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Northwest editioN reachiNg seNiors iN illiaNa: cook, lake & Porter couNties
November 2023
Vol. 27, No. 8
www.seniorlifenewspapers.com
Lake County Public Library —
Detective ‘GENIES’ connect dots to locate
ANCESTRY GENEALOGY WORKERS — Vicki Jackson, right, reference and genealogical librarian for Lake County Public Library, and Sharon Heavner, a reference clerk, are seated in the Genealogy Room in the LCPL’s main branch in Merrillville. Their department has printed and online materials to link patrons with their ancestry. Text and Photos By STEVE EUVINO Feature Writer Do you think genealogy work is dull, unexciting? Think again. Sharon Heavner, a reference clerk for Lake County Public Library’s genealogy department, shared two stories of unusual but successful searches. A woman said her mother swore that in 1956 she touched what she thought was a suspended football dummy, only to discover it was a human body. Through research, Heavner found newspaper clippings of a suicide hanging victim in the area the woman’s mother had described. Second, a man requested a listing of all male births on a certain day at a Gary hospital in 1969. His brother was born that day, but the man later learned that babies were switched and he wanted to connect with his real brother. Heavner went to work, researching births and potential high school graduations 17-18 years later. Going through yearbooks, Heavner found some male graduates corresponding to that original birth date. After seeing the yearbook photos, the man claimed one was his biological brother. He planned to reunite with the sibling, but Heavner never heard back. Still, Heavner said, “you feel so good when you connect the dots.”
“You’re a lot like a detective, taking the pieces and connecting the dots,” said Vicki Jackson, reference and genealogical librarian for LCPL. “It’s that ‘a-ha’ moment. Bingo — you’ve found it.” Jackson, Heavner and Marilyn VanBerg, another reference clerk, work to connect people with their ancestry. Although some ancestry data is available online at any of the nine LCPL branches, the Merrillville branch has the hardware and the hard copies to help patrons. As Jackson explained, patrons generally ask for obituaries or help finding a specific person, newspaper clipping, historical event or help starting their family tree. “Every case is different,” Jackson said. “It depends on the person.” The search also starts with the person, Jackson and Heavner noted. They recommend that patrons start with personal papers, write down what materials they have and then start their search. Materials, they said, may include a family Bible. The LCPL genealogy staff has two rooms with valuable search tools. The Genealogy Room on the middle level contains items for genealogical research, including local and U.S. history. The Indiana Room on the upper level is a closed collection for staff only and contains unique, rare and older items. Locally, the genealogy department
ALWAYS SEARCHING — Vicki Jackson, reference and genealogical librarian for Lake County Public Library, looks through papers related to northwest Indiana. The LCPL has a variety of tools to assist patrons searching for someone or something from their past.
has access to records from Lake and Porter counties and parts of LaPorte County. Overall, the genealogy department offers classes, one-on-one help in the Genealogy Room, and an open genealogy collection for research, including books, microfilm newsletters, obituaries, newspapers, naturalization and military records, yearbooks, local history, scanning equipment and information on local communities and school districts. Classes, which resume in February, include beginner genealogy, vital records
research in Indiana, German genealogy, wills and probates, Indiana State Library resources and interview tips with family members. Using their library card, patrons can access various genealogy databases. LCPL is a FamilySearch affiliate library, giving patrons access to about 400 million original records in a digital format. The LCPL’s Merrillville branch is located at 1919 W. 81st Ave. For more information, call (219) 769-3541 or visit lcplin.org.
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Porter County Office:506 Evans Avenue Lake County Office:
County 1st Office: Lake Plum County Office: 409Porter E. Lincolnway, Floor Creek Center Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 57 Street, Suite 203 409Franklin E. Lincolnway, 1st Floor Creek Center Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 222Plum Indianapolis Blvd., Suite 207 Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 222 Indianapolis Blvd., Suite 207 Phone: (219) 548-0980 Phone: (219) 548-0980 Schererville, Indiana 46375 Schererville, Indiana 46375 , LLC Phone: (219) 548-0980Fax: (219) 548-0993 Fax: (219) 548-0993 Phone/Fax: 227-4884 Fax: (219) 548-0993 Phone/Fax: (219)(219) 227-4884 *Certified as an Elder Law Attorney the National Elder Law Foundation *Certified as an Elder Lawby Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation
Connie Bauswell, CELA* Connie L.L.Bauswell, CELA* www.conniebauswell.com www.conniebauswell.com