What first drew you/how did you get involved in family history and preservation work?
My interest began with stories that my grandmother Nano would tell me. Margaret Weaver, a farmer and a widow, would talk about the history of our farm and the local area. I learned how the farm was the site of the Morris Inn, an early tavern, located on a trail first used by the Sepasco tribe of Native Americans and later a market route from New England to the Hudson River. And so, I got interested in how Rhinebeck and the Hudson Valley were settled. I knew something about our Ger man Palatine and Dutch settler ancestry, and after our children were born, my husband, Arthur Kelly, urged me to track this family history information. Arthur had begun to study his own family history, and he was eager to incorporate my ancestry into the genealogy he had already accumulated. Together we found a great source of information in local church records and were able to document many members of my family going back to the first settlement of New York and to their European roots. I got the genealogy bug, and before long, we created the Kinship business, publishing local records and conducting genealogical research for others.
What does a typical day of work or research look like for you?
There is no typical day for me. As Town Historian, I often receive research questions by post or email. I also have drop-in researchers who come in during my office hours at the Local History Room at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck. Each request is different. Some inquire about local architecture; others ask about Rhinebeck families. After years of research, I can refer to work that I and others have already done, or I know where the resources are for new and additional research. I have written about many of Rhinebeck’s historic structures in my books. Family research on area families includes Dutch origins and Palatine families and is organized in surname hanging files. As a member of the Rhinebeck Historic Preservation Commission, over the years—and more so in the past when I was in better physical condition—I would meet property owners to investigate historic buildings and help answer questions or discuss development plans. And I gave presentations on family history and historic preservation to the local community and at national conferences.
What particular skills or perspectives do you bring to your work and research?
Being an 11th generation New Yorker, with 60 years of research and writing in the realm of genealogy, history and historic preservation, I have a unique understanding of people, places, and culture in our State and particularly the Hudson Valley. I am known for my attention to documenting history with facts and sources and applying these facts to a broader view of local history. I have brought together a background in education, having graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Education, together with depth of research in consulting original documents from a wide range of research libraries from local archives in the Hudson Valley to State records in Albany to national repositories in Salt Lake City.
For many years, my husband and I traveled throughout the country, attending genealogy conferences and book shows and stopping at major research libraries, adding to our knowledge and collections. We were privileged to meet many influential genealogists and historians, learn from them, and gather information.
Locally, I served as a member of the Rhinebeck Town Board for 11 years, working with a special committee to initiate the Town Zoning Code and initiating a historic sites program to recognize and protect historic buildings.
What are you most proud about your work in this field?
I have been honored to serve as Rhinebeck’s Town Historian for 27 years. Over the years, I have received several awards, including the Dutchess County Award and, more recently, the DAR National Award for Historic Preservation. I think I have significantly contributed to knowledge about area family history and historic structures. I have been writing articles and books on local history for nearly half a century. An early book was 1976 Bicentennial Album. Later I wrote A Brief History of Rhinebeck and then in 2009, I wrote Rhinebeck’s Historic Architecture.
I helped to found key history organizations—Rhinebeck Historical Society, Dutchess County Genealogical Society, Rhinebeck History Consortium, Starr Library Local History Room —and served a leading role in their operation.
I am gratified to know that Kinship Books publications and genealogical research material continues to be operated under the auspices of the NYG&B. And the extensive research library that Arthur Kelly and I have assembled over the years has been preserved at the Dutchess County Historical Society, where it can be of service for researchers for generations to come.
What have been some challenges and how did you navigate them?
In my years of work, there have been many challenges. I often remark about changes in technology. When we first began, we did not have a computer, just a typewriter. We were encouraged by a friend who worked for IBM, and we got our first computer in the early 1980s and used it to index records and create databases. I always kept meticulous records of sources of information in conducting genealogical research. We traveled to archives to consult records including census, passenger lists, and vital records. Now many family history researchers use the internet. It’s great to see how accessible so many original records are online now, yet it is a concern that genealogy platforms don’t always cite sources, and it’s easy for misinformation to spread from person to person.
In our area of New York State, manuscript records exhibit a variety of spellings for various surnames. It is important to cross reference these surnames in indexes [and other resources]. The book Names, Names, & More Names by Arthur C.M. Kelly is an excellent resource. It is also important to compare transcriptions by various individuals to determine their accuracy. Early German ministers wrote church records in old Suttlerlin script. I benefited from collaborating with Arthur, who had gone to German school in Brooklyn and was able to translate these sources. I found it was important to doublecheck early history accounts done years ago for inaccuracies.
Can you share with us or give us a glimpse of what's next on the horizon for you?
As my health is failing, I am retiring as Town Historian and plan to assist my daughter, Susan Fitzgerald, who will be my successor. I will stay as actively involved as possible. The Town Historian has hours at the Local History Room, Rhinebeck Starr Library, on Tuesdays from 10– 3, helping visitors and scanning and organizing material from Town archives. There is much work to be done, and it is rewarding to complete a project. Visitors come from all over the United States and often have very interesting stories about their research. I hope my health will allow me to continue to be as active as possible, continuing previous projects and research.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about undertaking family history and preservation work, particularly other women?
To someone thinking about undertaking family history and preservation work, I would say that this is an extremely interesting field, open equally to men and women. Many archived items are in need of being digitized so they may be preserved and made accessible to researchers. It is rewarding to know that these items are being preserved. Family history material may be gathered with a genealogy program and later placed online for preservation and public use. This may be done through free programs such as Family Search from the Morman Library at Salt Lake City or with programs offered by the NYG&B or Ancestry.