In the past I felt a little guilty because I wasn’t writing the
definitive book on my family. Then, I
realized, that’s just one way to do family history. September’s Society meeting really brought
home the point to me that there are all sorts of ways to “do” genealogy. Sue
Ellen’s Princess Red Feather presentation really started this train of
thought. What Sue Ellen did was
essentially to “adopt” Princess Red Feather and then research her life and
“become” Princess Red Feather for an hour.
Although most of us certainly don’t go into the depth that Sue Ellen
did, many of us have researched peripheral relatives or forgotten celebrities just
because we found them interesting. In my
own research, for instance, I researched an obscure (to me, at least) jazz
musician called Turk Murphy, just because a distant cousin (2nd
cousin, once removed) once worked for him.
I only met the cousin herself once, and she had no descendants, so even
if I do write a book, I doubt old Turk will make the cut, but it was a fascinating
detour.
The more I thought about it, I realized there are all sorts
of subcategories of genealogy. Yes,
everyone who does family history initially wants to go back as many generations
as possible, but as time goes by, most specialize to some degree. Some concentrate on finding the American
emigrant and tracing his/her old world origins.
Others get stuck on a particular person or family and try to find all
they can about that person and his times.
Some of us get into historic eras, such as the Civil War, and end up
focusing on that period. Some family
historians veer off into researching a whole town or county. I know one woman who ended up writing a book,
not on her family, but on the houses built before 1950 in the little town where
her family lived. Other genealogists
want to trace family lines forward and discover distant relatives they can
visit with today. The research itself
needs to follow certain rules, but the topics to research are nearly endless.
After thinking about all of this, I’ve decided to take all
the family history scenic routes and byways I can find. I may never get that great family history
tome published, but, as my family always says before leaving on vacation: “getting there is half the fun.”
Contributed by
Larimer County Genealogical Society
Member,
Carol Stetser
Home
•
Top of Page
April, 2005 Gem
"A Lifetime of Letters From Home" - Much to my surprise,
I recently was given, by a cousin, more then 350 letters that were found in my
Paternal Grandmother's belongings. The letters span the time of 1895 until the
1960's. They were letters that were sent to my Grandmother and Grandfather from their
families that had stayed in Poland. My Grandfather emigrated to the United States in 1902
and my Grandmother had emigrated in 1906, leaving much of their immediate family in
Poland. About one-third of the letters have been translated at this time.
What do they contain? History of the conditions of Poland for those 70 years,
especially much history about World War II. They tell of the extreme poverty,
the confiscation of farm land by the occupation forces, the arrest of my ancestors
by the Russian Army, never to be heard from again, the killings of my ancestors by
desperate bandits and about the destruction of their villages.
Through these letters, my ancestors have come alive and I have been very fortunate
to learn of their personalities through these letters. They are no longer just a name
on a family tree. Their whole life was filled with trials, tribulations, poverty, and
lack of food and supplies. I am so very grateful that my Grandparents were brave enough
to come to an unknown land and spared their descendants the hardships that the Polish
people suffered. All emigrants are such heroes seeking to better their life and
circumstances for themselves and their future descendants to come.
The question remains - Why did my Grandmother save these letters? Did she believe that
some day one of her descendants would cherish them? If so, how did she know? Was it
just a hope and belief? These questions may never be answered for me. All I can
say is that my heart will ever be grateful to my Grandmother.
Contributed by
Larimer County Genealogical Society
Member,
Dolores M. Ray
Home
•
Top of Page
March, 2005 Gem
Last week I found an ancestor on a cemetery website that was a
great discovery for me. The research and website was done by
volunteers, called LCGS. This time it stands for Lake County (Ohio)
Genealogy Society.
It has been handed down orally in my family that we are descendants
of the Mayflower passenger, Peregrine White. My grandfather was not
able to make the link in his lifetime and I am picking up where he
left off. If only he could see and use the Internet like we do
today. He died in 1989 and was a advocate of using computers at
that early time. I am still downloading his info he had on PAF 2.0
DOS from an old Apple computer.
So I found Samuel White b. 1790 and his family buried in OH via
this website and LCGS. I still haven't made the link, but these are
steps on the way.
I was so inspired by these volunteers, I want to
give back by volunteering through our LCGS!
