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I wish I could trace my fathers mother's family but unfortunately the courthouse burned & the records were lost. There is Irish there but I'll probably never know from where.
My mother's family is so easy to trace; we even have the original ticket from Oslo, Norway to Ellis Island.
I don't think it's at all narcissistic to search for your roots. It has always haunted me that I'm more in tune with Irish lore & feel a longing to know those kinfolks. But, I can't trace them, much to my regret.
A friend of mine went to Ireland on vacation & accosted a woman she thought was me. It makes one think. I would have loved to see/meet that woman myself.
For me it's not finding someone famous. It's more a wondering why I ache to know more about Ireland.
I wish I could trace my fathers mother's family but unfortunately the courthouse burned & the records were lost. There is Irish there but I'll probably never know from where.
My mother's family is so easy to trace; we even have the original ticket from Oslo, Norway to Ellis Island.
I don't think it's at all narcissistic to search for your roots. It has always haunted me that I'm more in tune with Irish lore & feel a longing to know those kinfolks. But, I can't trace them, much to my regret.
A friend of mine went to Ireland on vacation & accosted a woman she thought was me. It makes one think. I would have loved to see/meet that woman myself.
For me it's not finding someone famous. It's more a wondering why I ache to know more about Ireland.
It's the stories that make it interesting and sometimes the stories may only be distantly related to your own family.
One of my 1st cousins (several time removed) married Gail Borden, Jr., the condensed milk magnate. While researching these families, a lady wrote me to tell me Gail Borden was distantly related to Lizzy Borden, suspected ax murderer of Falls River, MA. Somewhere I have that letter that reveals the connections between the two Borden families.
History is fun especially as you inevitably become a part of it.
I'm a Borden! Well, descended from the Bordens. Lizzy is a very distant cousin.
I fail to understand why it has to be YOUR personal history in order for it to be humbling or interesting? If it is about others, you can't engage? You just don't care about the broader struggles of humanity? THAT is what is narcissistic about it - the lack of shared empathy.
This is an example of the kind of assumptive hostility out there. The assumption that because you had questions about your forebears and discovered a fun hobby that it has to be about your, no make that YOUR, personal history. The assumption that you don't care about others and that genealogy is the sum total of efforts to understand the past, when in fact you're learning a lot of things not directly related to your own family. The assumption that you lack empathy for others? Good Lord! You really want to lay that, no make it THAT, at my door because I have an interest you don't care for?
For many years now the majority of what I know about history is based on genealogical studies, not history classes. It's given me a more accurate idea of what life was really like for ordinary people, related or not, and informed my way of thinking to include a historical frame of reference, something seriously lacking for most people these days. Genealogy causes ordinary people to do original historical research. Otherwise the average person almost never goes to original historical sources to answer questions and solve problems. When do you suppose reneeh63 last did that?
I believe I know the post you are referring to in "Other Topics" but as a genealogist, when I read that, I just assumed that some people prefer to be ignorant of their family roots, or maybe they just have good reasons to not have it revealed.
Anyone who thinks family history research reveals all kings and queens and not a few horse thieves and ne'er do wells among them does not know how it works. The horse thieves stand alongside royalty in history and, when you shoot the unchoked shotgun of family history back through time, you're bound to hit targets you would rather not hit.
Have always had an "It is what it is" philosophy, or as TXNGL pointed out, the good, the bad and the ugly. And the further back you get, when you're researching people from whom you have less than 1% DNA, clearly it's the historical interest as much or more than any kinship imo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
Speaking of letters, I have one about my maternal grandmother. It is in support of her being named postmistress for her small Georgia town. Her competitor for the job was a WWII veteran, who was using that as a reason he should get it. The letter about my grandmother pointed out that she was the mother of two veterans, and a widow who had reared those veterans. She got the appointment! I also have love notes she and my grandfather wrote to each other, in pencil on whatever paper was available. Those are so sweet!
We have some letters that include a detailed description of a wedding. How else are you going to know what a wedding long ago was really like for an ordinary family. The letter describes what they ate and wore. The bride did not wear white. But only because that had not become the thing that it did. The color of her dress was described as "champagne."
This is an example of the kind of assumptive hostility out there. The assumption that because you had questions about your forebears and discovered a fun hobby that it has to be about your, no make that YOUR, personal history. The assumption that you don't care about others and that genealogy is the sum total of efforts to understand the past, when in fact you're learning a lot of things not directly related to your own family. The assumption that you lack empathy for others? Good Lord! You really want to lay that, no make it THAT, at my door because I have an interest you don't care for?
For many years now the majority of what I know about history is based on genealogical studies, not history classes. It's given me a more accurate idea of what life was really like for ordinary people, related or not, and informed my way of thinking to include a historical frame of reference, something seriously lacking for most people these days. Genealogy causes ordinary people to do original historical research. Otherwise the average person almost never goes to original historical sources to answer questions and solve problems. When do you suppose reneeh63 last did that?
You asked a question and you got an answer Sorry if a non genealogist answered honestly. If you have an interest in the broader history, good for you - don't assume I have no interest in history because I don't track my ancestors. I just don't believe there's anything more special about my DNA than anyone else's.
I'm a researcher but of a different sort and I go to original sources all the time - just not letters from my great-grandmother - btw, a bit of the snobbishness you were denying in your original post is showing here.
You asked a question and you got an answer Sorry if a non genealogist answered honestly. If you have an interest in the broader history, good for you - don't assume I have no interest in history because I don't track my ancestors. I just don't believe there's anything more special about my DNA than anyone else's.
I'm a researcher but of a different sort and I go to original sources all the time - just not letters from my great-grandmother - btw, a bit of the snobbishness you were denying in your original post is showing here.
I did not ask the question you seen to have assumed was asked. I asked my fellow genealogists what they get from doing genealogy. I did not state that you don't have an interest in broader history. It's ironic because you stated that of me. Another assumption of yours, a family letter is not the only source I go to, as it sounds like you may be asserting, or you are saying you don't have similar to refer to. But am guessing it's the former because you appear to have inserted yourself into this thread to make uninformed judgements. As to your last assertion, more irony.
History was one of my majors at University in the UK and it was always my abiding interest. I then forged a career as an auditor and found that bringing the auditor's discipline to my interest in genealogy brought a huge dividend.
Thing about history is that it is so broad and so deep that everyone, from the professional historian to the interested amateur has to specialize. And that specialization starts in the school system where kids learn about the history of their country and even their region. Genealogy is merely one area of historic specialization.
Genealogy is one of my interests and that was sparked because my father died when I was nine and I never really knew his side of the family. It was also an area where I could do original research and actually use that expensive University education and auditing skills. There are relatively few areas where the interested amateur can actually research history and genealogy is perhaps the preeminent one.
Interest in one area of history does not preclude an interest in other areas or, for that matter, a lack of empathy. Most historians have a broad interest but they have to specialize in order to gain an in-depth understanding of a given period. Equally, I should imagine that most of us amateurs who are researching their family history also have other interests.
The idea that an interest in genealogy is "narcissistic" or demonstrates a lack of "empathy" is as fanciful as it is ridiculous.
I'm a Borden! Well, descended from the Bordens. Lizzy is a very distant cousin.
Well hello cousin.
Penelope MERCER (1811-1834) who married Gail BORDEN, Jr. in Amite County, MS in 1834, was my 1st cousin, 5 times removed.
According to my notes, Gail BORDEN, Jr. is said to be related to the BORDENs who came to New England in the 1630s and also to such persons as the infamous New England Lizzie BORDEN of Falls River, MA fame and A.P. Borden who is credited with introducing Brahman cattle into Texas.
The MERCERs were a paternal family for me but is not my surname.
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Good Lord! You really want to lay that, no make it THAT, at my door because I have an interest you don't care for? 
But only because that had not become the thing that it did. 
The color of her dress was described as "champagne." 
Sorry if a non genealogist answered honestly. If you have an interest in the broader history, good for you - don't assume I have no interest in history because I don't track my ancestors. I just don't believe there's anything more special about my DNA than anyone else's.
