I was wandering through Pinterest the other day and came upon this, “Stop Asking Genealogists How Far Back [They]  Have Traced Their Genealogy.” It was an article by Devon Noel Lee on Family History Fanatics (familyhistoryfanatics.com). It made me stop and think. 1) Should I try to get her as a speaker? and 2) Is this what I do?

Without having read the article in detail yet, I thought the general concept was an important one. Rather than try to see what famous people I can connect to my tree or how many names I can get on my tree or how far back in time I can go, isn’t it more important that the tree is full of the stories and life that was my family history?

We talked a few months ago about “your current level of awareness.” Mine changes often and I make little adjustments here and there based on those changes. This one made me take stock of several areas that are my interests: organizing (not organization), history, and writing.

Thinking out loud here is my initial idea. Currently in my notebooks I have in each family group section a family group sheet, timeline and 2 webs (one for each parent). What if I add a section for location history and/or major historical events (check out http://ourtimelines.com/ for a tool to put history in your ancestors time period). The purpose would be to organize the notes on the locations and events that I have, have them in a consistent location for finding them, and to intentionally look for each location and event for the family group (parents in particular). Go deeper into their history rather than just how far back can I take them.

Let’s see what she says in her article.

It seems this is partly what she is talking about. However, it is also a bit of a reminder that not all lines are created equal, so to speak. She talks about limitations such as when resources were required in certain areas or cultures. There may not be resources to take you back as far on all lines in all family trees for example. It is also about remembering the importance of verifying the information. It is one thing to just follow the trees of others until a line stops. It is another thing to check the sources and find evidence that supports the connections.

I don’t think she means to tell us only to go as far as our grandparents. I took it more as a reminder, to slow down and get more of the complete story and to gather supporting evidence, where available, to confirm the connections on the tree. 

It is worth reading the article and to see what you think.

We have one more class this year in November on how to encourage interest in family history in our own families and in general. Next year’s class schedule is being built as we speak. Thank you for joining our classes and reading the Blog.

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com