Lynda King, left, answers a question from Jean McCrosky as Dorothy Solbrig reads a handout at King’s talk on genealogy for the Woman’s Club. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

When most people take on the task of sorting through the goods in grandma’s attic, it’s more often seen as a chore than a chance for discovery. But when Lynda King’s family searched through her grandparents’ home after their deaths, they unearthed priceless family treasures, among them the Civil War diaries of her great-grandparents, which have since been passed on to her. One of them, a green journal full of tiny penciled script, is so minute it would fit in the palm of a small woman’s hand. Reading about the war in her great-grandmother’s own hand was part of the thrill of researching her family’s history, King said in a presentation to the Harvard Woman’s Club Monday, April 7. Although the search can be painstaking at times, it often yields wonderful stories that bring a relative to life from some other place and time.

“It’s more than data,” she said. “You really get a picture of who this person was.”

King, the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Press, was asked to speak on her passion for genealogy and the techniques she used to gather information on more than 3,000 people in her own and her husband’s family trees. A 30-year resident of Bolton and grandmother of five, she has been interested in what her grandson characterizes as “old, dead stuff” for as long as she can remember, she told the club. Researching the background of those who came before her is a natural way to indulge her interest in history, as well, she added. Her pedigree chart is a snapshot of American life: a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Alden, she also lists a Revolutionary War soldier and a Civil War medic on her extensive family tree.

Although much of her genealogical research focuses on finding vital records like birth, death, and marriage certificates, it is when she comes across something more personal that an ancestor really comes to life, she said. Reading the last journal entry of paternal great-grandfather James Lawrence Wales Jr. brought tears to her eyes, King said, as she was able to envision the joy of his anticipated homecoming at the end of the Civil War. King also related the story of finding legal testimony about the wartime service of Elisha Wales, her paternal fourth great-grandfather who served under General Washington.

“When you find a story like that, it’s pretty special,” she said.

King’s search for her family tree has taken her from town hall basements to cemeteries to records archives all over New England. The sheer amount of information available to researchers can be a little overwhelming, she noted. Software programs like Family Treemaker and Legacy, among others, are very useful for storing vital records and other information, she said. Other tips King offered the audience included the importance of documenting sources, planning research with a specific objective in mind, and finding out information about living relatives first. And while the Internet is an invaluable research tool, the information found there is not always 100-percent reliable, she noted. Often, “low-tech” resources like state vital records archives and historical societies contain more accurate information.

Currently, King is searching through those sources to authenticate a long-told family tale that her husband’s ancestors include a Native American, possibly an Abenaki from Maine or New Hampshire. While she has not been able to confirm it yet, she has found some “very circumstantial” evidence by hunting for clues through a “sideways,” or collateral, search of the records of siblings of some of the direct ancestors in this family line.

Although she has fleshed out an extensive family tree on her own side of the family as well as that of her husband Bob, King continues to look for the details that bring each person to life. One clue leads to another, she said, building a story far richer than the bare bones of vital statistics. The excitement of discovery is what keeps her going, she explained to the audience.

“Once you start talking about your family tree, it’s hard to stop.”