Writing a Genealogy Letter
For those of you who have been around the hobby since before the internet, this topic will be nothing new to you. Back in the day, it was the one major way to gather information and it took the patience of Job sometimes to get an answer from a key person. Letter writing seems to be a lost art today, but it is still a useful Genealogical Tool. It helps you make contact with more current generations whose records you can’t find on the Internet or from some other source. It also gives a far more personal touch to research that is often spent in libraries or sitting at a computer screen. Here’s how I approach the Genealogical Letter when I need to use it as a method.
First of all, I use a semi-formal header for many of my Genealogical Headers and my envelope.
Doug Srock
Pennsylvania Keith Family Researcher (Example)
P.O. Box 4010
Austintown, Ohio 44515
1. This gives them your name
2. It tells them why you are writing
3. It gives them your location.
I also include a phone number in most letters and an email address.
It gives the recipient of the letter two or three ways to contact me.
Then I start the letter informally,
Dear Distant Cousin Ralph,(Example)
This personalizes the letter more than a Dear Mr. Ralph Keith would.
It let’s Ralph know you are family and that your purpose is friendly, and not too formal.
Then I go into the meat of the letter.
I am writing you to try to find out a piece of information that is missing from my research records. I have been researching the Keith family in your area since 1974 and I need to know exactly how you are related to John and Mary Keith who had the farm near Grass Hill.
I’m guessing that you are their grandson, but I am not sure who your father was, since public records aren’t readily available for this time period to us researchers. I would certainly appreciate your help in connecting the dots in my search.
Please feel free to contact me either by letter using the enclosed stamped envelope, telephone or email. I am usually easiest to catch by email.
Sincerely,
Cousin Doug
One issue for the first letter, don’t go for broke! Don’t kick down the wall too hard on the first contact. If Cousin Ralph is willing to talk to you he will respond; if he isn’t, he won’t. If he doesn’t respond, you can try again, but if he does respond, then you can GENTLY ask any additional questions. keep the first letter SIMPLE!
BE AWARE Ladies tend to answer these requests far more than men. Ladies tend to write more. So if you can find out the Wife’s first name, you might gain her as an ally in your quest.
Never overwhelm anyone you write with too many requests. They’ll get irritated fast. Also be sure to let these people know if you are publishing or not. They have the right to know if the information they provide is going to be published!
Also, if you are writing someone elderly, it helps to use a FONT that is larger than standard font. It also helps to space the lines apart more than standard spacing. Many elderly people have eyesight issues.
This type of letter works for most situations. I did have one situation long ago where a cousin was not responding, so I used my IBM Selectric with a piece of Art paper and told her everything I already knew about the family and what pieces I needed filled in. When she spotted some specific things in the large letter, she knew that I was aware of a certain situation with one of my relatives. Only then did she call and make contact. On that one occasion I did break my own rule and kick down the wall, but only after three years of non-response.
So, be gentle with your first letter and build a new helper in your Genealogical Quest. If you luck out and find a letter writer with a lot of family knowledge, you’ll gain a load of information and tons of new family contacts. It makes the quest a far more fun and personal adventure.
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