August 23, 2000
Anderson has long history with genealogy
100-year-old Leland resident author of five genealogy books
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Taking center stage, Alloa Anderson held her audience spellbound for more than an hour with her lecture on the ins and outs of genealogical research.
Conveying charm, wit and an unstoppable attitude, she shared her 50 years of experiences as she navigated the twists and turns of her family tree with more than 40 members of the Grand Traverse Genealogical Society. Society members gathered Thursday evening at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for their monthly meeting, which proved to be more than just another lecture.
The evening also featured a celebration of Anderson's 100th birthday, whose passion for genealogy had consumed half of her life.
"Once you get into genealogy, you never stop," said Anderson, a Leland resident born in Battle Creek a century ago. "You can always find some spin-offs to follow. You never know how something is going to end when you get into it."
Through the decades she has traced her family's trek to the United States and through various states using old maps, land records and birth, death and marriage records. One line of research on a family branch in Virginia led her to an original parchment map used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The map, which was housed in a library at the University of Michigan, had every bridge and ford marked for his soldiers.
As Anderson told her family's stories, she wove the basics of genealogical research into her talk. She covered topics ranging from making numbers and dates tell a story to labeling to making an index of information. She summarized her advice about numbers:
"Don't swear by them but don't swear at them, either."
Now a whiz at organization, Anderson learned the basics the hard way. When her father's first cousin passed away in 1950 and left all of his research to her, all the papers he had accumulated came in one large lump with no vestiges of organization. Untangling this puzzle more than 50 years ago got her started her in genealogical research. Along the way, she has written five books on genealogy, with her husband, Leigh, typing two of them.
Anderson also related that having a basic knowledge of genealogy can lead to some interesting happenings in the family.
"We had a grandchild find Verena Davis' prayer book in someone's trash," said Anderson, noting that this was the wife of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. "Now it is on display in the former Confederate president's home in New Orleans, with a plaque listing my grandson as the finder. Without knowing about genealogy he never would have recognized this for what it was."
Anderson moved to Leland in 1981 and immediately joined the Grand Traverse Genealogical Society. Over the years she has served as president, vice president and taught the basics of genealogy research to both members and the general public through Northwestern Michigan College's Extended Education Service.
When Anderson moved north, she already had more than three decades of research, teaching and leadership experience in the field of genealogy. She was a founding member and teacher at the Washtenaw Genealogical Society in Ann Arbor and in 1950 established the first genealogical society for the American Association of University Women.
Once in northern Michigan, she began teaching seminars in her home, drawing eight to ten people up to Leland every month for more information. Those dedicated learners formed the nucleus of the new genealogical society, which had formed just a few years before.
"Alloa and I met at the society when it had just 11 paid members," recalled Lorraine Wallace, librarian for the society's collection. "She has been an inspiration to the society and been a great influence on its development and growth to the quality society it is today. Without Alloa, we would be here but we wouldn't have progressed so much."