HelpLists

Often, we have only one or two clues to work with and cannot always be certain that the record we seek even exists. Take, for example, the marriage record of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Alfred Francis Bray and Lora Adelia (Grant) Bray. Our family Bible contains the notation, on its "Marriages" page, that they were married on 8 July 1878 in Huntington township, Lorain County, Ohio. I am a very finicky researcher; I want PROOF before I accept anything as fact. I have no documentation to evidence this marriage, other than the entry itself. In addition, a marriage record will often include further details and information such as the names of the parents, siblings or other family members, names of witnesses, address of record at the time of marriage, name of the pastor or priest performing the marriage, name of the church at which they were married and presumably attended and so on. All of these bits of information may prove useful in documenting the lives of these people and can often provide valuable leads to other sources of information, such as church records, property records, names of friends, siblings or other witnesses, etc.

Last January (1997), I wrote to Michelle Whelan, Deputy Clerk at the Lorain County Probate Office in Elyria, Ohio. She wrote back and said that she had, "looked in the marriage index and had found their names there, but when I went to look up the license, it wasn't on the page the index stated it would be". She couldn't spend a whole lot of time on it, of course, and I was unable to pursue the matter further . . . until now.

While searching the web for material for last month's article, I ran across an interesting and very valuable assemblage of resources called HelpLists. The principles behind the HelpLists concept are stunningly simple and extremely useful to every single genealogical researcher.

The HelpList is a network of volunteers, located in every state, and in almost every county of every state, who are willing to do look-ups of information for you. There are also volunteers in many foreign countries. Often they will copy the pertinent records and send them to you. Generally, they ask nothing for doing the look-up, but they expect to be (and should be) compensated for the costs of copying, postage and other charges they incur in gathering your information. For more complex or difficult projects, they are free to negotiate with you, privately and in advance, for any compensation that you both agree is fair. I have yet to have even one volunteer ask for a penny (except for copying costs, etc.)

My first try at HelpLists was an attempt to locate this elusive marriage record for Alfred Francis Bray and Lora Adelia (Grant) Bray. When I went to the Lorain County HelpList, I found Nick, a very nice guy who lives near Elyria, Ohio (the Lorain County seat). He often goes to Elyria, on genealogical research of his own, and was happy to manually search through the records for me to find this record. He also checked for other records of these ancestors at the Western Reserve Historical Society, which has the original records for early Lorain County. He was also able to refer me to several web-sites and other resource libraries, including historical newspaper archives, that helped me document not only Alfred and Lora's marriage, but also Alfred's birth in 1853, which wasn't a even a matter of county record, since Lorain County didn't start recording births until 1857. I have made several other inquiries using the HelpList and have found the results to be equally spectacular.

You can see how useful a network like this can be; it allows you access to people who can do the leg-work you can't. Even better, it's mostly done by e-mail, so your request reaches the person who can help you in a matter of hours, not days or weeks, and they can usually respond in a matter of days, not weeks or months.

Like many other genealogical resources, it depends on the good will of volunteers and the willingness to occasionally give a little of one's time so that, together, we all have this tremendously valuable tool at our disposal.

A Challenge

I think that we, as a society, should do our part in making this network work. In that cause, I want to CHALLENGE each and every one of you, no matter where you live, to do the following:

1) Consider the resources you have that might be hard for others, who are far away, to find, that relate to Linn County, its history and its residents, both present and past. You may have a family book, historical pictures, or a cemetery you've indexed (or a book of such indexes). You may go to the library or courthouse, now and then, to do your own research. You may have done significant research on families in this area that would be hard for others to find. You may be in touch with historical societies, pioneer records or historical libraries. Or you may have access to newspaper archives or historical photo archives. Or you may KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES.


2) Make a short list of, say one to five, resources you have, or have access to, in which you might be willing to do an occasional look-up for someone far away who needs your help. Be specific about what years your resources cover and what subjects they cover.

3) Send me your list, along with your name, address and e-mail address. I will see that these resources are posted on the Oregon HelpList page for Linn County. If you do not have e-mail, I will hook you up with someone close to you who does and who can refer such requests to you.

If you are now thinking that you just don't have time to do an occasional look-up like this or if you fear being inundated with requests, let me assure you that you are always free to turn down any request that you feel is too much of a burden or which you don't have time for. Or you can refer such requests to another society member who can better help the person making the request. Or you can refer such matters to me and I will find another member who can help.

Let me also remind you that, like so many other wonderful resources available to researchers like ourselves, this network depends on our willingness to give a little of our time and knowledge so that when WE need something from someone far away, it's there for us. And I am living proof that it works!!

You can find the Genealogical HelpList Page at:

"http://helplist.org/" (without the quotes) or Click Here.

Be sure and check this out. I guarantee, you will not be disappointed!!

Vital Records Service

The second topic I want to cover, this month, is that of finding and obtaining vital records. I recently located a new service, on the Web, which will find and obtain certified copies of vital records for you, including birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates and other vital records, from anywhere in the United States and from many other places around the world. It will also allow you to order vital records from state, county and other agencies by credit card or FAX, a wonderful new way to obtain records.

I was alerted to this service by a 3rd cousin of mine that I met over the InterNet (see my Article #3 on Surname Mailing Lists). This network, known as the VitalChek Network, provides this service in several ways, and you don't even have to have a computer to use it. Essentially, it works like this:

The VitalChek Network has set up interactive relationships with over 168 counties in 48 states (as well as several foreign countries, including American territories, Canada, Britain, and Mexico) which will now allow you to place orders for vital records by phone (using a MasterCard or Visa), by FAX (also by credit card), by e-mail (using strongly-encrypted "secure forms" or by mail (the traditional way, by check, money order, etc.). In my experience, there have been few counties who would accept credit card orders, etc., but apparently many of them are now doing so, using the VitalChek Network.

You are always free to find and order records by the traditional method, but VitalChek provides a great service and for a very modest surcharge. They also provide some very useful information, whether you order from them or not.

The VitalChek page contains a map of the the world and a map of the United States; you simply click on the area you're interested in and you are presented with a list of resources that are available. If you click on a state, for example, you are taken to a list of county recorders, probate offices and other agencies who can provide such records. Clicking on any agency in that list will present you with a page showing what kinds of information are available and what the agency charges for a certified copy of such a record. It also provides the address of the agency and a lot of additional information on when they began keeping records, what those records contain and other important and fascinating information. This information is available to you whether or not you order through VitalChek.

You then have several options:

1) You can order the records you want in the traditional way, by sending a letter, along with a check for the fee required by the county or state agency. In this case, you will receive the record in the normal way and there is no charge for the information that VitalChek provides.


2) You can call the agency and order using a MasterCard, Visa, Discover card or American Express card. In this case, there is a surcharge of $5.00 for processing the order. Some agencies allow you to place an expedited order for an extra fee (generally between $10.00 and $20.00). "Expedited" means that your order is placed at the top of the list and is then sent out to you by overnight mail.


3) You can FAX your request to the agency. To do this, you must include any information the agency requires (some require that you show your relationship to the person, as well as the name of the person, date of birth or death, etc,) along with your credit card information.


4) If you have no computer, you can call VitalChek toll-free at: (800) 255-2414. They will provide you with the number of the agency that has the records you need, as well as letting you know what information is required by that agency.


5) Many of the agencies, with VitalChek's help, are setting up secure forms that allow you to order your vital records by e-mail. When you go to the page for a particular agency, you can check to see if there are records available under the "Order by E-mail" option. If so, clicking in that option will bring up a "secure form", which is a form whose information is strongly encrypted so that no-one can intercept it or read it except the agency on the other end. This encryption has proven to be very reliable; I do not hesitate to place orders, including my credit card number, on secure forms. When you attempt to use a secure form, your web browser program will inform you if it does not support secure forms. If it doesn't you can upgrade you browser to a version which does, for free, by just downloading a newer version over the InterNet.

You can access VitalChek's web-site at:

"http://www.vitalchek.com/" (without the quotes) or Click Here.

Good Hunting!!

Byron C. Bray
byron.bray@cmug.com