Finding Granddad

By Chris Taylor

There's something so beguiling about family history. It's the only legitimate chance most of us get to play detective, to unlock secret lives and passions and learn a little bit about ourselves in the process. And if technology can help us conduct the whole search without leaving our PCs, so much the better. Case in point: the trail of my long-lost grandfather, which grew cold back in 1945 when he was sent back to his homeland, is a little warmer now thanks to the recently released Millennium edition of Generations (Sierra Home; $69.95). Despite being a little too boastful about its contents, this is the most comprehensive family-tree software on the market.

Here's all I knew about my grandfather: he was an Italian POW in Birmingham, England, during World War II named Pasquale Lento. He had an affair with my grandmother, who gave birth to my mother around the time Pasquale was deported at the end of the war. A jealous step-grandfather ensured that Pasquale's letters and photos were burned. My grandmother knew only that he came from "near Naples." And I suspect he emigrated to the U.S. after the war, because his name (which is very rare) is on the immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island.

So is the Ellis Island Pasquale my grandfather? That's what I was hoping to nail down with one of the 21 CD-ROMS in the Millennium edition, which breathlessly touts itself as the first collection of Ellis Island immigration information ever released. But it turned out to be little more than a virtual tour of the complex and brief bios of celebrities who passed through its doors. Sierra Home says Ellis Island records--currently locked away on dusty microfilm--won't go electronic until 2001, when the Lee Iacocca-sponsored history center is slated to open on the island and online simultaneously.

Despite the initial letdown, I found some good resources on the other 20 CD-ROMS. This boxed set is 12 CDs bulkier (and more finicky) than its predecessor; yet another version, due in June, is expected to offer even more. So far, it has everything from Civil War muster rolls to the passenger list for the Titanic. I discovered two Pasquale Lentos in the Social Security death index. Clicking on the names took me to a website that automatically generated a letter to the Social Security Administration asking for original documents on each one. All I had to do was sign it, add a check for $7 per Pasquale and send it off by snail mail. (E-mail would be great, but one miracle at a time.)

It's true that a lot of this information--like the Social Security data--is already available online at genealogy sites such as Cyndislist.com and Ancestry.com What Generations adds is the ability to search it quickly in one place and store your results in easy-to-understand family-tree form. It's not a tool for advanced ancestor hunters; it's a road map for curious beginners like me.

And that can go a long way. For instance, I wouldn't have thought to visit wallofhonor.com an online version of the Ellis Island monument with one crucial extra: the immigrants' origins. It turns out the Ellis Island Pasquale came from Calabria, a province south of Naples by a few football kicks. Is this mio nonno? I still don't know for sure. But even without Ellis Island records, Generations helped me take one tiny step down the road toward him.

Check out the forthcoming history center at ellisisland.org/history.html Questions for Chris? E-mail him at [email protected]