Four miles south of Port Townsend at the Jefferson County History and Genealogy Research Center, there is magic happening. This is where a team of volunteers with the Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS), affectionately known as “The Genies,” welcomes visitors who wish to learn more about family history. From locating detailed historic records and photos gleaned from local cemeteries, to providing access and guidance to on-line databases, their skills and knowledge can get you started or help solve ancestry puzzles wherever you are from.

The Genies will be celebrating their 40th anniversary at the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum on Sat., May 11, from 9:30 a.m to 3 p.m. Internationally known genealogist Michelle Leonard will Zoom in live from Scotland to deliver two presentations: “Tools for researching your English and Scottish Ancestors,” and a case study titled “Solving Ancestor Mysteries with Help from DNA.” (Registration is required to attend: wajcgs.org/jcgs-40th-anniversary/)

Leonard was recruited to speak for JCGS in part because so many of the earliest European explorers and colonists who ventured into this part of the world centuries ago were of English and Scottish ancestry. This includes Captain George Vancouver and crew of the HMS Discovery, who cruised the coast of the Olympic Peninsula in 1792. Thus, many families related to early colonists, as well as First Peoples of local tribes who sometimes inter-married with the newcomers, can trace some of their family roots to the United Kingdom.

Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) and JCGS have been partners since the 1980s. In 2003, they were able to collaborate on the purchase of the current buildings to house both organization’s records, collections, and offices. Further supporting the partnership, the Genies contribute about 2,500 volunteer hours annually to the smooth running of the Research Center.

Over the past 40 years, the JCGS research team, led by Eileen Martin, has compiled an impressive library of vital records including census, military, public schools, ship logs, birth and death records. They have also curated catalogs of obituaries, cemeteries, and businesses in Jefferson County dating back to the mid-1800s. A link to the searchable on-line data base for all of these records is on the JCGS website home page, and can be accessed by both members and non-members for free at research.wajcgs.org.

Although JCGS specializes in Jefferson County records, the Genies can help with national and international genealogy inquiries as well. Monthly meetings feature workshops and presentations to learn tips for filling in the web of connections with people and cultures around the world, including how to overcome “brick walls” in genealogical research.

A few months ago, a woman arrived with a red-velvet-bound photo album retrieved from the attic of an abandoned house next door to her brother’s home in Cleveland, Ohio. With only a few clues from handwritten names on the back of some of the photos, long-time Genie Linda Atkins put her magic to work using on-line resources. Within half an hour, she was able to help the client find information about people in the family album dating back to the 1870s.  Most surprising was that they discovered a family link to the woman who came in with the album, although she had no idea beforehand.

Each Genie has their own area of expertise. Cathy Beatty, current Vice President of JCGS, is especially interested in understanding human migration. “Genealogy is partly a story about how people move, who wander, and why,” says Beatty. “People of the past have the same motivations and feelings as people do today. People move to where there is land and jobs. Military service is a major element of human dispersal and intermarriage. We are a transient culture.”

With the influx of migrants in the past two decades, one of the most frequent requests for information is from people who wish to learn more about earlier residents of their historic homes and properties. The JCGS obituary index was my own first encounter with the Genies eight years ago, when I wanted to learn more about the family who first built and lived in the house where we live on Dundee Hill. In minutes, we found the brief notice for Walter Addie, a former electrician at Port Townsend Paper Mill, which helped to explain the quixotic abundance of outlets (85) and switches (48) wired into our 3-bedroom house.

JCGS also hosts a writer’s group that focuses on family tales and weaving history into their writing. Members assist each other with “putting meat on the bones of their writing,” says Pam Stinson, a volunteer at the center. “Through research here, we can help put people or characters in a manuscript or memoir in context by fleshing out what was going on, where they lived, during their time.”

Stinson notes that it is not unusual for people to learn that they shared skills and interests with their grandparents or great-grandparents, even if they hadn’t spent much time with them. “One of my favorite stories here at JCGS is about a gentleman who came to find out more about his grandfather, who had lived in Port Townsend. Tears came to his eyes when we discovered through dog license records that he and his grandfather had adopted the same breed of dog!”

A favorite Genie detective tip is showing people how to see genetic similarities by placing family portraits side-by-side, upside down. “When you see these images upside down, the shapes of facial features pop out differently, and can help reveal surprising relationships,” says founding member Eileen Martin.  She loves to tell the story of welcoming a young woman into the family fold when they found out that she was born of a relationship between her Filipino mother and one of Eileen’s cousins, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Combined with DNA information and military records, the photos helped reveal a previously unknown paternity puzzlepiece. “When we placed his and her upside-down portraits next to each other, the similarities were astonishing!” Martin said. 

The Genies are always eager to share their depth of knowledge and infectious enthusiasm for sleuthing out family histories. Visitors are welcomed to the Research Center Tuesday through Friday from 1 - 4 p.m. most weeks throughout the year, plus every third Saturday of the month from noon to 4 p.m. To learn more about JCGS or to register for the anniversary speaker presentation visit their website, wajcgs.org.