Digging up the past (in a good way)

LeSueur woman has helped hundreds of people with their family history

By Patricia Buschette

Sally Olson of LeSueur became interested in genealogy at a very young age, and she remains passionate about it to this day. But she hasn’t just climbed up her own family tree... Sally has also helped hundreds of people in their own geneaology journies.

“My mother dragged us to cemeteries to water and trim the grass all summer long,” she explained. “As she watered plants on family graves, she would introduce us to our relatives. I started getting interested in these relatives when I was in my 20s and started doing research long before the Internet. I would go to the county courthouse or read books.”

Sally’s genealogical group meets at the Waterville Public Library. Here Sally is shown at the keyboard with other members of the group including Diane Walther (standing)  and Randi Tolzman (seated). “We learn from each other,” Sally said. Photo by Patricia Buschette

Sally raised her own family and got behind, but when she retired she became even more involved.

Sally grew up in Waterville, Minn.

“I have lived in the same county all of my life,” she said. Her roots go deep as both sides of her family settled in the area. She graduated from Waterville High School in 1971 and attended then Mankato State, now Minnesota State University, Mankato, graduating with a minor in library science. Sally’s career incorporated her education as she became well versed in doing research.

“My first job was as a librarian for Green Giant in LeSueur. Pillsbury purchased Green Giant and I ended up taking a bus to The Cities and worked for Pillsbury as a librarian at Pillsbury,” she said. “So then I took a break, raised kids, then I started working as a public reference librarian in Mankato, and then I got a job to do online library research for a company in The Cities. I drove to Bloomington for three years,” she said.

Everything was online by that time, so Sally approached her boss and asked if she could start working from home. At first her proposal was denied, but her boss relented.

“They had to trust you, but I was a good employee. So I started working from home and for 18 years as an online business researcher,” she said.

Then another change came for Sally when the company downsized.

“I was 62 when they downsized. I decided that I was done. I was not going to start driving to Minneapolis, so I decided to retire.”

Another opportunity arose in which Sally did contract work for companies that didn’t have a library or needed extra help.

“I did that for a few years, but then once officially retired, an opportunity to volunteer at the LeSueur County Historical Society Research Center became available, and I discovered my retirement niche – I got involved in genealogy in a bigger way.”

Sally has been a volunteer at the LeSueur County Historical Society in Elysian for six years. The organization does not have an executive director, and all who are involved, are volunteers.

“It would be nice to have more volunteers,” she said wistfully.

It is here at the research center that Sally incorporates her education and career experience. Those in the country and at times from throughout the United States come to Elysian to search for their roots.

“I love the research, but not the writing. I don’t know how to put the information to words, so I let others do that,” she said, but then added, “Sometimes I jump in and do it, I have done material for the historical society so have done some writing,” she said, acknowledging that she gets some assistance from AI to put the information in what she says are “nice words.”

As far as her personal history, Sally explained, “I have done a genealogy on my family, but I have not written or published a memoir. I do write stories about my ancestors,” she said, adding, “Hopefully, If I live long enough, I will write a memoir. I just don’t know where to start.”

Sally’s two daughters aren’t particularly interested in genealogy but she has a granddaughter who asked for a family tree one Christmas.

“The next Christmas she asked for a DNA kit. She is thirteen and I hope it will continue to be of interest to her,” Sally said.

“Once in a while someone young comes in to do some research. I love it when someone comes in who is just starting their research because then you find things for them right away,” she said.

For Sally, a challenging aspect of genealogy is hitting a “brick wall.”

Sally had compiled  several accounts of historical interest including, “Erased but not gone, Lost Landmarks of LeSueur County.” Contributed photo

“When you reach a brick wall, it is a little difficult,” she said. Genealogically speaking, that means a dead end in research where you cannot find any further records or information about an ancestor.

“I use Ancestry.com and FamilySearch” for research, she said, referring to the online database developed, sponsored, and funded by the Mormons.

“If you haven’t used it, jump in! They go around the whole world through old church records. They go in and index and microfilm everything. They have done that for years and are starting to digitize records,” she said.

I also found information in places like this,” she said as her arm swept the research center. “Mostly it is stories our parents tell, and aren’t we sorry we didn’t listen to our parents more?” she said, echoing the sentiments of many who seek to find family roots.

Another source of family information is closer to home.

“It is the stories your parents tell,” she explained. “My mother told about her grandfather, who as a little boy, lived in  a little house in Elysian. It was in the 1860s that Native Americans came to their house and took food – and they just let them have it. They were hungry; they were starving. I wish I would have listened to those stories more carefully,” she said wistfully.

Sally meets with a genealogy club that has provided their members with help.

“There are six or eight of us that meet monthly. We give each other tips if we have a question or a problem.”

In turn, the members are helpful to her.

“It is fun to learn from each other,” she said. “I sometimes give them help with online databases.” It is Sally’s earlier experiences that gives her the edge of technological experience. “I am not afraid of computers, I am not afraid to dig into things, and I am not afraid to spend a little money for something I want, as some databases charge. Ancestry.com is a subscription service I have had for years, and I would never give that up,” she said emphatically.

The most recent surprise experienced by Sally was inaccurate assumption relating to family heritage.

“I had an ancestor  named Eisman,” she said. “He lived in Wisconsin and with no further information, and based on the name, the family assumed he was Jewish. I knew what town he was from through a database in Europe that includes church records. I went into the database using the last name and I found him! He was born to a Lutheran family.”

Having Jewish ancestry was no issue for the family, it was just that the belief was incorrect. And she was able to prove that through her research.

“Some family stories just persist,” she said. “There were no ancestors to offer insight,” she said.

One wonders how many other accepted beliefs are not true, but for the expertise of those like Sally.

An interesting insight for Sally was quite unexpected. A volunteer was reviewing county school records and read the account of a school teacher upset about not getting help cleaning the school, so she wrote a letter to the head of the school, a letter that was included in the county records.

“Her name was Charlotte Dawald. That was my grandmother,” Sally said. “I knew she was a school teacher – I didn’t know which school. The records also revealed that she was not being paid. If a volunteer had not read the letter out loud I would not have known,” Sally said.

The research center was a country school known as the Harty School. A Harty family donated the land, that was moved to the site. It later became a kindergarten and was purchased by the Historical Society. Photograph by Patricia Buschette

Sally has initiated a family Facebook page and when she finds interesting insights into family history, she shares them.

What advice does Sally have to create a genealogy?

“Start with yourself and the things you know. Get into one of the free services. Don’t be afraid to ask. There are Facebook pages about genealogy. They can help for such matters as understanding language on a document,” she explained.

What value does she believe there is in genealogy?

“I just think everyone should know where they came from and who they are. If you are not curious, I don’t know what to say. It is very satisfying,” she said, speaking for herself and surely for the hundreds of people she has helped.