Make Your Queries Zero In On The Right Data

When was the last time you received an answer to a genealogical query?

Surely, as good genealogists, you send out queries regularly. Genealogical queries are an underused resource, which is a shame. Queries can bring cartloads of information and should be used regularly.

Perhaps you are not sending out queries because you are discouraged. You’re not sure where to send them, and you don’t seem to get answers anyway.

Let me help you solve this problem.

The first step in the proper use of genealogical queries is analyzing your charts and pinpointing your questions. What is it you need to know? You must be precise here; if there is a blank space on your pedigree chart, then that hole is the basis for a sound query.

For instance, perhaps you do not know where your great-grandfather died and is buried. Analyze your charts, and see what you do know about the family. Where did the wife die? Where did the children live and die? Perhaps Dad was with them? Do you have a military or fraternal organization record on him? Those papers will yield clues as to where he lived in later life.

When did he die? Again, looking closely at your charts and research papers will give you an idea. If he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1889, then he didn’t die before then. As he aged, did he possibly go to live with one of his children, especially if he was a widower?

Once you determine a time frame and a possible location, then you’re ready to decide where to send that query. Let’s say you’ve narrowed the hunt down to Jay County, Indiana. You think he might have died there. Is there a genealogical or historical society that has a publication that carries queries? What about a newspaper genealogy column that circulates in Jay County? Reference books in any genealogical library will give you those answers and addresses.

When you write and send that query, make sure you keep within the allowed number of words, and send the proper fee if there is one. Usually, the charge for queries is modest.

There are some definite tips for writing a successful query, and they all revolve around being clear, complete and concise. Make sure the reader of your query will know without a doubt what it is you need to know. To that end, type or print your query carefully, doublespacing the text. Keep it brief. Limit the use of pronouns. (Too many of these little rascals can leave the reader asking, “Who?”) Avoid abbreviations; write out all the words and let the query editor make the abbreviations.

Capitalize all surnames. There is a big difference between Henry Joseph and Henry JOSEPH. In the first case, the reader might ask, “what was his surname?” And mention only one or two surnames per query, as in “seeking death date and place for Henry JOSEPH, believed to have lived the last years of his life with his daughter Anna Maria (JOSEPH) CLINTON and her husband Abraham CLINTON in Muncie, Jay County, Indiana, and dying after 1891.”

Write the dates and the places out completely. The dates should be written as “26 Nov 1891,” and the places should include three parts - town, county and state. Be sure to include your own name and address with your query. Type it right with the query and not just on the envelope. Make the editor’s job easier.

When you’re all finished writing your query, read it out loud. Does it make sense? Is your meaning clear? Then read it out loud to someone else. Does it make sense to them? Is it clear, concise, complete and to the point?

Which of these queries is best: “I am looking for information on my great-grandfather, Wallace William, who may have died in your county after the Civil War,” or “I am seeking to learn the death date and death place for my great-grandfather, Wallace C. WILLIAM, who may have died in Jefferson County, Indiana, sometime before 1892, when his widow’s probate papers were filed.”

If you want to know when your query was published, or to have a copy of the published query, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope along with it. Keep a copy for your files. You may want to send the same query to the same place in a year or so.

When you receive an answer to your query, be prompt with a reply. A postcard of thanks will do (I love to send picture postcards of Spokane to Easterners). If the query has helped you find a “cousin,” then be generous and offer to pay for copies and to share copies of your research with them.

Where else besides specific, regional places should you send your query? Anywhere you can think of! Send your query to state genealogical society publications and not just to the county addresses. Send your query to the national genealogical magazines like the Helper and Heritage Quest. Send your query to surname publications. If your query is about a Baldwin ancestor, then send your query to the publisher of Baldwin By-Lines. Send your query to the fraternal organization or to the church your ancestor attended if they have publications and accept queries. Send it to the newspaper.

I would certainly think that if you have a bonafide query about an ancestor that you could quickly come up with a dozen places to send that query, and with some study could find a dozen more. You could also toss a bottle in the ocean!

Make it your next homework project to write up that research problem into a good query, then figure out a dozen places to send it. Then sit back and wait for your mail carrier to bring those answers.

Kathleen O’Conner, genealogist and librarian at Gonzaga’s Foley Library, has received a good deal of help from the Genealogical Research Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania and recommends the group to all of us. This group aims to collect and computerize all existing records within a six-county area of Northeastern Pennsylvania and to provide research services to all genealogists with an interest in this area.

The flier that O’Conner passed on to me stated the group’s research policy: For a $10 (nonmember) donation, and a large SASE, it will do some research in its collection of resources. A balance sheet explaining how the $10 was used for research will be included with each reply. For more information, write to GRSNP, P.O. Box 175, Olymphant, PA 18447-0175.

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