Have you ever watched the television program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” and wished you knew more about your great grandparents? Do you wish you could have asked them a few questions?

You may have thought, “No one in my family is important enough to have been written about like those I see on television. They were just poor farmers. There’s no way I could ever trace my ancestors.”

The answers to your mysteries are right at your fingertips on your computer or at a nearby library. Even children can do it. A quick call to the Main Library in your parish will get you info on the location of their genealogy collection. The next step is to ask if there is a person available –— usually a part-time volunteer — to help beginners.

Interest in searching family history has surged in recent years especially since computers have made access to some government records public. U. S. Censuses and even military data are just a click away. The libraries have computers available for public use. And don’t be intimidated by your beginner status. Most people start with an almost-blank page and go from there. It’s as easy as jotting down your own name, your parents’ names, dates of birth, and so on. Gather up as much info as you know.

Here in New Iberia, we are fortunate to have Mrs. Shirley Broussard who makes herself available nearly every Wednesday afternoon at the Parkview Library to walk you through the process and the resources available. In no time, Mrs. Broussard can usually add to the basic info you have using Ancestry.com or Family Search programs. For us in this part of Louisiana, we are fortunate to have a collection of “Southwest Louisiana Church Records”, compiled and published by the late Father Donald Hebert. These 40 or so volumes are a treasure trove of Baptismal, Marriage, and Death Records from throughout Acadiana since the 1700s to the early 1900s.

There is a joke that warns that the “Genealogy Virus” is very addictive, easy to catch, and for which there is no cure. Soon persons who had merely been names on a document come alive to you. Your great grandfather born in 1870 may be documented as a child of 10 in the 1880 Census living with his parents and siblings. A picture forms in your mind of him running barefoot through the fields. You are just beginning. The identity of his parents, his father’s occupation, etc. are right there.

As easy as it seems on television, be aware though that you will occasionally “hit a blank wall,” a term understood to mean you have run out of sources about that person. It happens to everyone. Don’t quit. The staff at the parish Clerk of Court’s office is equally generous with their help, showing you how to search their records. Grandpa and Grandma’s marriage license, the purchase of their first home, etc. will add color to the picture that is forming in your heart. They also have immigration and naturalization records there.

These people will come alive like figures approaching from a fog; they can become a part of you, as real as your own living relatives.

Welcome them into the family.  

JULAINE DEARE SCHEXNAYDER is retired after a varied career in teaching and public relations. Her email address is julaines14@gmail.com.