What to do with your genealogy files: update: Our Fascinating Family!

If you take a look at the past post right there, below, you'll see that I'm busy writing my Christmas present to my siblings. Shh, don't tell them, but it's a report from our family tree!

After the chart and report had been generated in Family Tree Maker and printed, it looked, well, seriously boring! There was not one little trace of the excitement I felt when working on my tree! How could anyone be expected to get thrilled about our fascinating family looking at this document?

I wanted a document that equaled my own excitement at the discoveries that had hooked me from the start, and had kept Mom's attention starting in the 1970s and going hard at it until just a couple of years ago. But, how was that going to happen? Tell you what! I think I just stumbled into a way to get closer to what we all want: a document that your descendants will pick up, read, and get to know more about their family's heritage. I never thought I could write an easy 45 pages about just one family line, but once I started it was easy, relatively speaking. I simply stumbled into the answer about how to get this done and here's the story.

I started with the Workman line because I've been spending time on a project documenting who owned which lots in Western Maryland just before 1800 so that line seemed like the natural place to begin.  I had a lot of charts identifying who was where and owned what, and when. But I knew from experience that the only person it was going to excite was me... and definitely not even the husband;)

Started by opening a document and save it, of course. Took a moment to write down on the first page a couple of distinctive things about the ancestors in this line. Our Workman ancestors came from Holland to New Amsterdam in the 1600s so I began there. The immigrant ancestor owned the Brooklyn Ferry and much land in the area. His son Peter was one of the first settlers in New Jersey so I had to mention that. Then his son Isaac had a son Cornelius and they both ventured into the vast wilderness trapping furs. Others followed and that's how we come to those lots I mentioned up top, owned by the Workmen family. With that outlined, I began compiling the long story of the immigrant from Holland, his English father, and what happened after they landed in Manhattan and then moved to Brooklyn, some over 350 years ago.

Then I pulled in all of the interesting documents and photos resting in my files placing them in order. I was careful to cite sources in short form as I went along.

Next I opened my Ancestry tree and had both the document and the tree visible on the screen. In that way I was able to easily copy names, dates and locations for all individuals in each generation. And before moving on I checked each of the offspring (those not in our direct line) for fascinating facts or interesting documents, maps or photos. The generations practically built themselves.

Last I added anything I could remember from my childhood or told to me by Grandma. The icing on the cake was all of the photos Mom has been saving all of these years.

At this point I had a decent but very rough draft and after a fresh cup of coffee, I started editing it and building in smooth transitions from generation to generation. As a treat to myself I added a little speculation and personal conclusions with explanations by saying things like, "it might be concluded," or "perhaps."

Before I knew it, all 45 pages were finished. The very last page listed all of the things that still might be researched plus questions or doubts I had concerning this ancestral line. I wanted to leave clues for any family member who comes after.

Oh sure, there are other better more scholarly ways to approach this type of project. I could have made notes for years, use a fancy program to put the notes in order or whatever. But that's not what happened. What did happen is a Christmas present.

I had been feeling, especially after my last milestone birthday, that I better get going and start preparing all of the collected research and family biographies in such a way so as to tempt a future generation to jump in again. And we all know that I'll be long gone when that happens! All along I've been keeping things organized and tidy as well as backed up. Made sure the appropriate people have certain passwords and account info. Have scanned a lot and there are still some of Mom's binders that could be scanned too, but that's filler work for a rainy day. Now I feel that these family histories are just the thing I've wanted so that I can be sure the work is carried on.

These are the families.

I know the story about when Grandpa Kelly went to Florida and came back and announced to grandma that he was selling the house and moving to Florida. That's when she told him that the house was in her name! Too good not to pass on!

I know the story.

I know the story.

I know the story.

 

And now, so will they.

Military Memories: Women in the War, the mothers who waited

I'm following the GeneaBloggers writing prompt for the month of May with short posts now and again on the topic of Military Memories, from Jennifer Holik. Must admit that I'm enjoying it and thinking about my own impressions of the time in history just before I was born at the start of the Baby Boom. Mom and I have talked a lot about the war years and I never tire of hearing her stories and descriptions of people and places. This time we are interested in women and their role in war, or at least as it was for Mom and Dad's families. The place is that small mountain town in Western Maryland called Frostburg.

Just to drive around Frostburg during the war years, assuming that you had a car and enough gas coupons which were both all but impossible to get because of rationing, and you'd notice the stars in windows indicating how many young people in the family were serving their country. Grandma Kelly had two stars in her window, one for Bernie and the other for Delbert.

Here are the Kelly women in the backyard posing before the boys went off to WWII. Grandma Kelly is second from the left and in no mood to smile.

Dad with Delbert on the left and Bernie on the right.

Grandma Kelly had three sons and three daughters and two of her three sons were going to war. Now I know Grandma and that top photo tells the story. She was real worried. Who wouldn't be? And I think that for the women at home in Frostburg the big burden was worry, just plain boldfaced worry. Would she ever see her two boys again?

My Mom was a young newlywed and happy because Dad was exempt from service due to an old injury. I'm kind of thinking that the fullness of fresh love drove out the ghosts that haunted Grandma Kelly and Grandmother Williams' dreams. And Mom's son wasn't born yet.

So what did the women contribute during the war? There will be stories posted to blogs that feature WACs of the US Army and WAVES of the US Navy, and the SPARS of the Coast Guard. And stories about women's sacrifices at home. But my thought today is of the mothers who waited.

Let me tell you a little story. One day I was at Grandma Kelly's house on West Main Street, and we came in from enjoying one of our favorite activities, sitting on the front porch swing watching traffic go by and waving to neighbors. On the left wall of the front hall was a beautiful fan from Asia displayed in a glass case. It was, and still is, the most lovely and ornately decorated fan I've ever seen. It held a sort of magic for me and I always paused to enjoy it. One day Grandma was talking about what I could have when she was gone. Now you had to know Grandma to understand how deeply she loved talking about a maudlin topic such as who would get what after she died or how so-and-so died. She had seen me admire the fan and warned me that Delbert would get that after she was gone. Delbert had given it to her.

Now that I think about this it all makes sense. Delbert had served in Europe in WWII and then served in Korea. Uncle Delbert told me how much he enjoyed that time in his life and entertained me well with stories about it. A young boy who came for food daily, a painting village people gave him, and each story filled with love and compassion for the Korean people in their war torn country. Of course he would bring his mother a treasure from a place he loved. I can imagine Delbert giving the fan to her when he got back from Korea. They laughed, they cried, Grandma loved it! The shadow of the heartache of having sons in the war was lifted. Her boys were back.

Oh, it was a beautiful fan and when Grandma Kelly passed on, Delbert came and took it. I remember noticing the place where it had been now marked by a bright spot on a field of floral wallpaper. Just like Grandma, my bright spot missing.

I think my cousin Kevin has the fan now, probably on a wall in his living room, given a place of honor. At least I hope so and that, as so many family treasures are, it's not in the attic catching dust.

Grandma surely wasn't alone in worrying about her boys. The mothers of Frostburg all bore the burden of that heartache. Mothers everywhere did. They waited and they worried.


If you'd like some idea of how beautiful that fan is, just click here. Pick the most elaborate then imagine it completely covered in landscape drawings. Now look at the price. Cousin Kevin, is a visit to Antiques Roadshow in your future?

Beautiful fans at: http://www.antiquealive.com/masters/Hand_Fans/Decorative_Folding_Fans.html

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