I have done nothing all summer but wait for myself to be myself again.
~ Georgia O’Keeffe
(Letter to Russell Vernon Hunter, October 21, 1933)
It’s been a curious summer. Very little went as planned. As many of my readers know, I’ve long been trying to go through all the family history items we inherited after our grandparents’ houses on Cape Cod were sold. Before we moved to North Carolina I went through and discarded many of the things from their attics and closets, but still wound up transporting 14 boxes of stuff down here. My goal for this summer was to take advantage of being stuck inside to go through the boxes and organize all of it by family lines into my special acid-free notebooks.
Well, I only got through 4 boxes and am in the middle of the 5th! Each box is 12″x14″x18″ and is crammed full of pictures and paperwork! I’m still throwing a lot of things away, but I’m going through every piece of paper with a fine-tooth comb and in doing so have found many treasures. Reading every letter, every deed, every will, every newspaper clipping, every vital record and naturalization certificate. My notebooks are filling up fast. I’ve added a few more of them to the shelves. The pictures are being set aside to be sorted out after the paperwork is done.
I feel like a curator, managing this huge collection. I feel like I’m ‘being myself again’ after all. These summer days have been so enjoyable and a labor of love. I’m looking forward to sharing more of the stories about our ancestors that I’ve discovered, but am determined for now not to stop until finished. So this will be a year-round project going forward. There’s no way I’m willing to wait until next summer to start in again!
The pictures are going to be more difficult to deal with because, sadly, so many of them are unidentified. But the paperwork is fun to read. The above letter was written by a lawyer (?) to Tim’s 2nd-great-grandfather, advising him about a search for a will in England. It was written in 1869.
The oldest piece of paper found so far was a hand-written ‘article of agreement’ between Tim’s 4th-great-grandfather and two of his sons, signed by him in 1837! It’s quite something to be holding a document that was in his ancestor’s hands 187 years ago.
I’m also in the process of taking my ancestor blog posts and turning them into stationary web pages. The growing list of pages can be found near the left bottom of my blog’s sidebar.
And so my work continues!
I actually felt chills down my back reading this. OH LUCKY YOU who have direct contact with this material, Barbara! I am sure you will feel thrilled going through it, remember, no rush, have a great time ♥
I’ve been getting chills, too, Leelah, and have been moved to tears while reading some of the letters describing every day life, but also their illnesses, and their hopes and plans. It has been a thrilling journey into the past. ♥
A massive undertaking, but a worthy one. My sister has found photographs on Ancestry.com that have helped ID some unknown family. Like putting together a huge puzzle!
I’ve often referred to family history as a never ending puzzle. I’ve found pictures of our ancestors on Ancestry.com and have added my own for others to find. It’s an amazing resource!
Barbara, I don’t envy you this immense task! You must have the patience of a saint to peruse through all this history and catalog it. I’m still up to my ears going through my late mom’s stuff (Depression-era “babies” seem to have inherited a need to save everything!), and that’s exhausting. The photos with no identification or dates really baffle me. I know she saved them for a reason, and I probably will, too, but gee, I hate to dump all this on Domer one of these days!
It can be overwhelming at times but I’m a natural organizer and am thoroughly enjoying the challenge. If only there were a few more hours in the day, and of course, one must pay some attention to the people still living in the present day. 😉 I think big attics were magnets for collecting stuff over the years, especially when families lived in the same house for generations. Our generation has lots of work to do because we can’t keep passing down everything accumulated!
the penmanship– such flourish! <3
I know, right? It’s as if they were all calligraphers. ♥
Oh my my … that’s quite the task you have with those boxes. Then again, it’s quite the experience. Be diligent and enjoy!
It’s been making life very interesting and enjoyable these days! It seems like each discovery triggers a new line of research…
It must be exciting to unearth these vintage treasurers Barbara, especially the very, very old ones like you showed in that photograph. Good luck with this project.
Thank you, Linda. There are so many more stories in those boxes, waiting to be discovered and pieced together. Tim is scanning and digitizing some pieces while I keep adding things to my notebooks.
You might end up writing a book. I know I mentioned Eilene Lyon to you in the past and her ancestor research posts. So, she just published another book on this subject. In fact, you will find this interesting. Her post a day or so ago was a topic she wanted to include in this new book, but due to the length of the book, she had to leave it out, so she did a blog post … research into people who were struck by lightning. It was very interesting. I told her my post next week for Grandparents’ Day will be about my grandmother witnessing a neighbor struck by lightning. You and I commented on this after your post. I was going to do a humorous topic, which I’ll save for next year instead.
I doubt a book is in the cards but I am working on individual biographical sketches for each couple on our trees, one new web page for each. That’s going to take me a while, too. Not all of our nieces and nephews and cousins are interested in the whole family tree but want to know about the ones in their direct family lines. On my new pages they will be able to use the hyperlinks to go and down their own lines where they intersect with our lines. From what I could see, Eilene Lyon is much more professional about her research than I am, carefully citing sources, etc. I’m very much an amateur who doesn’t document my sources much, relying on family stories and the research of others.
You have plenty of information to create your individual “stories” Barbara – just looking at the boxes you showed us and you’ve barely gone through them.
Eilene Lyon does travel around the U.S. to do some research – that is true, but she has multiple books. You are doing this for enjoyment and to create a document or individual trees for others to get insight into their past family history/timeline.
My friend Carol did a quick synopsis of my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents. Today I wrote and scheduled my post for Grandparents Day about my grandmother and the lightning bolt. I went through my photos, but also went into the closet and into my mother’s albums earlier today to see if there was any info on the back of the photos – the photos are in “photo corners” and her albums, unlike mine, (where the binder edge of each photo page came out of the album), is intact and in good shape. I didn’t have a ton of photos, but enough of my great-grandparents’ farm and farmhouse to supplement the story of my grandmother’s reason for fearing storms.
Well, I’ve been neglecting my blogging friends while I’ve been converting my old family history posts into stationary web pages. (Figuring out how to change a post into a page opened a huge door of possibilities!) Now we’ll be able to follow the hyperlinks up and down different family lines and everything is falling into place organizationally! I’ll have to catch up on your blog and find your Grandparents Day post now!
I have never partitioned my blog into stationary web pages before – you are adventurous Barbara! That sounds like it will be easy to update as you go along and learn more ancestor facts. I am happy they still have my Twenty-Ten theme and I made just a few tweaks, like adding a photo gallery years ago and that’s about it.
Exactly, I can modify the pages as I find more information. At the bottom of each page I put the date of the last revision. And the pages will be easier to find with the index. My theme is Twenty Fifteen, with some tweaks my son made for me. Like you, I hope it will be around for a long time!
That sounds good and organized. I got the easiest theme when I started my blog … I am slow to change. I am still finding my way on this new laptop after 15 years of Windows 7.
What an exciting project. I can’t read the 1869 hand writing above. Can you?
It’s slow going, but yes, I can usually make out the writing with a little time and patience. This might be part of what is taking me so long to get through the boxes! Tim transcribes some of the letters to make it easier for our descendants to decipher them.
Whew, what a huge task! This post brings back memories of me transporting many boxes of family history to my home when my father passed. Like you, I spent a lot of time going through the materials, and while it was a lot of work, I enjoyed getting to know my ancestors better. I eventually got it down enough so that I was able to get everything remaining stored in file folders or boxes in a closet. I’ve recently been thinking that I should take another look at those materials. At each stage of my life, I think that different things tend to be of particular interest.
I like the way you expressed that, Sheryl, enjoying getting to know your ancestors better. It’s nice to know someone who has actually organized her family history boxes down to a well organized and manageable collection. Future generations will appreciate your efforts and even now you have the pleasure of visiting your ancestors at different stages in your life. I’m in awe of some of the letters mine wrote, describing how they were handling different problems and also enjoying various celebrations and milestones. Thanks for the inspiration to continue!
What an undertaking, it is great that these items have been saved. You are doing excellent work for your family and generations to come!
Thank you, Tracy! I keep imagining a future descendent going through these histories and a new generation appreciating their ancestors.
What a treasure you are, Barbara. To take the time to go through these papers and things, sort and organize them, preserve them for future descendants. And what a marvelous collection of old papers going back so very far. This is a fantastic contribution and gift you are sharing…hats off to you.
Thank you, Jet! I have to say, I’m having the time of my life!
I’ve been sorting through family history and photos for the last few months. I found it was a rabbit hole once I got started, but also feel like I need a break from the past. It can become overwhelming quickly, or so it was for me.
I know what you mean. Sometimes I need a break from family history but there are other times when I find it difficult to tear myself away and pay attention to living people and daily tasks.