Is family history important to you?

Gardenlover

Gardenlover

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When I was younger, not so much. Now, though, I wish I had spent hours sitting with my dad, talking about our family’s past. What isn’t shared is eventually forgotten.

From a health perspective, family history clearly matters. But beyond that, do we seek it only out of curiosity, something bordering on gossip? Can the past truly shape the future in any meaningful way?
 

I find my family history interesting, especially some of the stories, but yes, I would say it is just curiosity. I like the humorous stories like my grandfather trying to teach my grandmother to drive, or my great grand parents who went west in a wagon, got there and didn't like it so turned around and came back home in the wagon.

I know some were in the revolutionary war and others in the civil war, etc. but that doesn't define me in any way.
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My dad never talked about his past. My sister got a lot of info from my mom but took a while to pass it on to me. After learning what a bunch of nutjobs his family was I can see why he kept quiet. It would make a good movie. I didn't learn much of it until I was in my 40s so my life was pretty much set. I figured out for myself not to marry a woman who ends up trying to kill me with a claw hammer while driving down the Ohio turnpike. She was the wife before my mom I never knew about. The stories ... I did an ancestry search that went as far back as far as the 1700's. Lots of wagon painters and bar tenders.
 

I find my family history interesting but unimportant or perhaps unremarkable.

At this point in my life, I spend more and more time going over my own life story. 😉🤭😂

I do enjoy some of the family stories but I would find them interesting no matter who’s family they came from.

I suppose that I am fortunate to have the information on both sides of my family going back to what historians call The Early Modern Period.

It would probably increase my curiosity if I knew little or nothing beyond my immediate family.
 
Setting knowledge of health issues aside, yes family history is important to me. I love ancient history and learning how my people got here.

I was able to trace the English side of me back to the 1200’s. If I am to believe my English grandmother there is Native American in there somewhere.

The Eastern European side were poor record keepers. Finding anything is next to impossible. Dad did tell me the communists stole all of his family’s farmland, dairy cattle, and teams of horses, in the old country, in the early 20th century.

I have always made it a point to study the registration papers of my dogs and horses who had papers. Not only to learn more about them, but to honor their heritage. If they have papers that trace their ancestry, those papers deserve to be read.
 
I certainly wish I'd talked with my dad about our family history. I was just clueless. I always suspected there was something deeper because I had a butchered Jewish first and last name, but my family was Baptist. I sent off for my Coat of Arms when I was a kid and it indicated our family was from Germany.

I recently began looking into Ancestry.com and saw my grandfather's original signature and how it had been altered from our last name. My grandfather was evidently a Jew in Germany during the Hitler days and immigrated to the US. Of all places, he ended up in the mountains of North Carolina where he has a plaque as one of the founders of the First Baptist Church there. There would have been such interesting stories to tell if I'd only had that time with my father.
 
We all need a sense of identity and knowing our own history helps with that. Large numbers of people have had to leave their homes for various reasons and those who kept a journal help to give us insights into their experiences. Millions of people had their lives disrupted by wars. Again it is interesting to know how their plans and ambitions were destroyed.
 
As @RadishRose said ... interesting rather than important. My mother's maiden name was very uncommon and she was always curious about its origins. She never did find out but I have. Turns out to have a simple explanation in that it is Scottish in origin but the spelling changed over the years. I also felt that my maternal grandmother's name was of Irish origin and have now been able to verify that. So, I'm happy, I now know that my ancestry is Scottish/Irish on the maternal side and northern English on paternal side.
 
Being raised the way I was Yes! They made it fun, they taught me in stories and song about getting through
life's ups and downs without telling me how to do it. They toughened my skin and determination with humor
passed down from ages. They painted pictures with words of where we began and where their hearts were.
There's nothing wrong with being proud of how far your ancestors came in this world to where you are now.
Those traits they pass down make you the unique person you are, no matter where in the world it began.
Pam said:
. My mother's maiden name was very uncommon and she was always curious about its origins. She never did find out but I have. Turns out to have a simple explanation in that it is Scottish in origin but the spelling changed over the years. I also felt that my maternal grandmother's name was of Irish origin and have now been able to verify that. So, I'm happy, I now know that my ancestry is Scottish/Irish on the maternal side and northern English on paternal side.
Click to expand...
We could be related, your search findings resemble my own in many ways. There was a lot of moving going on in the UK
for centuries. I never knew my Father's side except his Sir Name is very British, no denying that. But he was not around
to influence me in his heritage, my Mother's side was.
 
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It's hard to trace ancestors, because names were sometimes changed, either because someone was fleeing the law or vengeance or because the names were changed by immigration officials.

For instance....."Name, please." "Fador Szynxtzyov." "How is that spelled?" "Spelled?" "Welcome to America, Fred Smith!" (STAMP!)

So now he has papers identifying him as Fred Smith and from then on, Fred Smith he was.
 
jujube said:
It's hard to trace ancestors, because names were sometimes changed, either because someone was fleeing the law or vengeance or because the names were changed by immigration officials.

For instance....."Name, please." "Fador Szynxtzyov." "How is that spelled?" "Spelled?" "Welcome to America, Fred Smith!" (STAMP!)

So now he has papers identifying him as Fred Smith and from then on, Fred Smith he was.
Click to expand...
I agree with you there. So I don't venture off into the far branches of the tree. It gets way too confusing and too many stumbling blocks.
I go back straight up the tree as far back as I can. Then if I feel interested I may venture off to another. It is a daunting task for many if you
don't have much to go on to begin with.
 
Yes, my family history became important to me. My maternal grandparents were separated when I was a baby so I didn't know anything about him or his family. I was just told he was no good and his family was even worse. So I never asked because they only told bad stories about things he did. Well about 2010 or so, I got a subscription to Ancestry and unlocked a world I wanted to know. All of sudden I had a family. I got really into it and would even have dreams about them. It also led to me meeting some cousins on FB.

Now sadly, I had to cut costs in my budget and cannot use Ancestry for the time being. I will get back to it. Just yesterday I had a lady contact me about my uncle on my paternal side which has been a road block for me due to my father's family immigrating here from Poland.
 
My Father's name as I said is very British and there were many all around England and a good bunch in the states.
All I knew was his full name and birthdate and he had been in the Marines at this certain year. It took me years and years but once that brick in the wall came off! It was glorious.
The thing with a tree is it doesn't tell you what sort of person they were or are. That.. is what seals the deal when you
find someone who will sit with you and tell you about that person in real life.
My avatar photo I have on right now is when I met my half-sister for the 1st time after a 52 year search.
She is telling me about my Father and growing up with him. This photo means a lot to me, very special to me.
 

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