Researching to Write

           JOYCE LOHSE continues her guest post with writing lessons learned from genealogy.           

          I learned everything about writing from genealogy, although my journalism professors would take exception to that! Research methods I’ve learned through my association with the Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society have served me well. The most enduring lesson is to support and prove facts and stories with primary documentation.                  
          Although I rely heavily on newspaper articles contemporary to the subject, I am not foolish enough to believe everything I read. Instead, I use that material as a roadmap to lead to the good stuff, public records and original documents. Articles are also a great source for quotations using the actual words of the character. The challenge is to evaluate the context of the statement, and relay it correctly to the reader.
          Sometimes negativity or negative evidence in an article can be as interesting and profound as easily proven positive evidence. An example that pops into my mind is a retrospective piece written after the death of Margaret Brown. It contained the first usage we find of the name, “Molly Brown” as applied to the woman who later became widely known to the world as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” During her lifetime, her name was Margaret, or Maggie, never Molly. This was no doubt a simple slang interpretation of her name as a nod to her Irish background.
          To the writer, historian, and genealogist, I extend best wishes for a wonderful journey. As my publisher is fond of saying, the intangibles far outweigh the tangible returns in this business. But, oh my, I would hate to miss out on those delightful intangibles, such as a pinnacle moment which occurred last March. Eliza Routt [Joyce's ancestor and subject of her first book] was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. As her nominator, I accepted her induction, and spoke on her behalf to those gathered for the celebration.  The fun never ends, as long as you keep after it.                                     

Best wishes – Joyce B. Lohse
Award-winning author, journalist, genealogist
blog: joyce4books.wordpress.com

Telling Women’s Stories

          JOYCE LOHSE joins me today with a guest post about genealogy as foundation for writing.         

          Hello, Cynthia – Thank you for inviting me to contribute to your history blog.
          I became interested in genealogy when my son, Charlie, was in Grade 5, in 1994. He was asked to fill out a family tree for a class assignment, and I sat down to help him. Hours later, he was long gone, outdoors playing football, and I was still working on the family tree … and I still am!
          The history connection was channeled to me through my ancestor, Eliza Pickrell Routt. Eliza was married to John Routt, the first state governor of Colorado. Since literally all of my ancestors lived in Illinois, I was delighted to find a connection to my adopted state of Colorado. However, when I searched for the story of the Routts, I found very little. The longer I looked, the more I realized there was a terrible gap in Colorado history, above and beyond my family tree. Among other things, Routt was governor three times, and Eliza was the first woman registered to vote in Colorado. My research journey began as I gathered bits and pieces of their story. With my journalism training and background, I built their story into a biography, First Governor, First Lady: John and Eliza Routt of Colorado.
          I’ve since had three more books published for the Now You Know Bio series from Filter Press. Subjects are Justina Ford, Emily Griffith, Molly Brown, and a fourth title about General William Palmer, which will be published this year. Biography seems to be a natural niche for me and my writing. I love to read them, and I love to write them.
          With my long-term involvement in the writers’ group, Women Writing the West, I have a special interest in preserving and sharing stories of women in the American West, such as your Chipeta, a wonderful character. You can often learn about women when you study the men in their lives, so I enjoy men’s stories as well. Many times, the story evolves from a strong, successful partnership involving a couple, and I find that relationship especially interesting. This was true for Chipeta and for Eliza Routt.
Best wishes – Joyce B. Lohse
Award-winning author, journalist, genealogist
blog: joyce4books.wordpress.com

A Family Character Becomes A Book

Gayle Gresham offers a guest post that follows the theme of genealogy as research training ground for writers. 

          Thanks for inviting me, Cynthia. I caught the genealogy bug at a young age when my parents drove to Fairplay, Colorado searching for tidbits in newspapers about my g-g-grandfather, Wilburn Christison, who was a judge there in the 1880’s. Later, I wrote a paper for my Colorado history class about his son, Ernest Christison, who was a cattle rustler. Another history class taught me how to research primary sources and I was hooked for life.
          Tracking down the elusive ancestor gives me a thrill, but what I really love is getting to know that person. To me, it’s not about how far back I can go or how many charts I can complete. Instead, I want to put flesh on the bones; I want to know everything about that person and what made him or her tick. Perhaps this is where genealogy tips over into historical research.
          I’m fascinated with connections. For example, Wilburn Christison had an Indian trading post at Cash Creek and his obituary mentioned that Chief Colorow and Chief Saguache were his friends. These connections weren’t just a one-time deal, but lifetime relationships. They experienced good times and bad times together. I want to know more.
          My years of genealogical research resulted in a desire to share what I’ve discovered. I am writing a book about Ernest Christison, the cattle rustler, and I have plans to write one about Wilburn Christison. I will also be presenting a paper, “The Cash Creek Miners” at the Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium in Colorado Springs on Saturday June 6, 2009. Visit my blog http://ColoradoReflections.blogspot.com to learn more about my family history journey and to find research tips for Colorado family history.

Starting with Genealogy

             Many writers I know, who work in historical fiction and non-fiction, got their start as genealogical researchers. It is a good beginning. You learn the importance of original documents. You discover that not everything written or told about a person is true. You dig deeper and become more resourceful. You network. One contact leads to another and you find photos and diaries and treasures in unexpected places. Research is addictive.

            I credit James Schwengel, a teacher at Harrison High School in Evansville, Indiana, for starting me on the research path that supports my writing today. He taught biology. We were studying genetics and Mendel’s experiments with inherited traits in peas. The assignment: document five genetic traits (eye and hair color, hair texture, skin tone, and body type) for yourself, brothers and sisters, parents, and grandparents.

With no brothers and sisters to record, I expanded to aunts and uncles. Asking questions about my grandparents and their brothers and sisters opened a floodgate of stories I had never heard. Mother pulled old letters from a trunk. My aunt produced photos I had never seen. I was hooked. For more the 40 years I have pursued family ties and worked my way back into the Netherlands of the 1500s to find the origin of my family name–Simmelink.

            I applied those genealogical research skills when I first decided to write about Chipeta.  I pursued original sources – census records, newspaper accounts, Indian agent reports, oral histories. After thirteen years and two biographies of the woman, I still discover new bits of information about her in unexpected places.

Oh, To Read Like A Girl Again

     Michelle Slatalla kicked-off 2009 with a The New York Times essay that catapulted me back into childhood days lived inside a book. In “I WISH I COULD READ LIKE A GIRL” Slatalla yearns to experience again the joy of childhood reading, of living for a time in someone else’s universe. She observes in her three daughters (ages 11, 17, and 19) the transition from “allow[ing] the novel to carry them so effortlessly from one place to another that for a time they truly don’t care about anything else” to shedding “the childhood gift of being able to suspend disbelief” as they become critical readers. I saw myself in Slatalla’s youngest child who “comes to the dinner table wearing the hollow-eyed, devotional expression of someone who has just glimpsed something wonderful in a distant land.” Slatalla reminds me that my goal as a writer is to create a story so engaging that young readers can live for a brief time inside my imagined universe. May 2009 be a good year for reading and writing.