Family Stories:
Genealogy if it is only the collection of the names and dates of ancestors is a dry and hopeless pursuit. Each generational step back in a family history brings yet another set of questions and new surnames to research. That these were real people with real lives can be easily lost in the search for what is called proof. Proof of their lives? This is to a degree dehumanizing. Like a librarian wishing to place each book in the proper place on a shelf ancestors become catagorized and even numbered. Like the books to the librarian ancestors can become empty shells without content.
Each has a story. Perhaps one way be more interesting than another. One may have made historic contributions and another earned fame in the public. Still others lived out their lives quietly among their families seemingly leaving no noteworthy impression. That may be an allusion. If the little facts of their lives can be placed in the big picture of their time their story may shed light into current life: family, occupation, region and nation. These people lived in nation building times. They often accomplished life in harder times than most ever know. Their stories are the fabric of what is now.
I intend here to retell these stories of my family as I can find them. For those who wonder here I hope you enjoy them and gain from them some of the inspiration that I have found.