Back in school I remember working on family tree projects throughout my academic career. I was not really ever interested in the idea behind it and looked no further into my family history than my grandparents. I turned in my project and promptly forgot about it. Then when I got into high school, I thought it would be cool to create a really nice family tree wall hanging that could be added to and passed down generations. I dabbled in research and at the time, the internet just didn't have the resources available that we have today. I was not willing to drive all the way out to the Mormon Temple to work on it and so I just let it go. For some reason, I held on to all that I had collected.
Fast forward many many years and we get to a few years ago. I wanted something to pass on to my own children and their children after that. Growing up, I had heard stories about when my grandparents were small and I was always captivated by the things they said. They gave me a little insight into people that I would never meet and to a time in history that was long gone. It was a small glimpse into their lives before I knew them and I was fascinated.
When I started looking at all of the information I collected back in high school, my original idea was just to complete the project I had started. Never in a million years would I have thought that almost 4 years later, I would be so immersed in what I was doing that sometimes I preferred to spend the evening sipping my water and "meeting" these relatives who, in some cases, had died centuries before I was born. This journey seems to have no end and I am completely at the mercy of my dead relatives. The documents they kept and the photos they passed down are sometimes my only link to information about them.
I have since learned that family trees and creating a family history are two totally different things. A family history gives future generations a look into the past and lets them live in our moments years from now. A simple family tree just gives them the facts. Learning their history gives them insight into how the people lived and why things happened. It is constantly changing and when written is far more personal than some names and dates written on a pretty chart.
My family history, like so many others, started out with the known people. Myself and my own family and those in my husband's immediate family. Before too long there were quite a few people in our tree but I was still able to know their stories intimately. Now, there are over 3000 people in the tree and it just continues to grow. In my opinion, it is important to not only just follow your direct line, but to notate all of the children born to a particular set of parents. Learning the family dynamic is huge and the extra names, although not always helpful when you're trying to streamline things, can actually help to locate a lost relative.
I am now at the point where I am buried under mountains of paperwork and I am finding it hard to find a system that will allow me to keep hard copies of everything with an exact digital backup just in case. I have tried putting things in 3 ring binders by family, but later on I find that I have a lot of the same information (i.e. census records) in several different places. I have begun to go through some of my papers and started working on a new classification system.. I am also seriously thinking about getting some kind of scanner so that I can keep copies of things I have hand written.
But I digress. This journey to seek out my roots has taught me a lot about the world and the places that my family has come from. Whether they were English nobility or slave owners in the Deep South, they all have something of value to contribute to my life. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to get to know each and every one of them. I am excited for the opportunity to keep their stories alive for generations to come.
