IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers TRACING HER ROOTS—Jerry Baldwin of Thousand Oaks helps Judy Fox of Chatsworth with genealogy research at the Simi Valley Senior Center’s genealogy class this past Monday. It’s like connecting the dots or looking for a needle in a haystack—that’s how members of a genealogy group describe their quest to find long-lost relatives.

The informal group meets twice a month at the Simi Valley Senior Center. Jerry Baldwin, 79, who lives in Thousand Oaks, is the leader by consensus.

Baldwin said genealogy is second only to gardening as the most actively pursued hobby in the U.S.

“One thing that sparked interest stems back to Alex Haley’s ‘Roots.’ That got a lot of people interested in tracing their genealogy,” Baldwin said.

Members help each other with ideas on how to trace their ancestry. Wills, marriage certificates and church records are all valuable documents when trying to discover one’s family history.

“To get started, first you should get all the information you can on your own family,” Baldwin said, “starting with yourself, your spouse, your children, your parents, your grandparents, one generation at a time.”

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers AN EXCITING JOURNEY—Jan Keeline Cozad of Simi Valley explains the troubles and joys of piecing together her family tree. The Internet is also a valuable tool for those looking into the past, he said.

“There’s so much information available on the Internet it’s just incredible. There are a lot of sources and genealogy software that allow you to produce reports on your line.”

Baldwin said he’s traced his ancestry back to the 11th century and William the Conqueror.

“In Colonial times I found ancestors who emigrated from England,” Baldwin said. “My umpteenth grandfather was a governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony. He emigrated from England to the U.S. in 1630.”

Simi Valley resident Dorafaye Olsen, 78, has Welsh ancestry on her father’s side. She took a trip to Wales and discovered a castle—now in ruins—her ancestors had called home in the 1600s.

Olsen discovered royalty in her past: Duke Edmond Lewis. King Charles I beheaded the duke’s brother, Edward, because he refused to change his religion.

“It’s more fun doing this (genealogy) than eating and sleeping,” Olsen said.

Jan Keeline Cozad recently joined the group despite the fact that she’d already been searching on her own and with other groups for the past 30 years.

The Simi resident discovered an interesting ancestor on her husband’s side, Obediah Hardesty, who she said was with George Washington at Valley Forge.

Cozad said searches are rewarding but can also be frustrating, especially if your last name is relatively common.

“Each line is different; sometimes you hit a brick wall,” Cozad said. “My greatgreatgrandfather’s name was Daniel Douglas Black, and I followed him through his siblings and his mother, but I’m stuck on his father in Kentucky. Black is a very common name and it makes it difficult.”

What country your ancestors migrated from can either help or hinder your search.

Mike Dovalina, 74, has lived in Simi Valley since 1977 and is tracing his Hispanic heritage.

“I’m looking for my ancestors, and they came through Mexico,” Dovalina said. “I have a hard time because not all records are available down there at the moment. They’re kind of opening up now.”

According to Baldwin, the Mormon Church has microfilmed family records from all over the world. Most every church has a family history center, and one of the largest is in Los Angeles.

“You can go there, use their facility and search those microfilms,” Baldwin said. “If they do not have the microfilm you’re interested in, you can order it from Utah.”

Locally, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a family history center at 5028 Cochran St.

Through their searches, participants in the senior center program have contacted newly discovered living relatives through e-mail and phone calls and have even traveled to different states to meet them.

“I had always thought my paternal grandfather was an only child, and through genealogy I found out he had several brothers and sisters. I never knew that,” Judy Fox said. The Chatsworth resident drives to the meetings with her next-door neighbor, Ethel Ramin, who’s traced her English line all the way back to 1420.

Sometimes, uncovering the past reveals unexpected heroes.

Bonnie Panattoni, 63, found in her family tree William Warrington, a forgotten hero of the Revolutionary War. He was born in 1754 and buried in 1851 in an obscure Ohio grave, she said.

Sgt. Warrington was George Washington’s bodyguard and a member of Washington’s Life Guard, a select corps of about 150 members. Warrington intercepted a vial of deadly poison intended for the commanderinchief’s coffee or tea, Panattoni said. Apparently, Washington went easy on the would-be killer when he was caught, banishing him to Canada but sparing his life, she added.

“I’d never been that interested in my history,” said Panattoni, a Simi Valley resident. “Then my aunt sent me an article on Warrington, and I became more interested in my relatives.”