Licenses, G.I. Guides Useful Tools

Have you bought your Ancestral Hunting License yet?

These licenses, available for all 50 states, come with this explanation: “This license entitles bearer to diligently track and seek to capture the legacy of their own ancestry. They may in no way endanger, mutilate or otherwise destroy same said ancestry or any record source encountered. Once this hunt has begun, it shall be unlawful to cease, ever!”

The licenses are the product of Heritage Consulting and Services, a Salt Lake City-based firm of professional genealogists.

Fun though they sound, they aren’t gimmicks. Instead, they are very useful genealogy tools.

The licenses are printed on colorful, bright paper, plastic coated and three-hole punched, and are meant to be placed in your research notebook and carried along on any research trip.

Each state license comes with a county map and the Library of Congress/Dewey Decimal catalog number for each county. This means, if you’re researching in a library in Greene County, Ga., you can skip the catalog and go straight to 975.8612 or F292.G7, depending on which system the library uses.

The flip side of the license lists a summary of all available records for that state, vital records information and important addresses.

Ancestral Hunting Licenses are available for $2.50, plus shipping and handling, from Heritage Consulting, P.O. Box 4152, Salt Lake City, UT 84110; (801) 565-8046. They’re also available at Ancestors Plus, 825 W. Garland.

Another crackerjack research aid comes from George Ott of Heritage Consulting.

Ott’s G.I. Tracks will help researchers find the records of thousands of men and women who served in the military over the course of our nation’s history. Many service records still exist, providing challenging and rewarding research opportunities.

Two G.I. Tracks are currently available: “Understanding U.S. Military Records” and “Revolutionary War Records.” Ott is working on G.I. Tracks for the Civil War and other, later conflicts.

They are meant to be quick guides to everything you need to know about finding and using military records. Both G.I. Tracks, with five to nine pages, are 8-1/2 by 11 inches, and three-hole punched with laminated covers.

These guides are also meant to go into your research trip notebook, so they’re handy to answer quick questions.

G.I. Track’s “Understanding U.S. Military Records” gives a brief summary to answer the question, “Which war should I search?”

The guide advises a researcher to look at her ancestor’s birth date, or approximate birth year, and where he lived at the time of the conflict. Then, match that data with the information Ott presents: a set of “where-and-when” factors for each war from the American Revolution through the Civil War.

G.I. Tracks may be ordered from Heritage Consulting, P.O. Box 4152, Salt Lake City, UT 84110; (801) 565-8046. “Understanding U.S. Military Records” costs $6.95; “Revolutionary War Records” is $4.95. Handling and shipping are extra, or pick them up at Ancestors Plus.

Today’s laugh: A genealogist must have the patience of Job, the curiosity of a cat, the stubbornness of a mule, the eyesight of an eagle, be blessed with the luck of the Irish and have the stamina of a camel to go long hours without food or drink. And perhaps the hide of an elephant when dealing with less-than-enthusiastic relatives.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review