Weekly Interview: Pamela Eagleson (Printed Dec. 14, 2007)
By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
Usually when Pamela Eagleson goes to work she travels about 15 feet from her kitchen to her office on the second floor of her Woodland Avenue home in Kennebunk. Some days, however, Eagleson travels to Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania or Utah to learn anything and everything about genealogy.
A member of the Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), the world’s leading professional organization of family history and related professions, Eagleson spends more than 60 hours a week working on her own family’s genealogy along with that of her cliental.
A member of the APG for 25 years, Eagleson said she became interested in genealogy at her parents 45th wedding anniversary celebration.
“I set a goal of three years of research and one year to write and publish my findings,” Eagleson said, sitting amongst a library of genealogical and history books in her second floor office. “When I finished that, I gave the published work as a present to my parents.”
Eagleson said once she started researching genealogy she couldn’t stop, and began accepting clients in 1982.
Eagleson said her first client came to her in an effort to find his mother. She said the client had his mother’s change of name documented from when she was married, which Eagleson said made her job a lot easier. She said with the help of the client’s information she was able to document his family history back to the 1700s, a period of time she is familiar with, since her specialty area is the 18th and 19th centuries.
But Eagleson said her work with that client didn’t stop there. Three years after her findings, Eagleson said the client contacted her about a response he got from a query Eagleson posted online.
“It was his grand daughter,” she said. “He told me they were planning on throwing a few family reunions to celebrate. To have been a part of that was really neat.”
Eagleson is a graduate of the Samford Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Birmingham, Ala., which provides an educational forum for critical evaluation through the use of genealogical sources in a week-long course of intensive study led by nationally-known genealogical educators. Eagleson said the courses at IGHR range from a beginners course to more advanced genealogical topics for professionals. The Samford Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research was created in 1962 and is cosponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogist, according to Eagleson.
“The ultimate goal of a genealogist is to put flesh on the bones,” Eagleson said. “We can take a body of records and we can build a case to prove who the ancestors are.”
Eagleson also attended the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2002. The institute was established to assist all genealogists with their researching skills.
After attending NIGR and becoming more familiar with the subject, Eagleson attended the Salt Lake Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2005.
Eagleson received her bachelor of arts in sociology and history at Northwestern University in 1968 and her master of science in education at Tufts University in 2002.
When she begins work with a new client, Eagleson said she first asks the client what their goals are for the project. The next step, she said, is to work out a research plan which she goes over with the client before she sets anything in stone. Eagleson said she always tells her clients that most people can do their own genealogical research if they can budget the time and money, but cautions anyone who is thinking about trying out the profession.
“You really have to become familiar with the research locale,” she said.
Part of becoming familiar with that locale, Eagleson said, is just doing the job. Part of that job, she said, now requires knowledgeable use of the Internet, where family history from most states is filed. One place interested researchers can gather information in Maine is from the Family History Center in Cape Elizabeth. According to Cape Elizabeth’s town Web site, the center collects birth, death and marriage records of residents dating back to 1895. Eagleson said residents of Cape Elizabeth should expect to pay around $10 per document they request from the center.
Another institute, which Eagleson said isn’t too far away and provides a lot of genealogical information, is the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston, Mass. Eagleson said the society started in 1845 and is the country’s oldest genealogical organization dedicated to preserving and publishing historical matters from 1841 to 2004.
“Not only do they have all the town records for that time period, but all that stuff is online now,” Eagleson said. “I don’t drive nearly as much as I would have to if it weren’t for the internet.”
Eagleson said the internet has made a difference on the rates she charges as well. Since she doesn’t always have to drive everywhere, Eagleson said she doesn’t have to charge her clients for mileage, although she still has to charge them for her time. She currently charges $35 an hour and 10 cents a mile for her work.
Although Eagleson said she enjoys the work she does, she added sometimes even the professionals come up against a wall.
“When you hit that wall, sometimes you just can’t go anymore,” she said. “I tell the client to wait a year or so and then run by the research again. And I confer with my colleagues about different approaches to take.”
Eagleson said those walls are getting thinner and thinner with developments in DNA. She said when the paper trail fails, genealogists can ask for blood tests from family members in an effort to find matches. She said DNA results are compared to DNA results and added DNA results of ancesters are usually kept safe when a family member dies, while death certificates and birth certificates aren’t always accessable. Eagleson said results of this test don’t always give an exact match of family members, especially if the match dates back to someone in the 1600s, since some of the documents from that era could be lost or were simply never filed.
Web site’s such as hertiagequest.com are good places to start, Eagleson said, when people are looking to develop their knowledge about a certain time period.
Eagleson said one big difference between a professional genealogist and someone who is researching their own family is ethics. She said there are standards which professional genealogist must follow when putting together their research. One standard includes accuracy.
“It’s frustrating sometimes,” she said. “It gets really hard when you read something somewhere, know it’s true but can’t find a second source to prove it.”
Another ethical dilemma includes what information is sensitive and what information isn’t. Eagleson said she likes to talk with family members about requesting certain materials from historical centers because there are some things people don’t want to know about their family.
Eagleson said genealogists use a book titled “Evidence Explained” by Elizabeth Mills. The book gives a breakdown of how to cite sources used and how to determine if a source is correct or flawed.
As for her other interests, Eagleson said she has a growing interest in obituary writing, a form of writing she said she has dealt with since her start with genealogy.
“If you study obituaries, they are totally different now,” she said. “You really get a history lesson of how things were from that time period.”
Eagleson said one thing she notices about obituaries from before the 1950s is that most of them were about men. She attributed this to the fact that women were looked down upon in society. She said if a woman’s obituary was in the paper, it was because she had ties to a wealthy man.
As for her future in genealogy, Eagleson said she plans on continuing her time as a professional as long as people keep coming to her for help.
“Sometimes it can be a lonely profession, because you do a lot of work from home or by yourself,” she said. “Everyone has a story and completing a work really widens your whole knowledge about the different ethnic cultures.”
To contact Ashley St. Michel, call 282-4337 ext. 228 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
Staff Writer
Usually when Pamela Eagleson goes to work she travels about 15 feet from her kitchen to her office on the second floor of her Woodland Avenue home in Kennebunk. Some days, however, Eagleson travels to Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania or Utah to learn anything and everything about genealogy.
A member of the Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), the world’s leading professional organization of family history and related professions, Eagleson spends more than 60 hours a week working on her own family’s genealogy along with that of her cliental.
A member of the APG for 25 years, Eagleson said she became interested in genealogy at her parents 45th wedding anniversary celebration.
“I set a goal of three years of research and one year to write and publish my findings,” Eagleson said, sitting amongst a library of genealogical and history books in her second floor office. “When I finished that, I gave the published work as a present to my parents.”
Eagleson said once she started researching genealogy she couldn’t stop, and began accepting clients in 1982.
Eagleson said her first client came to her in an effort to find his mother. She said the client had his mother’s change of name documented from when she was married, which Eagleson said made her job a lot easier. She said with the help of the client’s information she was able to document his family history back to the 1700s, a period of time she is familiar with, since her specialty area is the 18th and 19th centuries.
But Eagleson said her work with that client didn’t stop there. Three years after her findings, Eagleson said the client contacted her about a response he got from a query Eagleson posted online.
“It was his grand daughter,” she said. “He told me they were planning on throwing a few family reunions to celebrate. To have been a part of that was really neat.”
Eagleson is a graduate of the Samford Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Birmingham, Ala., which provides an educational forum for critical evaluation through the use of genealogical sources in a week-long course of intensive study led by nationally-known genealogical educators. Eagleson said the courses at IGHR range from a beginners course to more advanced genealogical topics for professionals. The Samford Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research was created in 1962 and is cosponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogist, according to Eagleson.
“The ultimate goal of a genealogist is to put flesh on the bones,” Eagleson said. “We can take a body of records and we can build a case to prove who the ancestors are.”
Eagleson also attended the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2002. The institute was established to assist all genealogists with their researching skills.
After attending NIGR and becoming more familiar with the subject, Eagleson attended the Salt Lake Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2005.
Eagleson received her bachelor of arts in sociology and history at Northwestern University in 1968 and her master of science in education at Tufts University in 2002.
When she begins work with a new client, Eagleson said she first asks the client what their goals are for the project. The next step, she said, is to work out a research plan which she goes over with the client before she sets anything in stone. Eagleson said she always tells her clients that most people can do their own genealogical research if they can budget the time and money, but cautions anyone who is thinking about trying out the profession.
“You really have to become familiar with the research locale,” she said.
Part of becoming familiar with that locale, Eagleson said, is just doing the job. Part of that job, she said, now requires knowledgeable use of the Internet, where family history from most states is filed. One place interested researchers can gather information in Maine is from the Family History Center in Cape Elizabeth. According to Cape Elizabeth’s town Web site, the center collects birth, death and marriage records of residents dating back to 1895. Eagleson said residents of Cape Elizabeth should expect to pay around $10 per document they request from the center.
Another institute, which Eagleson said isn’t too far away and provides a lot of genealogical information, is the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston, Mass. Eagleson said the society started in 1845 and is the country’s oldest genealogical organization dedicated to preserving and publishing historical matters from 1841 to 2004.
“Not only do they have all the town records for that time period, but all that stuff is online now,” Eagleson said. “I don’t drive nearly as much as I would have to if it weren’t for the internet.”
Eagleson said the internet has made a difference on the rates she charges as well. Since she doesn’t always have to drive everywhere, Eagleson said she doesn’t have to charge her clients for mileage, although she still has to charge them for her time. She currently charges $35 an hour and 10 cents a mile for her work.
Although Eagleson said she enjoys the work she does, she added sometimes even the professionals come up against a wall.
“When you hit that wall, sometimes you just can’t go anymore,” she said. “I tell the client to wait a year or so and then run by the research again. And I confer with my colleagues about different approaches to take.”
Eagleson said those walls are getting thinner and thinner with developments in DNA. She said when the paper trail fails, genealogists can ask for blood tests from family members in an effort to find matches. She said DNA results are compared to DNA results and added DNA results of ancesters are usually kept safe when a family member dies, while death certificates and birth certificates aren’t always accessable. Eagleson said results of this test don’t always give an exact match of family members, especially if the match dates back to someone in the 1600s, since some of the documents from that era could be lost or were simply never filed.
Web site’s such as hertiagequest.com are good places to start, Eagleson said, when people are looking to develop their knowledge about a certain time period.
Eagleson said one big difference between a professional genealogist and someone who is researching their own family is ethics. She said there are standards which professional genealogist must follow when putting together their research. One standard includes accuracy.
“It’s frustrating sometimes,” she said. “It gets really hard when you read something somewhere, know it’s true but can’t find a second source to prove it.”
Another ethical dilemma includes what information is sensitive and what information isn’t. Eagleson said she likes to talk with family members about requesting certain materials from historical centers because there are some things people don’t want to know about their family.
Eagleson said genealogists use a book titled “Evidence Explained” by Elizabeth Mills. The book gives a breakdown of how to cite sources used and how to determine if a source is correct or flawed.
As for her other interests, Eagleson said she has a growing interest in obituary writing, a form of writing she said she has dealt with since her start with genealogy.
“If you study obituaries, they are totally different now,” she said. “You really get a history lesson of how things were from that time period.”
Eagleson said one thing she notices about obituaries from before the 1950s is that most of them were about men. She attributed this to the fact that women were looked down upon in society. She said if a woman’s obituary was in the paper, it was because she had ties to a wealthy man.
As for her future in genealogy, Eagleson said she plans on continuing her time as a professional as long as people keep coming to her for help.
“Sometimes it can be a lonely profession, because you do a lot of work from home or by yourself,” she said. “Everyone has a story and completing a work really widens your whole knowledge about the different ethnic cultures.”
To contact Ashley St. Michel, call 282-4337 ext. 228 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.
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