By Beverly Clinkingbeard

Open the door of a library and adventure begins. Books and more books – knowledge, travel, adventure and beyond – libraries are also keepers of our heritage. Different places do it different ways – artifacts, microfilm, and as we advance into the cyber world, digital information is available with the click of a button. And though there is much digitally available, even more resides on the shelf, tucked in the pages.

In the Atchison County Library in Rock Port, there are three ring binders that line the shelves in the small room designated for genealogy research. Some time ago, I asked a lady working with the binders what they were. She said it was a hobby and something she enjoyed doing, researching families and who belonged to whom. Each binder is a family name – like the “begats” in the Bible (KJV) as in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 1, “And Abraham begat Isaac…”

Depending on the family, of course, is what each binder contains. Some families are quite large and so is the binder. Others are only a few pages. I also thought of the many folks whose information is already found, and they are trying to piece their family puzzle together when it is already together, perhaps not entirely, but the contents of a binder could save hours of research.

Tracing family heritage can be fun, addictive and possibly surprising. Take for instance the bored husband waiting on his wife at a library stop. When he had sighed once too many times, she said, “Why don’t you get busy with your family research?” He wondered where to start. She found a book with names alphabetically listed and there it was – the start of a search. Eventually, there was an excerpt published in 2023 (Celebrating American Liberty, Revolutionary War Patriot Biographies) regaling his ancestor’s experiences as a Tory soldier (drafted by England’s King George III) then as a Patriot, who served with the Virginia Militia as a Minuteman, marched under General Morgan, and was taken prisoner by Indians at war. He escaped by stealing a horse, swimming a river and then walking 60 miles, only wearing a shirt and arriving in an embarrassing condition at a frontier station. All this and more from a bored sigh to active research. Family stories that the family were ignorant of.

In addition to the 3-ring-binder notebooks at the Atchison County Library, there are high school annuals and other submitted materials of interest, including obituaries, each in an envelope with the name of the deceased in the corner. Unfortunately, prior to 1975, many who died did not have a published obituary.

Of course, not every Atchison County family’s ancestry is in the 3-ring-binder notebooks, but it is amazing the work one individual did. At the time I marveled at the notebooks, she insisted on anonymity and now that she is unable to add to ancestry information, her request is reluctantly honored.

Her work reminded me of a visit to the National Archives Library, Washington, D.C., and being curious of the rows of steel cabinets with little drawers, the librarian in charge explained the steel drawers filled with little cards were records of Russian Jewish immigrants. They were at the library through an agreement between Reagan/Gorbachev, USA and USSR. Though neither he nor I could read a single word on the cards, to someone who could, it would be an information landslide. “You know,” the librarian said, “the National Archives is essentially our nation’s attic.”

Meanwhile, if you’ve wanted access to Ancestry.com and didn’t want to fork over the membership requirement, Atchison County Library Director Jennifer Roup says your library card will do that for you with an initial visit to the library. It’s a friendly, user-ready crew that keeps our local library and county attic available for your perusal.

’Til next time.