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Tracing family tree can be relatively easy

Genealogy guru Janice Webster Brown, of Merrimack, comes from a large family. In fact, the branches of her family tree are accessorized by some 17,000 relatives who she has come to know and love as individuals with meaningful life stories and roots mostly in New Hampshire.

Now, the genealogist is inviting others to learn more about tracing their roots by using modern technology that is free. Brown will be presenting “Aha Moments in Genealogy,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the Merrimack Library, 470 Daniel Webster Highway.

Brown is the first lifetime member of the Merrimack Historical Society and a member of several other historical organizations. Her passion for the past took hold in her youth. Her father was dying of cancer, and it was his wish to know more about the family before he passed. She made it her mission to delve into yesteryear and extract family stories from numerous sources: photos, journals, newspapers and oral declarations from her elders.

One discovery led to others. Thanks to Brown’s recitations, she was able to relate her discoveries about uncles, aunts, cousins and other kin to her father.

An abundance of relatives who lived in New Hampshire from the 1600s was revealed through her research. A legion of mostly English with some Irish family members eventually came to light. There were Websters, Kilborns, Mannings and Ryans, along with a part-English grandmother named Brown.

In her adulthood, Brown’s love of genealogy never grew old. She continued to explore her family’s roots and those of friends. She developed a Web site, www.nh.searchroots.com, that won the 2011 Best State Website Award from Family Tree Magazine, an online resource for all things genealogy. In addition, Brown writes a blog on New Hampshire history and Granite State families.

“I think I won the award because I have made the Web site so easy to use,” Brown said. “The site features a map of New Hampshire and its counties. You can click on a county and find all kinds of history for that area. There is a research page, history page, photography, links and message boards. It’s a fun place to visit.”

In the old days, Brown said her investigations began by asking for stories from older family members and writing in longhand whatever she was told. Later, her research entailed studying microfiche files in local and regional libraries or pouring through census records. Documents from churches and schools were resurrected. Then, she would spend hours on a typewriter, preparing her notes for storage in a binder the size of Mount Washington.

“Truthfully, one of my binders is about 2 feet wide,” Brown said. “It doesn’t even close, it’s so full of history. The oldest line I have goes back to the Isle of Shoals; fishermen in the mid-1600s. Imagine the life of anyone living there. It’s a pile of rocks.”

She said today’s modern technology makes it easy for anyone with an interest in discovering more about their roots to do so with zero stress. No more does one need to spend many hours and lots of money on accessing information.

There is a wealth of information, she said, that is instantly available through smart phones with apps from genealogy Web sites. There are easy-to-understand data bases open to anyone with a library card. Histories of towns, families and individuals abound online. The iPad and the laptop computer are useful tools.

“It’s a whole new field, mobile genealogy,” Brown said. “You can be walking through a cemetery and see a name on a tombstone. It only takes one click on your smart phone’s app to find out whether or not the person is an ancestor. It’s amazing technology.”

Merrimack’s history of the home front during World War II is another of Brown’s interests and one she developed as a project for the Merrimack Heritage Commission. An exhibit in a showcase at Merrimack’s Town Hall displays her research in words and photos that illuminate the family stories of those who stayed behind and supported the troops through rationing and other sacrifices.

“That’s the fascinating thing about discovering a family history,” Brown said. “Whether the facts come from your grandmother or a high-tech Web site, or from letters mailed home by a soldier in World War II, sooner or later you have a story. It’s a story that helps us find out how we fit into our place in the world. We’re connected.”

Brown said her goal at the upcoming program at the Merrimack Library is to show people that they can use for genealogy the same technology they are using at home to find a recipe on a Web site or an online bargain. Anyone with a laptop or a smart phone or a ride to the library can do genealogy, she said.

“Research is so much easier nowadays,” Brown said. “But the preservation technology is evolving so fast, things we used to use to safeguard our finds – cassette tapes, floppy discs, even CDs – are becoming obsolete at an amazing rate. Always save what’s precious to you on acid-free paper, it lasts at least 100 years.”

Brown urges parents to encourage young people to learn their family’s story. She said children will ask questions at all ages. Did grandma have a cow? Why does our yard have so many apple trees? How come daddy is so tall? Their inquiries are an attempt at learning more about their world and the people close to them.

“When you can, write down the stories,” Brown said. “If they’re written down, they’re not lost.”

Registration is recommended for the free, upcoming program, “Aha Moments in Genealogy,” scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the Merrimack Library, 470 Daniel Webster Highway. Call the library at 424-5021 to register. Other details are available by e-mailing Janice Webster Brown at nh@searchroots.com.