Church helps residents research their roots

SYCAMORE - A local church is offering resources to those trying to make a connection between where they are today and how their relatives got here many years ago. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 675 Fox Ave., operates the DeKalb Family History Center in the rear of the building. According to history center director Rae Ann Owens, the site is used by those working on their families' genealogy. "I just think it's great to go back and see where I came from," Owens said. "I mean, who am I connected to? What struggles did they do to provide me with what I have now?" The DeKalb Family History Center is connected to the Salt Lake Family History Library in Utah. According to Owens and Mike Mosolino, who works with the computers at the center, the site in Utah was at one time one of the most nearly complete places for genealogical information. Instead of having everybody travel to Utah, the library decided to branch out with locations similar to the one in Sycamore. "Genealogy is the second largest hobby in the United States," Mosolino, an avid genealogist, said. "Gardening is first." He attributed genealogy's rise in popularity in recent years to more information being available through the Internet. Through the system at the DeKalb Family History Center, one can even get U.S. Census records up to 1930. Records past then are held for 70 years due to privacy laws. "Before, you had to travel to the National Archives to find copies of this stuff," Mosolino said. Mosolino said the success rate of genealogists is dependent on what they are looking for. The evolution of the computer has made some more successful. "I tell them, 'Don't give up,'" Owens said. "It's a puzzle and you just have to fit the pieces together." The DeKalb Family History Center also has access to 2 million rolls of microfilm from the Salt Lake Family History Library that contain copies of various documents. During a recent search, Owens was even able to find someone's diary on the film. The rolls of film can be borrowed from the center in Utah. There's more to genealogy than just finding information. "There's the final portion of this," Mosolino said. "What do you do with the data when you are done?" According to Mosolino, many put completed genealogical information on the Internet for others to find. Sometimes searchers find the process to be a lot easier when somebody else has already done all the work. "A lot of times, you don't have to reinvent the wheel because they have done a lot," Mosolino said. The DeKalb Family History Center is open to both members and nonmembers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "We probably have a lot more nonmembers coming in here than members," Owens said. Mosolino explained the center is located at the church because it's part of the religion that members believe is important. "It's part of the beliefs," he said. The DeKalb Family History Center is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Volunteers are available to assist with searches. Owens said she has had to schedule times to ensure that computers will be open for those coming from a long way away. She said some genealogists come back several times. "We've had people searching for family members for five, six, seven years and they've found them," she said. Rob Carroll can be reached at rcarroll@pulitzer.net.