"I don't smoke or drink, I do genealogy! And that can be addictive," said Ellicott City resident Nancy Lauer. But it's an addition she's crafted into an award-winning one.

Last month she was presented the 2007 Maryland Historical Society's Sumner A. Parker Award for her "Family Diversity, The Lauer, Borgmeier, Bauer Families; Deutschland to Baltimore, Maryland and the MacCubbin's 1650 to 2006, Volume II."

For Lauer, who published her book under "Waters," her maiden name, the catalyst of her interest came from a request from her husband's father.

"He asked us to buy him genealogy software for the computer, to research his family, but then he gave it back to us and said, "Here, you do it."

So Lauer did. She learned her husband Bill's third great-grandfather was Simon Lauer, who came to America in the 1857 and was a Union soldier during the Civil War. Simon's son, Stephen Lauer, married into the MacCubbins. John MacCubbin came to America in 1600 and was one of Maryland's founding fathers.

Vacations with microfiche

Lauer's been known to spend vacation time from her job with an engineering firm not to stroll the beaches, but instead scrolling through microfiche and communing with documents in dark, history-laden haunts on her quest for one more name, one more date that will help form a bigger picture of family histories. On occasion when traveling, she also takes time out to look for any genealogic gems.

"I'll ask the hotel clerk about the nearest library," Lauer said. She laughed and added, "I get some strange looks, but genealogists are weird! I love the essence my research places, the smell of the books, especially at the Maryland Historical Society. It's a phenomenal place. They all are and everyone is a thousand percent helpful,"

She'd never written before she penned her first book in the 1990s, but said that when an idea emerges, her writing starts to flow.

According to Francis O'Neill, Senior Reference Librarian at the Maryland Historical Society, the Parker award's been given out for decades, and the number of candidates each year varies.

"Some years we get 30 or 40 books for judging, other years only 10 or 15," he said.

Lauer's success has also brought her speaking engagements with organizations in Maryland and farther a field. In July she'll speak at Bringham Young University genealogy conference on several topics: naming conventions of ancestors, computer software and power point presentations, the latter especially adaptable for family reunions. In September she'll be a guest speaker at a conference in Philadelphia.

"Various societies bring people like me in to explain and help others do research," she said. Some researchers have specialties, like those especially knowledgeable in the nuances of combing through census records.

In addition to the Maryland Historical Society library, Lauer's avenues of research include the National Archives, the law library and Maryland archives in Annapolis, the Enoch Free Library, cemeteries and churches.

It's "research" that William Bartram, a Sumner A. Parker award judge, listed first in the judges' award criteria.

"We look for the amount of research, a book has to be readable, well documented, indexed and we test out indexes. There's also consistency to consider, the scope of work, how illustrated it is and the physical aspects like the binding. ... For its category, her book stood out," said Bartram, who also presented Lauer with the award at the ceremony.

"When doing research, you have to be flexible and keep an open mind," Lauer said.

Lauer, who was raised by her grandparents, also won an award for her first book about her paternal grandparents. "The Huhn, Testorf and Steck Families," won the 1997 Anna Ford Heart of America Award for Excellence.

Washington drank here

In her treks through the tomes, she learned her mom's father had a relative who owned a tavern in Maryland where George Washington stopped. Other sources confirm this information, including one directly from the first president.

"George Washington mentions stopping there in his diaries," Lauer said.

But her most interesting find was that she and her husband Bill are related.

"Bill and I are fourth cousins, no removal," she said. She learned Simon Lauer and her grandmother had the same fourth great-grandparents all who lived in the same town, Neckargerach, Germany.

"Well everyone is eventually related to everyone else!" she quipped about that piece of information.

Though her family isn't interested in genealogy, she said they are "thrilled" by her success.

It's easier now to gather family tree information and that may be one reason the interest in genealogy has blossomed so prolifically in the last decade.

When Lauer does frequent the archives and genealogy conferences she sees primarily Baby Boomers, both men and women. She attributes this to people older than 50 having grown children and therefore more time to pursue other interests.

"But it's not only Boomers, sometimes younger people, too."

That's a fact she discovered when doing research on the Smith family on her mom's side. It was a 19-year-old researcher who shared his information about the Smiths with her.

There are instances when a researcher thinks they've made a solid lineage link, only to be foiled by a new bit of information that turns it all to unrelated historical dust. This phenomenon was the subject of a paper she wrote entitled: "When a Brick Wall Crumbles Onto the Wrong Path." The paper won 3rd place in the Original Research Story Category of the 2008 International Society of Family History Writers and Editors Excellence in Writing Contest.

For Lauer's recent award, she received a certificate and $200. But the primary reward for Lauer is finding the unexpected as she weaves threads of data into a unique tapestry of family history.

"For me, it's that you'll never know what you'll find," said Lauer, who enjoys the challenge of peeling back the decades, one musty page at a time.

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