Carrol's Family
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When I was a girl, my main interest in my ancestors was in hearing my dad and mom tell stories of when they were young. It wasn't until sometime around 1984-5, when we were living in Singapore, that I attended a cross-cultural seminar and learned about Buddhist ancestor worship, which led me to develop a more focused interest in my own ancestors. I learned, for instance, that Buddhist families celebrated the birthdays of male ancestors, at least, as far as seven generations back, and gave a big feast in their honor, featuring their favorite foods. Imagine knowing what my (5)-great grandfather liked to eat!
A few years later, when we were working at the General Conference in Maryland, I read a book on writing your history. It suggested writing it under such topics as Jobs, Pets, Hobbies, etc., and I began that way. My parents were both still alive at this point, so I began asking them questions about their early lives and their parents' lives. My dad was quite interested in family history, as was his sister, my Aunt Thelma. My mother was less interested, but as she was still alive until last September, I was able to gather a lot of information from her. And I still have my brother I can check memories with, though of course, when there's a discrepancy I tend to go with my own version!
About six years ago, I was introduced to the study of genealogy by my brother-in-law, Irv Curtis (Bob's sister's husband) and began looking through the genealogy message boards and asking questions about my grandparents and great-grandparents that I knew of. In this way, I managed to find other researchers who had already done most of the work, and was able to trace back to six of my eight sets of great-great grandparents. Since almost all of them came to America in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, I haven't been as successful in tracing them overseas. For the most part, it seems my ancestry is English/Scots/Irish/Dutch and way back there somewhere, a little French. For some reason, I identify most with my Irish background.
I began writing down all the stories I had heard, in particular about my parents and grandparents, and since I was doing this chronologically, I decided to make my own story chronological instead of topical, as well. Whether or not I will ever get it finished, has yet to be seen, but it's one of my priorities.
I also inherited all the family pictures, so I'm trying to use as many as possible in my family history. |
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