Kathleen Brandt

 Kathleen Brandt - After 20 years of Corporate Management: New Business Development, System/Network Engineering Training, Marketing, Product/Project Management and 5 years of teaching college level English writing intensive courses, and Spanish and French, Kathleen Brandt is now able to do Genealogical Research full time. She has 10 years experience as a Professional Genealogist in the Midwest and Southern regions of the USA (to include Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee). She is called upon to do nationwide documentation retrieval, look-ups, free-colored research, military and civil war record retrievals, and tracing slaves. Kathleen Brandt is also a translator of Spanish and French into English records.

MFT: What got you interested in Genealogy?

KB: I love to research anything.  In business I used to research new technologies and dissect them until I could figure out how they meshed with the old and then write the technology manual or training guides.  Now I use those same skills to research families. Tying research with social, political and family history, while tracing and assembling the puzzles of families, is very rewarding and I still stay abreast of new technologies; those applicable to genealogy.

I first began doing research on my own family which led me to Irish research (Morris) and free-coloreds (Griffins) of North Carolina. I realized that my early research defied the standard educational teachings of our American history.  I had questions like why was part of my family classified as free-coloreds in the 1860 census?

 

How did this classification differ from Whites? Why were free-coloreds allowed not only to own land but slaves?  Why did the free-coloreds in my family choose to live in communities where they were the only coloreds except for nearby slaves? 

Early on I learned how politics affected the Melungeons, the emancipation of slaves, and life in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.  And, with just a handful of knowledge I became addicted to learning more about American and world history, social history, and politics and how they shaped the lifestyles and decisions of our ancestors.

I have always loved reading.  But I’ve exchanged my Nora Roberts’ books for anything on genealogy and family histories. It’s more fun following real people with real travels and travails than fictional characters. (OK, excluding the Harry Potter series).

MFT: You have knowledge and experience in researching African American ancestry.
Can this be more difficult than researching other cultures?

 

            Kathleen Brandt: I get excited at every opportunity to research African American ancestry.  I don’t find it more difficult but I get to use probably every genealogical research tool available.  I personally believe that researching African American ancestry makes you more aware of genealogical resources and how to use them.  Certain states required more accountability for free-coloreds and slaves (property) which if used, the resources of bibles, deeds, will and estate records, church, and military records, especially Civil War pension records, can reveal quite a bit. 

            What I believe makes it more difficult is that everyone wants to use the Internet and maybe newspapers, and books to do research, but often the information needed for African American ancestry is tucked away in an archive or basement of a government building.  I’ve seen my share of “cellars” researching these records. 

            So, I would say it costs more (travel) to do African American ancestry than other cultures, but it isn’t necessarily any more difficult, however I do find it more time consuming. 

MFT: What are your favorite Genealogy research websites?

KB: Like most genealogists, probably Family Search and Ancestry.com. After that I love using the various state archives’ online databases.  Each state is different, but I find them to have a plethora of information. 

MFT: One of your services include translating Spanish and French records into an English format. Do these countries have good history documentation
comparable to the United States?

Kathleen Brandt: Depending on which country. As you probably know today there are 28 countries with French as its official language, and like English, is considered a global language since it is spoken on five continents.  France has great documentation back to 1792.  The registres d’état-civil (civil registration records) gives us information on births, deaths and marriages. 

Depending on the African country, you may find some African ancestry information through French records, but due to wars and colonization changes, records are usually difficult to find.  Canada, eastern side, also has French records that are thorough.  It seems that these are the most sought out French records for translation. 

I find that the Caribbean island records can be spotty.  But I’ve had requests in the past on Garifuna records. 

As far as records from Spain, probably the Judeo-Spanish records are the most sought out ones to be translated, but of course the hardest to research due to the inquisition(s). 

Luckily, I have a Masters in Romance Linguistics, Languages, Literature and Arts, so I find the translations fascinating, but still very tedious. 

MFT: DNA technology has exploded in the Genealogy world. Have you seen the
benefits of DNA testing for family history?

 

KB: I offer DNA testing to clients and I often recommend it when I’ve hit a wall.  It can reveal a lot to a genealogist.  I like working with the migratory paths, and with African American ancestry it can be used to prove or disprove a relationship to a slave master.  Even though DNA testing can be a useful tool, I like to use it as a supplement to research since there are many reasons and uses for DNA tests. 

MFT: When researching family history, what are the biggest challenges you have faced?

Kathleen Brandt: Time and Money.  Genealogy takes time, but many customers do not understand this.  So, I try to use my blog a3Genealogy@blogspot.com to educate customers, and I also provide a realistic timeframe upfront on any job.  I also give frequent updates.

But after exhausting these tools, I want to DIG in the written records. I want to spend days referencing and cross-referencing county and state records which cost money in travel, hotel, etc. 

I understand customers, however, have a limited budget, but traveling to the site, after exhausting everything else, can be worth every penny of their research dollars. 

MFT: I have learned a lot from you as I know our readers will. This is the most rewarding knowledge someone can gain, to understand their history as opposed to the the general history that dilutes our reality of the past.

Thank you for your valued time.

Kathleen Brandt provides a wonderful service - Please take the time to read her blog HERE

You can also email her Kathleen Brandt

This concludes the interview with Genealogist Kathleen Brandt.