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Marilyn Tucker’s journey into learning about her family history began in the 1990s when she received a message from a distant relative whom she had never met. The relative turned out to be the wife of a cousin of her own father. This person had sent Tucker a snapshot of a family book. A family book is a type of record that contains a family’s historical information, including marriages, children, birth dates and deaths.

Seeing her own name in the book inspired Tucker to dig deeper. However, she was living in Albany, New York, and had no living grandparents she could ask about her family’s history. By searching public records and using tools such as microfilm libraries and family tree sites, Tucker was able to trace her genealogy back to Pierre Curie (1859-1906) who earned a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 with his wife, Marie Curie (1867-1934).

Tucker shared a family photo she found while researching her ancestors. The photograph is of the family of Jacob D. Curie, a distant cousin of Pierre Curie, and was taken in Wayne County, Ohio, in the mid-1890s. Emma Pearl Curie, daughter of Jacob Curie and great-grandmother of Tucker, can be seen standing behind with 10 of her siblings.

Tucker now volunteers at the Polk County History Center and Genealogical Library, lending the skills she learned while researching her own genealogy to patrons who visit the library with research questions.

“Who was Margaret?”

In September 2024, a Polk resident contacted the genealogical library. He had been researching his own family history but kept getting stuck on an individual name that would appear in records: “Margaret.” He called the genealogical library and asked for help. Marilyn Tucker was scheduled to work a volunteer shift at the History Center but did not want to drive during Tropical Storm Debbie, so she took the research question home to work on it.

“I love a puzzle, which is what genealogy is,” she said. “And luckily, my electricity stayed on so I could use my computer.”

She began her search with public records, which are the cornerstone of genealogical research. There are many online tools for searching public records, including www.AncestryLibrary.com and www.FamilySearch.org. Through the History Center, patrons have free access to both of these resources, as well as other genealogy sites. The sites work through “tree-mapping,” where users connect information and records they have discovered throughout their genealogical research to “link” family lines together.

After a little bit of research, Tucker was able to put together a file containing information about “Margaret,” whose full name turned out to be Margaret Deyo. This file included records about Deyo’s life, including the certificate of her first marriage in 1900 in Chicago and birth and baptism records for her daughters Bernice and Eleanor.

However, Tucker hit a snag when she tried to find information on Margaret Deyo’s second husband, Clyde Deyo Sr. That’s where newspapers came in. Social sections, obituaries and news stories can be “goldmines” of genealogical information, Tucker says.

The Polk County History Center has thousands of newspaper records, including the Lakeland Ledger, Bartow Courier Informant and Polk County Record, some dating back to before World War I. All these resources, including other digitized records, are available to Polk County residents who want to learn about their family history.

Tucker used these resources to locate a 1911 edition of The Florence Tribune, which placed Clyde Deyo at a theater party with his family. (Clyde and Margaret were not yet married at this time.)

Tucker was also able to locate a 1949 edition of the Evening World Herald announcing the divorce of Margaret and Clyde.

The search for Margaret Deyo ends at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lakeland, Florida, where she was buried in 1968. On the shelves of the second-floor genealogical and historical library of the Polk County History Center, the Imperial Polk Genealogical Society’s (IPGS) collection of cemetery records contains the name of nearly every marked grave in a Polk County, Florida, cemetery, spanning from the mid-1800s to the 1990s. If you want to research your ancestors who lived in Polk County, IPGS cemetery records may be the place to start.

National Family History Month

October is National Family History Month. This month was designated in 2001 by the U.S. Congress to “encourage family history research, education and the sharing of knowledge to renew the commitment to the concept of home and family.” (S. Res. 160)

“It’s like a parlor game,” Tucker says.

What is her advice for those wanting to begin digging into their family history? Start with the digital tools available at the Polk County History Center and Genealogical Library, she says.

While the genealogical library’s team cannot guarantee you any genealogical ties to scientific pioneers or Nobel Prize winners, Tucker emphasizes the friendliness of the History Center staff and their willingness to help patrons answer research questions.

In addition to access to digital and printed resources, the Polk County History Center and Genealogical Library offers the Genealogy Speaker Series. This series of one-hour webinars takes place on the first of the month, from January to October. Speakers are typically certified in genealogical research and have expert knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Attendees learn about different types of genealogical records, how to glean information from them, how to source them and how to confront common challenges in family research. Attendance to Genealogy Speaker Series program is free. To be added to the distribution list for webinar information, please contact the History Center at (863) 534-4386. You can also register for the History Center’s monthly newsletter here.

Is it worth learning about your family history? Tucker thinks so. The Polk County History Center and Genealogical Library’s resources are available at no cost to Polk County residents.

Reflecting on her experience volunteering at the History Center, Tucker says, “The best part about this is that I never know what’s going to hit me when I walk through the door.”