Genealogy, Why do it?
I once heard that genealogy is in the top ten hobbies in the world and at times is the second most searched topic on the internet. Yet when people hear that I am going to school to become a genealogist a common question I get is why I would want to do that. Some people perceive family history as boring or a pointless endeavor - they are wrong.
Family history is amazing; in fact I love it so much I have three, of the many, reasons why YOU should do family history.
- You are part of something bigger than yourself.
Thinking about all the people who lead to you being here can be mind blowing. Just think about it. You have two parents, which means four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. This goes back generations, doubling each time; meaning by the time you have hit your 10th great-grandparents there were 4,096 people who played a part in creating you. Those four thousand people aren’t your ancestors exclusively, but share a connection to who knows how many descendants. That is a connection you share with many people, most of which you probably don’t know. Think of all the unknown cousins out there! Maybe you’re related to the guy who held the door open for you, or the woman who checked your groceries. As you start researching family history and learning not only about your direct ancestors, but their children and grandchildren the world seems to open up while at the same time become much smaller.
- Strength can be found in stories of forefathers.
The world has never been easy. Each generation has had its struggles, and each individual who has walked this earth has had to learn ways to deal with it. As we take time to learn about our ancestors and what they went through we can find examples of strength. One family I researched made the journey from England to the United States during the early 1800s. When William and Elisabeth left the United States they had four children. At the six month mark of their living in St. Louis, Missouri all four of those children had died from various illnesses within a nine month span. Elisabeth would give birth to two more children while the couple was in Missouri, both of which died before the age of five. Yet the couple persisted. They continued working towards the goals they had come to the United States for and eventually would have four children who grew to adulthood. I marvel at the strength Elisabeth must have gone through to not only uproot her family, but to lose her children along the way. As I think of how she must have felt, I can’t help but admire her spirit for continuing forward. That is when I am reminded that a part of her is in me. I exist because she existed. And maybe some of her determination is in me. Maybe if she could be strong and keep going through those hard times, I can keep going through my hard times. This is a sense of strength many of us feel as we learn of the feats our ancestors faced.
- You get to be a detective.
I love watching crime shows. It amazes me how through the investigation process, they take tiny clues which over the course of the show eventually result in everything being solved. Family history is a lot like that. Through various documents created during someone’s lifetime tiny clues are searched for in an attempt to recreate what may be called the “crime scene” or that ancestor’s life. This search can be tedious and ,unlike those many shows I have binge watched, may take years to fully complete, but when you have gathered the evidence that allows you a glimpse into the life of an ancestor it has the most wonderful payout. Not only is there the great sense of accomplishment, but I adore the feeling that I, like the tv detectives, was able to piece together events of the past.
Now getting a family historian started on why you should do genealogy can lead to a long conversation you may not be ready for so I will cut myself off here. But let me leave you with this. Family history is an amazing work. It is incredibly difficult and often frustrating, but it is also ridiculously rewarding. The strength and understanding that can come from searching for those clues about the many individuals who lead to you being you is astounding. So why not give it a try? Start with something simple like learning more about your parents lives - who knows what discoveries you might find as you learn more about your family’s past?
By Brenna Ernst
PHOTO: https://mormonfamily.net/4506/mormon-family-kids-build-identity-family-history
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