Genealogy Before the Internet

A few months ago I bought a huge box of genealogical magazines on eBay. The magazines ranged from the early 1970s to around 2011. There were a few dozen issues of Everton's Genealogical Helper and there were some British genealogy magazines, as well as Family Tree, Heritage Quest, and others. 

Obviously many of these magazines have information that is out of date, but that was the point as far as I was concerned. I wanted to know how people did genealogy before the internet. I've only started researching my family trees recently, about a year ago, and in addition to finding out more than I thought was ever possible, I've also run into many cases where there just doesn't seem to be any information at all. And that's with so many documents digitized and scanned and indexed and transcribed. How would it be possible to find anything at all without FamilySearch.org and the National Archives, etc?

It's been revealing to look through the magazines from before the internet, before personal computers, even before Roots. My impression of genealogy enthusiasts from those days is that they were generally looking for English or German ancestors, people who had been in America since colonial times. There was almost no discussion of Italian or Jewish ancestors, a few references to Scandinavian or Eastern European roots, and nothing at all about Asian or African family lines. Once in a while someone would mention the possibility of a Native American ancestor from many generations past.

Genealogy before the internet also took a lot of time. Every issue of Everton's had pages of personal ads for people requesting information about certain family names. What were the chances that someone would see your ad and have information that you were seeking?

There was a lot of advice about how to write to various court houses and libraries in Germany and England for vital records and other documents. It seems as if you had to develop a talent for writing good letters to churches and city halls in the U.S. and abroad. Your letter requesting information and documents had to be succint and precise, getting to the point quickly and being specific about what you were requesting. And it was vital to be polite, acknowledging the time and trouble the recipient would take if your request was entertained at all.

So the ideal family genealogist in pre-computer days would have English roots, be patient, and polite. Since I'm 0-for-3 in those departments, it's just as well I waited until now to get into genealogy! 

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