Harold Arthurs started doing genealogy research because he and other members of his church believe “you can do work for the dead.”
Arthurs, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Springdale, has six generations of family at the Elm Springs Cemetery, said Dianne Letsch, chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Family History Conference. When he first started doing genealogy, Arthurs said he was collecting names, but hedecided he’d like to know more about the people who pre-deceased him.
“The thing that I like best now is the stories you fi nd and the pictures you fi nd,” Arthurs said.
Arthurs has binders fi lled with pictures of his ancestors and documents about them. He stumbled onto information about his greatgreat-grandfather in a local magazine, which featured a story about the California gold rush and listed his great-great-grandfather’s name and the name of hisbrother-in-law, he said.
The article noted that the information was found at the Rogers Historical Museum, and at the museum, he found copies of letters written by his greatgreat-grandfather. Through looking at these letters and doing further research, he found that his greatgreat-grandfather went to the California gold rush in 1851, returned to his home in Linn County, Missouri, and then moved to Iowa. In 1870, he moved to Bentonville, Arthurs said.
People can learn howto trace their family history Saturday at the Northwest Arkansas Family History Conference at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Letsch said this is a great conference for everyone interested in genealogy, whether they are beginners or advanced genealogists. People can see “if they have a king in their family tree or a scalawag,” she said. For genealogy, “you have to prove where you’ve been,” she added.
Letsch said this conference is diff erent from others because people can see the technology available and learn through how-to classes.
The all-day event features more than 40 classes. Letsch said people can to go to just one class or choose classes to attend all day.
Charlie Fowler, who has been studying family history for about 35 years, will be teaching a beginners’ genealogy class. In this class, Fowler said a participant will start with what he knows to fill out a family tree, such as his name and birthday and information about his spouse, children and parents. He will also receive forms he can use andideas of where to look to fi nd information he doesn’t know. Common places to look are websites, courthouses and newspapers.
“I read the obituaries religiously every day to see if I can find somebody that I know in my family tree and write things down about them,” Letsch said.
Another class is “Family Search/Family Tree,” an introduction to the Family Search website, a free resource that gives people online access to all kinds of information indexed by volunteers over many years, according to the Northwest Arkansas Family History Conference website. Arthurs said people can input a picture of a person and write a live history.
Information about each of the classes and the schedule can be found at gatheryourfamily.com.
The conference will also have a restored Butterfield Stage coach outside for people to sit in and take pictures, Letsch said.
Fowler said studying genealogy is like looking for gold. A lot of gravel and dirt has to be moved, and once in a while, he will find a little fl ake. And “it makes it all worth it.”
Life, Pages 6 on 04/10/2013