us. We look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events or when you visit our office.

Happy hunting and, as Yogi Berra said, “Ninety percent of the game is half mental.” Think about it!

Fran Behrman