Genealogist to Teach Residents on How to Connect With Civil War

NBC’s show “Who Do You Think You Are?” has been giving celebrities a chance to see exactly where they came from and what apples are on their family tree. Genealogist Gerald “Jerry” Smith will give residents of Manalapan and beyond the same opportunity when he comes to speak at .

On March 12, from 2 to 4 p.m., Smith, author of “Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Quarter Sessions 1771 – 1801,” will discuss how people can learn they who they are.

“Specifically I was asked to discuss how people can trace their families to soldiers who served in the American Civil War,” said Smith in a telephone interview.

Smith said he became interested in genealogy thanks to his father.

“I was trained as a mathematician and an engineer,” he said. “And my father had been doing research in my family’s genealogy. After he passed away, I began looking at material he collected and I wanted to see if I could fill in some of the missing pieces that my father may not have filled.” He explained that his father’s research was done without use of the internet, and Smith believes he could have more success.

“To me it was filling a giant puzzle,” he said. 

Smith said that record keeping from the 1700s is different from record keeping in the 1800s. Sometimes, some records are incomplete while others are just forgotten are destroyed.

“I had a woman who was doing research tell me she was looking for a birth certificate from someone born in the early 1800s,” Smith said. “At that time, people did not have birth certificates. I suggested the woman look in a family Bible or the baptism from a church record.” 

Smith explained that he has seen an increase of interest people have been showing in history and genealogy and he is thrilled.

“I think one hand people are looking to understand where they are coming from,” he explained. “But also people are looking to building new relationships with distant cousins and connect that way.” 

He said genealogy is about connecting one person with another.

I was asked that I discuss researching the Civil War,” he said. Smith explained that it helps to have a name of a specific person of interest and information can be found from there.

“It also helps to know a specific captain the relative may have served under in the war,” he said.

“You will hear about people who went into a courthouse and they find a document with a relative’s signature that is over 200 years old,” he said. “For people, the real joy is discovering who they are and who was in their family line.” 

For more information, visit Smith’s site here and you can visit the Manalapan Library’s link here.