Hi everyone!
It's time to get to know another one of our wonderful WikiTreers. This week's member is Janet Demcoe.
Janet became a Wiki Genealogist in July 2018. She is the team leader for the New Jersey Team in the US Black Heritage Project.
When did you get interested in family history?
I am the custodian of tintypes, postcard photos, and news clippings from both sides of my family. My paternal grandmother was instrumental in documenting the identities of the persons in the pictures, including one of my 3rd great grandmother who was born in 1797. My mother took on the family puzzle and spent countless hours in overgrown cemeteries, searching physical archives for records, and consulting with LDS researchers in the 1980’s well before the internet was available. I caught the bug.
What are some of your interests outside of genealogy?
In mid-life I started trail hiking in National Parks with my husband. My goal was to hike in all 50 states. I quickly learned it was easy to climb down into a canyon, not so going back up. I’ve hiked into the bowl of Bryce Canyon, climbed through Carlsbad Caverns, and I dragged my spouse to the peak of Haleakala on Maui. As I’ve aged, the trails have become paths and climbing down is now looking down. I’ve got 13 states to go.
What is your genealogical research focus?
I admit that I have genealogical ADHD and the only treatment is to enter every rabbit hole I find! My research on my family took me down the Tartan Trail which helped open doors to information on my Scottish side.
Another lead brought me to an 18th century Quaker burial ground surprisingly near my home where I found the graves of nearly 50 of my ancestors including 5th-great grandparents who were deeded property by Will Penn. The next thing I knew, I was photographing gravestones and creating memorials on Find a Grave for a host of Quaker cemeteries.
That led me to a few African American graves literally in my backyard and I started researching local history. That led me to the US Black Heritage Project and on and on and on…
Which project are you most involved in?
I am Team leader for the New Jersey Team in the US Black Heritage Project. I discovered my house was built on old farmland purchased by a freed slave from his former enslaver. His grave in a small park, and a grave of a Black Civil War veteran in a wooded lot are near my home. There are a few other African American burial sites dotting my 1950’s suburban development. As I researched, I found disjointed information and a large community whose history and physicality had been shoved aside. I hope by creating and completing family profiles of these persons, people will be able to find a path to family that has been mostly ignored, not unlike the war veteran’s grave.
My background in cGMP and document control is perfect for verifying records and it validates my obsession for minutia.
What is your favorite feature on WikiTree?
My favorite feature is the WikiTree Browser Extension (shoutout to Ian Beacall). It has sped up my ability to complete profiles for projects such as the US Black Heritage 1880 Census project. I am still learning to use many of its features.
What could we do to inspire more people to participate in our mission?
That’s a tough question. There are ancestral websites that draw people in with promises of quick connections. Unfortunately, they are not always accurate; I’ve seen that with my own extended family files on those products. Our focus on the document details and proof of connections is what keeps me excited on WikiTree. The collaboration of like-minded people checking each other’s work creates a more accurate tree. Perhaps the understanding that your family history could be source-checked by good volunteers would help.
