Local group helps residents restore pruned family trees

Eric Leake

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 8:48 a.m.

In a city that implodes its history, Robert Kennard Jr. tracks families through the rubble.

Kennard and his friends at the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society are family historians who delve through local history and that of the wider world. Saturday the society will honor the Las Vegas centennial with a special seminar.

"The problem with Las Vegas is it likes to destroy its history," Kennard said.

"That's a shame," he added. "There's more of a cultural loss than anything."

Kennard is a former president of the society and coordinates publicity and research. He said people are drawn to genealogy to understand who they are and from where they come.

Those family searches lead through world wars, migrations, and other great historical events. And sometimes there are surprises.

"You have to have a little bit of fondness for history. If you don't like history you're going to miss the best part," Kennard said.

In his own family history, Kennard has been able to trace the family on his mother's side all of the way back to 1767 when they landed in Philadelphia aboard a ship called the Phoenix, he said.

His surprise was that a family rumor of a distant relative sent to Texas during World War I for cheating with a married woman seems to be true.

The society holds a free and open monthly meeting at the Paseo Verde Library in Henderson. Members also volunteer in the library's Heritage Room.

"We just try to help anybody that's interested in family history get started," Kennard said. "We don't do it for them, that is something that they have to take the interest and enjoyment in doing."

Kennard said one of the interesting things about genealogy in Las Vegas is that roots here aren't too deep.

"With Las Vegas being young, the roots of Las Vegas aren't bound here. Anybody of consequence came from somewhere else," he said, though he added that is changing.

Kennard said now is a good time and Las Vegas a good place for people interested in genealogy. National archives in California and the Mormon church's Family History Library, "the library of all libraries," in Salt Lake City are nearby, he said.

Adding to the convenience are efforts to digitize ancestry records to make them more accessible, Kennard said, though he cautioned against relying solely on digital archives.

The society's seminar Saturday will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Gold Coast Conference Center. Admission is $25 at the door.

Speakers will talk about migration and racial issues in Las Vegas history. They will tell stories of showgirls and the city's mob origins. Mayor Oscar Goodman will deliver the keynote address about the city's centennial.

For more information on the seminar or other society functions, call 225-5838.