Hello Farmgirl Sisters!
My family and I are docents at a nearby large museum. A
few years ago, the museum hosted an exhibit about the Magna Carta. One of the
extra activities with any special exhibit there is the inclusion of lectures by
people who are supposed to be experts about some aspect of the exhibit. A local
professional genealogist was invited to give a presentation about tracing
ancestors back to Europe to medieval times. I had never met the presenter personally,
but I was familiar with some of her work. I
really thought she would have an excellent lecture planned and bought tickets
to hear it.
I could not have been more wrong. Within the first few minutes
of her lecture, she was telling the audience no way should they ever attempt
their own research. They simply didn’t have the skills or knowledge of the so-called
“pros” to take on such a massive task. I was shocked at what she was saying. Her
inaccuracies didn’t stop there. She went on to state so many things about
research that I knew for a fact to be completely wrong. After it was all over,
I wanted so badly to go to the event organizers and tell them what I thought. I
even wanted to offer to present another lecture correcting the false and faulty
narrative by the pro genealogist. By this time in my own research, I had been
very successful in documenting many facts about my ancestors. Common sense prevailed, however and I kept my
mouth shut. It wasn’t my place to slam their invited guest. But I knew I would always
encourage others and help them if necessary, to get their own research started.
That’s really what this blog is all about. I am a
genealogist. I have done extensive research into my own family and documented
truly fascinating things that go far back into history. I don’t know the exact
number of people I’ve helped with their family trees, but it’s probably close
to five or six dozen. I have done that in a volunteer capacity only. I’ve never
been paid for any research or assistance, so I guess I’m not a “professional”.
That’s been my choice, as I’ve never had time to turn this into a job. Plus, someone
who pays for the work may have unrealistic expectations about the results and
the time it can take to get them. Being a volunteer is what works best for me.
Plus, I just love doing the research.
How many of you have ever been curious about your family
tree? Do you think the research process is too hard and confusing? It may seem
that way when thinking about it, but I guarantee that anyone can successfully
do their own research and document their own family facts. That word “document”
is one that I will use over and over again. There’s really no wrong way to
research, but there are “right” ways to collect and preserve the data needed to
make the family tree as complete as possible. Documentation is an absolute must
have.
I am going to leave you with a photograph showing a list
of names. Those names are all recognized by a national lineage group as
patriots of the Revolutionary War. That’s MY list of ancestral patriots. I am a
member of that lineage group and I’ve built a paper trail from me to each name
on that list. I show you this to illustrate you never know what you will learn
with your research. Who are your ancestors and what awesome facts about their
lives are waiting to be discovered by you?
My next post will be titled “It’s Time to Get Started.
You Can Do This”
Until then, Love, Live and Laugh Each Day to the Fullest!
Stacy, Farmgirl Sister #7112
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