Why do you spend so much time finding your ancestors? That is an interesting question. Has anyone ever asked you that question? How would you answer? I find many people have more than one reason. Which makes sense because you may have had one reason when you started but then it morphed into many reasons to keep doing it. Just like life, ancestry research can snowball. You find where one person comes from and you want to know why. You really want to know your story. You are curious. But there are those who just want names and places.
There are names, dates, places born and where they died.
I have this book. It is a great book. Someone back in the late 1960’s early 1970’s went and dug around and did a family tree. There are names, dates, places born and where they died. Some cemetery names. That is all. Now that is a lot of work. Especially in a time with no computers. They had to go to a lot of these places. I know they talked to some relatives to get information. I know they told stories about getting to some of the little cemeteries. But as I read it I want to know who these people are? What is their story? Their personality? Were they religious? Are there family traditions? I know people who are content to know the names and places. They love to look at that information and are content with that. But are you?
I am a history lover.
I am a history lover. I read history books as frequently as possible. I am always wanting to know Oh, what was going on during that time, how did it affect people, the world, etc… It is no wonder when I find a name in my genealogy I want to find a story about them. Is this easy? Not at all, especially the further back you go. There is no one alive who knew people very far back. But these living relatives have stories, some about those who are no longer with us. Get an oral history from them! My aunt gave us some stories, and they are wonderful. She told us about how she met her husband on a blind date, and how he told her was going to marry her on that first date. So when I found her wedding announcement, I had that story. There was so much detail in the announcement I could just picture them in their wedding outfits and the looks they gave each other. With these two items, generations to come will know these people and may get a glimpse of why they themselves fell in love quickly, where some of their personality came from.
I learn about my ancestors not to just learn about them but to learn about myself.
I would consider myself a family historian. I learn about my ancestors not to just learn about them but to learn about myself. You can learn a lot about yourself by learning about your ancestors. One of the best ways to see how people were in their lives is obituaries. I have found out peoples’ passions, jobs, personalities, their generosity, sometimes you find out where they grew up and the path they took to where they were when they passed away. So you may not have a family story, but sometimes the family’s words in the obituary tell you all you need to know.
So, no matter why you do genealogy, to find names or to find the history of the names you find, keep doing it. Someone in my family did a lot of hard work, and now I get to find the stories to go with the names. Your hard work may just be the stepping stone for your posterity to realize they come from hardy stock, and they may just want to do more work on the family history.
If you need any help finding your ancestors, just let us know.
