Genealogy groups help uncover county’s legacy
Randy Werner, president of the Butler County Genealogical Society, traces his roots back to the very creation of the United States of America.
“On my dad’s side, I had relatives in the Revolutionary War,” Werner said. “And, actually, I have distant relatives that came over on the Mayflower.”
Before that, he said, his family was part of English history through famed statesman Oliver Cromwell.
Werner said the wealth of documentation on these English families really “helps you get back.”
Getting “back,” according to Werner, is what genealogy is all about.
“Genealogy is the research of looking into your past ancestors. It tells you where you were from, who you are and maybe why you are who you are,” he said.
According Werner, the more people can understand where they came from, the better they can understand themselves.
“Different countries have different traits and different customs, and that all kind of builds into who you are now,” he said. “Then, of course, there’s the historical side, too: What your parents, grandparents, whoever, what they were doing at a particular time in history — whether they were a soldier in the Civil War, the American Revolution, they came through Ellis Island — it’s kind of all mixed together.”
Judi Boren, chairwoman of the Cranberry Genealogy Club, said joining a group such as hers or Werner’s is a good first step in discovering that family history.
“Come to one of our meetings,” she said. “We’re always eager to help somebody get started.”
Both groups, according to Boren and Werner, tell people the best way to start is with “what you know.”
“For most people, they do know their name, their parents’ names and at least some of their grandparents’ names,” Boren said. “And that’s enough to get you started.”
From there, they agreed, the research begins.
“Census reports, birth and death certificates,” Werner said. “You go to the National Archives and look at stuff.”
To aid in that search, both the Cranberry Public Library and the Butler Area Public Library — where the clubs respectively meet — offer free access to online databases, including Ancestry, Heritage Quest and Family Search. These resources help connect users to family records without ever having to leave the building.
“Years ago, it was paper, pencil — in a car go to a courthouse,” Boren said. “It was fun, but it wasn’t easy. Now you can do it online, and it’s great. There’s many, many resources to build your tree online.”
One of those many resources, Boren said, is a database of “thousands of newspapers all across the U.S. and the world” at newspapers.com.
“My grandfather on my mother’s side was a Pittsburgh policeman, so I put that down as is occupation,” Boren said. “But when I searched newspapers.com ... I got some really cool articles.”
These articles, she said, contained a variety of police incidents her grandfather was involved in.
“Shots are fired. There he is in his uniform. And it’s like, ‘Oh, wow,” she said. “Then you really start to build a little life for your ancestors.”
And while the process predominantly is done online, according to Boren and Werner, both libraries also have access to physical records from the county’s history.
A genealogy group’s goal then, according to Boren, is to teach people how to use these resources to build their own fact-based family tree.
“We won’t do the research for you — you can hire a professional genealogist, and we could probably get you in touch with them, but that’s not our goal,” Boren said. “We’re going to help and support people in doing their own research.”
The groups meet monthly to help facilitate that research with programs focused on the interests and needs of their members.
“We usually have some kind of program — sometimes it’s a live speaker, sometimes its a webinar or recorded video,” Werner said.
The county genealogical society hosted a live lecture March 21 by the county registrar on death certificates.
The next day, the Cranberry club digitally hosted Cyndi Ingle, a genealogist who developed the extensive database at CyndisList.com.
“During the pandemic, when things were shut down, and it wasn’t possible to really have in-person stuff, we started using Zoom for our meetings,” Boren said. “And we flourished — we actually grew the group.”
The convenience of digital lectures has made it a hallmark of the Cranberry group’s program, according to Boren, allowing members access to resources that were once both distant and costly.
“It’s one of the, I think, innovative ways a small group not only maintained but grew itself,” Boren said.
The groups offer more than just lectures though. According to Werner, the Butler group hosts an annual lock-in at the library to help members and nonmembers research and overcome a “brick wall” in their family tree.
“What it is, you get to a certain point with an ancestor and you can’t, no matter what you do, you can’t go on beyond that,” Werner said. “And a lot of times, somebody, they’ll listen to your ‘leaves’ and they’ll give the hint that will help you break that wall.”
In addition to their scheduled meetings, both groups offer a variety of these activities and events — including graveyard scavenger hunts — throughout the year.
But at their core, both groups are about discovering the legacy of county families for both experienced and inexperienced genealogists alike.
“Nobody shows up with a tree that’s in ‘full bloom.’ They might have a tree that’s a little sketchy, with a few leaves,” Boren said. “And that’s the fun part.”
Want to learn more?
– The Butler County Genealogical Society meets the third Tuesday of every month, except December, at the Butler Area Public Library. They can be contacted via its Facebook group.
Annual membership dues are $15 for individuals and $25 for families.*
– The Cranberry Genealogy Club meets the fourth Wednesday of the month, January through October, at the Cranberry Public Library. They can be found at cranberrygenealogy.org.
Annual member dues are $12.*
*Meetings for both groups are free and open to the public, but membership is encouraged to support the groups’ programs.
