By TIM UNRUH
Salina Journal
While piecing together history, Judy Lilly has garnered just as much pleasure from the rotten fruits and prickly vines of her family tree as those ancestors who wore halos.
Having traced some of her lineage in America to the 17th century, Lilly has learned a lot from those family members who preceded her. Not all were saintly.
"I haven't found a horse thief, but I would be glad to find one. I have a great-grandfather who walked out and left his family in 1903 and never came back," she said.
History and genealogy were passions for Lilly long before she won the job 17 years ago as Kansas librarian at the Salina Public Library. She succeeded Mary Crowther, who died suddenly in 1990 after 27 years in the position.
The former English teacher who wrote a local history and genealogy column -- "Smoky Valley Roots" -- in the Salina Journal from 1979 to 1985, Lilly did much of her research at the library.
"I used this collection a lot and knew my way around it when I applied for the job," she said.
While she completed an English degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg in 1965, she has regretted not pursuing a minor degree in history.
"I can't explain it. You just have this curiosity about the past and what it was like to live in those times. When it has some relevance to you, that's even better," she said.
Deserve to be remembered
Genealogy research provides a glimpse into the evolution of families and other groups. Those pioneers, ancestors and founders play a role in shaping who we are and how communities are framed through the generations, she said.
"They deserve to be remembered. The least you can do is learn their names and hopefully some stories about them," Lilly said.
Each person is a mix of people who precede them, with two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc. The group of people who touch each of us, either directly or indirectly, is "just voluminous," she said.
"All of those people funnel down into you," Lilly said.
She is in charge of the library's collection of local and state history. It attracts folks looking into their ancestors, towns and the formation of Kansas. But her department reaches beyond state borders through Census records, and a longtime interlibrary loan service with information available from just about everywhere in the nation.
Internet not final answer
Technology is a tremendous help. The Internet is a valuable tool for genealogical research, Lilly said, "but it's not the end-all."
Not all answers can be gleaned from the World Wide Web, she said.
"A lot of beginning genealogists think the answers are there or they should be. You also have to use the old-fashioned strategies in your research," Lilly said. "Unless it's the original data, the information can be wrong on the Internet."
Some don't know where to turn if the Web falls short.
"That's where I can help people," she said.
Lilly likens the process to a mystery, "a problem you have to solve intellectually. There is something to discover every day."
Some information is hard-earned. After months of looking for the death date and burial place of her husband Gerald Karnes' great-great grandfather, Salinan Charlene Karnes discovered the information last summer, perusing microfilm of old newspapers from Illinois at the Salina Public Library. Lilly was instrumental in obtaining the microfilm through an interlibrary loan.
"She's one in a million, very knowledgeable about many things pertaining to history and genealogy. She's on top of it all," Charlene Karnes said.
Some of Lilly's family tree includes:
Reared on a farm near Bridgeport, Lilly was one of Charles and Maxine Magnuson's four daughters. Maxine, 91, now lives in Salina. Judy drove a tractor, hauled wheat to the grain elevator and helped stack hay.
She graduated from Assaria High School in 1961, and her high school sweetheart was Dennis Lilly.
"We dated our senior year, then went separate ways the next four years and got back together," she said.
Judy completed a degree at Bethany College, and Dennis spent time in the U.S. Army.
They were married in 1966.
Judy taught English first in Bonner Springs, then in Georgia and Manhattan. Then she left the classroom to start a family while they lived for short periods in Kansas City and Lawrence; the couple moved to Salina in 1975. Their youngest of three daughters was born in Salina.
Dennis Lilly is the controller at Solomon Corp., Solomon.
The couple have eight grandchildren, including one set of triplets, and a ninth grandchild in on the way.
n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.
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