These are further musings as a result of an earlier post, Two Degrees of Separation, at the end of which I commented that 200 years had passed since the birth of my 3rd great-grandmother. Said great-grandmother knew my grandmother, and yet no accounts of said 3rd great-grandmother were ever passed along -- at least not along our family lines to me.In fact, it seems that I come from a long line of non-storytellers. Or maybe it was just my parents and grandparents who didn't tell stories. I've never met any of my earlier ancestors because they died before I was born.
But what if my ancestors did tell the stories? What if they told the stories of their lives to their children and grandchildren and shared memories of their parents and grand-parents? What if the children and grandchildren didn't pass on those stories? What if my ancestors told the stories and only a few of the grandchildren remembered? Maybe other descendants and their families know these stories and my siblings and I are the only ones who don't.
Even if my 3rd-great-grandmother kept a journal it could not have passed to every single one of her descendants. If she kept a journal and it survived, it would likely be in the hands of only one person (who is, unfortunately, not me). If it has survived for 150 years and the descendant into whose possession it landed is not interested in family history, she may not know that a great-grandmother wrote it. She may consider it a piece of junk. And think of how many descendants into whose hands it could be. Probably several hundred by now.
I suppose I'm moaning a little; and also feeling a little envious of those who do have stories and journals and photographs of ancestors. If you have them, treasure them. Preserve them. Do what you can to share the stories, both with your descendants and online so others who may suddenly develop an interest can find them.
Yes, I do wish I were a designated descendant!
--Nancy.
Copyright © 2014 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
Of all the people I know, Nancy, you would be THE best designated descendant! It is unfortunate that you don't have more to work with as I know you would treasure it. It is, however, certainly a credit to you that you are doing such a remarkable job preserving what you DO know and can find out about your family history for your own descendants. Your descendants will surely bless you as I do my grandmother for documenting and preserving what you do know. I am so lucky that at least some of my ancestors valued the telling of their stories. I need to follow the example of my grandmother and do the same for my own life and times. And I need to train someone in my family to be a designate. How to do that and how do you choose just one to hold the originals? Perhaps that sticky question is the reason much has been lost. Your thoughts examine an important topic, if still rather sad.
ReplyDeleteYou are very generous, Kathleen. Thank you. My daughters are interested, but not too interested, in family history so I'm hopeful that my grandchildren might be more interested. When we cleaned out my parents' home everything was split up among the three of us children and I know those things will go to 8 or so others as time goes by. Maybe one of the problems is space. I could not have kept everything in my parents' home, and if my mom had saved everything from her parents' home, etc., back through the generations, I would have felt inundated and weighted down. It would be worse if the one designated to inherit were young when his/her parents passed away. In some ways, it's easier these days because we can take photographs and make scans of important documents. Still, it's not the same as holding that old Bible in one's own hands. It is a challenge. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
DeleteI know how you feel Nancy, precious few photographs survived in our family - one of the reasons I love to meet new ‘cousins’. Luckily, there are plenty of stories and some of them have even proven true!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's wonderful to meet cousins who are willing to share. I'm so thankful for the ones who have found me through my blog.
DeleteAnother reason to share our family history treasures online so everyone can benefit. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's so true, Jana. I just wish some of my ancestors' other descendants were sharing online!
DeleteNancy,
DeleteI want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/10/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-october-24.html
Have a great weekend!
That's a nice surprise! Thank you, Jana.
DeleteYou're so right about sharing the stories. I have two young granddaughters who love a good story, so I make sure they are stories about their ancestors. Most ancestors have at least one good story we can pass on. :) I'm trying to get the stories into a book so they won't forget as they get older.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea to tell your granddaughters stories about their ancestors. Even better that you're putting them into a book. They will cherish it, I'm sure.
DeleteWithout the stories, scrapbooks and photo albums eventually become useless which is why they end up in dusty antique stores.
ReplyDeleteThat's so true, Wendy. We went to an auction a few weeks ago. The lady was moving in with one of her children and everything in the home we being sold. There were many wonderful old photographs as well as things I would have wanted to keep as heirlooms. There were no names on the photographs. It was so sad. I suppose some antique dealer bought them and will sell them as "adopted ancestors" to buyers whose family didn't keep photographs.
DeleteNancy I have the same issue and wish so much I had some shared stories and those coveted pictures that some seem to have so many of. I do have to tell you that although my second great grandfather didn't leave anything for us either, someone he knew did have a journal and recorded things about my second great grandfather and his sons (one of which of course was my great grandfather.) I still wish that I had things in his own words, but chuckle at some of the things that this associate shared about him that undoubtedly he would not have shared about himself. Gives credence to that ole FAN club thing.
ReplyDeleteOh, gosh, Michelle, what a treasure to have those stories, even if they were written by someone else. I continue to hope for finds like yours!
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