Washington Observer Reporter, PA
April 16 2005

Professor shares stories with genealogical group

WAYNESBURG – Serendipity, the seeming gift for finding good things
accidentally, and the role it sometimes plays in genealogical
research, was the focus of a presentation given by retired Waynesburg
College professor Dr. Bruce Barnett at the Tuesday meeting of
Cornerstone Genealogical Society.

According to Barnett, there is an unseen power that helps people find
their ancestors. He cited anecdotal evidence from Megan Smolenyak in
her book, “In Search of Our Ancestors.”

Smolenyak believes it is not just a coincidence when we find our
long-lost relatives, Barnett said.

She wrote about a Florida woman who had been researching her father’s
half-brother. In Uniontown, just hours before her flight back to
Florida, the woman found her uncle’s name in a cemetery book. She
went to the cemetery and asked at the office; the surprised office
secretary, though a stranger, was the woman’s cousin.

Barnett said he was especially touched by a story he read in Reader’s
Digest. An American college student named Natalie Peters was staying
in Paris. Knowing she had Armenian roots, she went to an Armenian
church and spoke to an elderly lady in her family’s native language.

The elderly lady, who lived in Syria, turned out to be Peters’ aunt,
her father’s sister, who had been trying to locate her brother for
years.

Barnett’s enthusiasm for genealogy was evident in a tale he told of
frustration conquered by perseverance.

On their way back from Finland, his wife’s home land, the Barnetts
stopped in England and Scotland to do some research. Barnett
encountered a problem common to researchers – old documents that are
difficult to read.

Calligraphy in the 17th century is dissimilar to that of the 21st
century. Barnett trusted his intuition and discovered his ancestor,
which he thought read “Wangfurd,” was actually Crawford

He also related a story in which a husband and wife decided to trace
their roots and discovered that they are distant, “kissin’ cousins.

“Sometime an epiphany occurs when we are doing research; we know what
we want to find and we find it,” he said.

Barnett, who has taught genetics, also said that some people use DNA
to prove their ancestry. Or, in some cases, to disprove their
ancestry.

Barnett is a member of the society board and chairman of the Memory
Medallion committee. He is a Boy Scout leader and a community
volunteer.

In other business, Valerie Gapen gave a report on the Memory
Medallion, noting that 13 of the medallions were recently sold. Tonia
Caruso of WQED-TV has completed a feature story on the Memory
Medallion, which will be shown at the next meeting.

Marilyn Eichenlaub announced that May 10 is the anniversary of the
Corbly Massacre. Marilyn’s daughter, Katie, a direct descendant of
the Corblys, will be the speaker at Cornerstone on that date.

President Jim Shriver reported improvements will be made soon to the
society parking lot. Ruth Craft reported that Jim Fordyce brought
Cornerstone five books including the earliest tax records of Greene
County. It also was reported that the Observer-Reporter newspaper is
on compact discs from 2000. The society will be getting the CDs on a
monthly basis.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress