COEUR d'ALENE - Louisa St. John Durkin has a new appreciation for her great grandmother.

She's learned that when her ancestor was but 4 years old, she was taken prisoner by the British during the Revolutionary War, her father the captain of a fallen fort.

"It's just interesting to find out your family is part of history, of the making of this country," the Coeur d'Alene woman said. "You don't always remember to ask your family (about their ancestry) until they're gone."

That's why researching her family history has been a hobby since she retired, she said.

She's not alone in digging up the past.

St. John Durkin was among hundreds who attended a genealogy conference in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, to brush up on methods and resources for unlocking family secrets.

"Genealogy is the fastest growing hobby that there is," said Connie Godak, director of the Hayden Lake Family History Center in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Hanley Avenue. "People are searching for their roots. We're such a mobile society today, we don't have the connections we used to have, like when people used to live with their grandparents."

Although the conference was hosted by the LDS church, which considers genealogy part of its doctrine, about half of the 230 attendees non-church members. Participants hailed from across Idaho, Washington and Montana.

"Every year (the conference) gets bigger and bigger," Godak said.

Classes covered finding records online, searching for ancestors in historical newspapers, repairing older photos with Photoshop.

"Start at home. Look up what records you have, write down that information," Godak recommended for novices to genealogy. "Then come to the Family History Center, and we will help."

The 30-year-old center is replete with a full library on genealogy research, as well as microfiche and microfilm readers and a bank of computers for online research.

Godak, who teaches a free class on genealogy at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at the church, said both her class and the history center are open to the public. No prosthelytizing attached.

"It's a community service," Godak said. "Some people get frustrated if they don't find something, but they're still glad they came."

Bettye Hull from Cheney said after the conference that she has traveled to Texas and Tennessee researching her extended family. She has even trooped through graveyards to investigate her great grandmother's mysterious death.

Hull has stumbled across some real surprises, like a great uncle who was the first to die in his Texas county in World War I. An American Legion building is named after him in Dillon, Texas.

"It just makes them come alive," Hull said of researching her ancestors. "They're not just names. They're people."

Corine Moore of Hayden said investigating her ancestry does have Mormon motivation. If she discovers predecessors who weren't baptized, she can help them with that now by proxy.

"I want to have that bond with my family," Moore said.

But her digging has also led to intriguing discoveries. Like how her husband's grandmother raced motorcycles. And how many of her ancestors had similar professions to current relatives.

"Even though I don't know their stories, I'm like, 'Wow, this has been passed down," said Moore, who also volunteers at the history center.

Cam DeWitt was eager to learn more about genealogy on Saturday, as his wife Sherrie runs the North Stake Family History Center in Spokane.

Genealogy can affect people's lives, he said.

"There are few feelings that are more exhilarating than hearing somebody say, 'I found them! I've been trying to find them for eight years!" Cam said.

For more info

- To learn more about the Hayden Lake Family History Center, or to take free genealogy classes there, call 765-0150