Before you pack the car and head out looking for old cemeteries and the family homestead, you need to make some plans. To have an enjoyable trip, and one that takes you all the places you want to see, create your own book, which is both a guide book and a memory book after the trip. A three-ring binder makes a convenient and sturdy foundation for your travel book.
Building Your Own Guide Book
The most important aspect of planning a genealogy vacation is to determine the places you want to see. Make a list of towns, along with the cemeteries, churches, city hall, libraries, and other landmarks of interest. For each site, you will need to make at least one guidebook page. The page should include directions to the site and a list all of the information you want to collect from that site. For example, if you are looking for courthouse records, be sure to find out where it’s located, what days and hours it’s open, and what documents you might expect to find. Check the The Source, The Red Book, or the Family Tree Resource Book to see what the holdings are, or call ahead with specific questions.
If you’re looking for a small country cemetery, you’ll want clear directions on how to find it. Many cemetery descriptions on genealogy websites include GPS coordinates; some are shown on detailed area maps. Don’t rely on whoever you meet at the local diner to give you good directions – you may be lucky, or you may be the first person in 50 years to go looking for a particular grave. On the cemetery page in your guidebook, list all of the family members (and their dates) that you hope to find.
Don’t forget to make a page for the local library. Stop in and speak to the librarian – most libraries, even small ones, have a local history collection, which might include newspaper clippings (think obituaries), old high school yearbooks, or other genealogical treasures.
Maps are Critical to Travel Planning
Purchase the best road atlas and set of county maps you can find. Many of our ancestors lived in rural areas, so you need maps that show small towns and country roads. For specific addresses or streets, copy portions of the maps, or use Yahoo or Google Maps. Try Google Earth for a bird’s-eye view, and print out whatever maps might be useful to put in your book.
You’ll also need an overall map that you’ll create after you have your list of places to go. Here again, Yahoo or Google Maps (or the Auto Club) will trace a route for you. Keep this one at the front of your book, since you’ll be looking at it frequently during the trip.
Broaden Your Horizons
Unless you go alone, or with a companion who’s just as fascinated with your ancestry as you are, you’re going to need to include some non-genealogical activities on the trip. Look at tourist literature from a travel agency or auto club, or browse online, to find attractions along your route.
Visits to Revolutionary War or Civil War battlefields may fit right in with your family research. Check out any historic sites in the areas where your ancestors lived. Stately homes or Southern plantations show how people lived in the past, and local museums often have displays of farm implements and items from old mercantile establishments. There may be old mines, mills, or factories that offer tours.
When you find a likely candidate for a stop on your route, make another guidebook page. There’s nothing to stop you from including any sort of activity that appeals to you, or from adding far more places than you’ll actually visit – give yourself some choices. And don’t forget to make some backup plans for when the weather is uncooperative – even if a cemetery is at the top of your list, a rainy day might be more happily spent in a local museum.
Adding to the Guide Book While You Travel
Bring along a small hole punch. As you collect literature from the places you visit, punch holes and put interesting items into the binder. Visitor centers along the highway usually have a great selection, and you may find new places to stop. Some empty top-loading sheet protectors will be handy for picture postcards or other papers you don’t want to punch. Also include some blank lined pages for notes from your travels. You’ll be taking plenty of photographs, and it’s always a good idea to make notes with the date and location of the pictures. You don’t want to wonder later just exactly where you were when you found that long-lost grave.
Finishing the Book
Even though you may have “finished” the book before you start your trip, don’t think of it as just a tool for the excursion. After the trip it can become a great memory book – all you have to do is add copies of all those photos you took and the documents you found, and write down your own thoughts and feelings about the trip. The result will be a permanent reminder of the wonderful trip you took and all the things you learned about your family history.
Katharine Garstka - Katharine Garstka specializes in genealogical research and in historical and genealogical writing.
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