"How to Write a Story People Will Want to Read"

"Life narratives don't have to be dry as dust. The recent wave of best-selling memoirs demonstrates that even stories about ordinary people can keep readers enthralled and turning pages like the most compelling fiction." p.6

In this book one learns by doing. These principles of writing can be used for writing pioneer histories as well as any ancestral memoir. Even better, for our own memoir.

Any memoir idea can be turned into an interview question. This book is full of ideas to be captured.

Aunt Naomi Saves History

Maude Crane Melville 1898

Maude Crane Melville was an amazing family historian and oral historian for her time. She interviewed not only family members but visitors as well. In fact, many of the histories at the Territorial Statehouse Museum in Fillmore, Utah were written by Maude. She had collected many photos and historical papers as well. She was instrumental in creating a Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in Kanosh, Utah and placing the Territoral Statehouse Museum on the historical register.

However, much of her collection was located in drawers and boxes and unorganized. When Maude's descendants got together to go through her house and clean it out, these items didn't look like much. Her daughter Naomi wanted to keep it while her sisters wanted to just throw it away. Naomi took it home and sorted through the items. She had acquired quite a collection. Her daughter, Mary Lou, made a gorgeous scrapbook with all the photos. Naomi's sisters asked in surprise where she got all the photos and she retorted, "In the papers you wanted to throw away."

 Records at Risk

Oral histories and many memorabilia items can be unintentionally or purposefully thrown away, taken to the DI, or sold off. Sometimes descendants don't realize how valuable their family history can be. How many historical records are in landfills? We are empowered when we take measures to preserve our own history.

July 1897 at Pioneer Jubilee Celebration

 Empowering Measures

Here is one example of what can be done: Rand Staples transcribed and published Maude Melville's oral histories in book form. If one takes a book to The Family History Library in Salt Lake, the library will scan and return the book within a couple of days. Then the digitzed book is placed in their magnificent online book collection. They have more than 80,000 digitzed genealogy and family history publications. Click here to view Rand's book.

To search the Family History book collection go to the FamilySearch website, click on the computer icon, then up in the catagory bar is a collection called "books". Click on it and begin searching or just click here to go directly to the search box.

Is This Your Ancestor?

The Utah North Company has 2 artifact museums within its borders: The Alpine Relic Hall located at 50 North Main St. in Alpine, run by the Mountainville Camp; and the Highland Cabin, owned and run by the Highland Camp at 10400 North Heritage Park in Highland.

The photo above is one of many items on display at The Relic Hall. Company records detail that Angelia Vail Vance was born on 8 July 1837 in Springfield, McLaine, Illinois to Gamaliel Vail and Martha Bartholomew. She was only 7 years old when her father died of pneumonia and her mother took the family to Council Bluffs, Iowa  then migrated in 1851 to Utah Territory while she walked most of the way. They settled in Alpine in 1852 and she worked as a gifted seamstress throughout her life. In 1854 she married John Wesley Vance in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory with the ceremony performed by Brigham Young. Her spinning wheel, little round table, and chair are on display in the Relic Hall. Tragically, at the age of only 30, with 6 young children, her husband died by Indian ambush in the Utah Black Hawk War. It wasn't until the age of 90 that she died in Alpine. Her children are:

• John Alma Vance born 1855 married Matilda Martin
• Lewis Jefferson Vance born 1857 married Frances Ferrell
• Angelia Vance born 1859 married Frederic Charles Clark
• Joseph Angus Vance born 1861 married Emma Yearsley
• Isaac Reno Vance born 1863 married Marintha Althera Martin
• William Oscar Vance born 1866

One of the purposes of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) is to preserve the past which includes artifacts. In addition to the main museum in Salt Lake City many companies or camps maintain much smaller, yet valuable, museums throughout the west. When researching an ancestor, be sure to check with local  DUP companies in addition to historical and genealogical societies to track down artifacts. What did your ancestor leave behind?

Give that Old History a Facelift

One of the first places to look for information on a specific pioneer ancestor, whether male or female, is in the Historical Department of the International Daughters of Utah Pioneers. They are located at 300 North Main Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their collection has over 100,000 histories and around 25,000 photos. Luckily, they have index lists online.

The histories have come from members since the organization began in 1901. Current members today are required to write histories and turn them in. There are many "Utah Pioneers" that have not been written about. Click on the Utah Pioneers link to find out exactly who was considered to be a "Utah Pioneer" and how large the territory was - you just might be surprised. Be sure to scroll all the way down on that page.

One question many members have is this, "All my ancestors already have a history, what do I do now?" Here is an idea for a fresh history:

Most, if not all, of these histories don't have sources. When they were written that wasn't important. Now it is. Everything needs a source to be considered credible. Gathering census, church, land, vital, and cemetery records are easier to collect than ever with websites like FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. Find My Past used to be just for the British Isles but recently has delved into American records. MyHeritage has absorbed the World Vital Records collection. Libraries, courthouses, historical societies, genealogical societies have many indexes and even records online.

Two of my favorite sources are FindAGrave and Libraries:

FindAGrave is an online database. My favorite feature of this site is "request a photo." There are volunteers around the nation that will go and take photos of specific headstones. Sometimes they have been posted the same day I requested them. 

Public libraries in the town your ancestor lived keep old newspapers. This is important because they are the first place to turn for obituaries. If they don't have a collection they know who does. Some even have the papers online. There are regional libraries that carry massive collections like the Lincoln Public Library in Springfield, Illinois. State libraries usually have collections too. In fact, Washington has a central repository and will do several look-ups per month for free. There are databases like AccessNewspapers.com & GenealogyBank.com - beware that their collections are usually not complete.

Searcher Beware

For example, many Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune issues don't have obituaries online. If you can't find the one you want then check the microfilms at the Family History Library in Salt Lake, public libraries or university libraries that have complete microfilm collections of the newspaper you want and look for the obituary. There are many in the microfilms that aren't online. Another example, Hayner Public Library in Alton, Illinois has a great genealogy library. They have the complete newspapers for Alton that NewspaperArchive.com doesn't have. For a small fee they will check their indexes and send a copy of the obituary. Score.

Tip:  Always learn about the database/subscription  you use to find out the limitations.

Top 4 places to search for Utah Newspapers:

• For more recent Deseret News articles http://news.google.com/newspapers  Look for Deseret News under the D section,  - it goes from mid 1800 to 2003. This is free. They have many many newspapers
• For Salt Lake Tribune and Daily Herald archives search NewspaperArchive.com. You can get it for free at the Family History centers in Alpine Tabernacle, Mt. Timpanogos FHC right across the street from the temple, and probably the Highland FHC in the South Stake Bldg. Also FHL at BYU and SLC FHL has this.
• Utah Digital Newspapers goes up to 1910 and further in most instances.
• Local Public Libraries (In some instances Universities, Historical Societies, Genealogical Societies might have microfilm as well)

Membership benefits 

Godfrey Memorial Library has a gold subscription membership that is only $80 a year and you get newspaperarchive.com, 19th century newspapers, early american newspapers, and London Times Digital. It is a great deal and very handy to get at home.

Genealogical Societies often offer newspaperarchive.com with a membership. For instance, Southern California Genealogical Society has this subscription along with many webinars on genealogical subjects.

Easy Sourcing

 
So, what to do with all these histories. Use these documents to add to and source the information in the history you have. Documentation doesn't have to be painful. Use online helps like citationmachine.net.

There is a wonderful book called, "Evidence Explained Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, 2nd edition" by Elizabeth Shown Mills that cites specific genealogical sources. It is an extension of the sourcing done in the Chicago Manual of Style. I keep my copy right by my computer and refer to it frequently.

Happy Researching!

Welcome

Daughters of Utah Pioneers Utah North Camp welcomes all women 18 years and older to come join us! For only $20 a year (prices subject to change) one can enjoy 9 camp socials and 4 company socials.

The Utah North Company is currently divided into 9 smaller groups called camps. They meet individually monthly September through May including refreshments. Four times a year these camps come together for what is called a company social. Here we have speakers or entertainment and a luncheon. 

For more information check out our website at https://sites.google.com/site/utahnorthcompany/. It is currently under construction and more info will be available as time goes on.

Future blogs will contain information on the company, artifacts, and research helps.