We assume that our family members cannot help us in our
efforts to piece together our tree. We
assume that since our relatives have not talked about the family, they know nothing.
Back in 2008, the year my beautiful
mother passed on, I started out with one sheet of paper with a few names. It was my grandfather Westmoreland’s family. Later, relatives gave me obituaries,
photographs, and I took notes from conversations, no matter how small the
detail. I came by this info because I
asked questions, lots of them!
Before I go on, I want to look at how useful obituaries
are. I use to collect them whenever I
would go to a funeral; I saw them as souvenirs; something you tuck away and
pull out when you are sorting through old papers. One day it struck me, I had gold nuggets in
my possession. Obituaries tell us where
our relatives were born, lived and where their parents are from. I took those obits and began my search on
Ancestry.com.
It was scary at times when I would find, yes find, what I
was looking for. The information that is
so readily available overwhelmed me!
As I mentioned, my mom died in 2008. I got wind from an eighty something year old
Westmoreland cousin that I had a great aunt, sister to my grandfather
Westmoreland, who was still alive. She
was the last child living of fifteen.
She was from the first marriage of my great grandfather. She was ninety-two or so at that time. I got her daughter’s phone number, called her
up and told her what I was doing. Keep
in mind that I had never met this relative.
As our conversation began to wind down, she said, “Delores, if you ever
want to come for a visit let me know.” I
immediately asked if I could come down the next weekend. She
gladly said yes to my request. My mother
never knew about her and looking at her age, I did not want to chance that she
would pass on me; I trekked down to Norfolk, Virginia.
Armed with my brand new camera (with video capabilities)
from a good friend who had no clue that she was going to be a vital part of my
research ventures, I headed to Virginia to pick my great aunt’s brain. Oh yeah, I was dying to meet her, but she was
a link to my Westmoreland past and future! She told stories of my grandfather’s life in
Laurens, South Carolina. She talked about
her cousin Drusilla Pilgrim. Pilgrim was
the maiden name of my great grandmother.
I did not discover this until I got home and started reviewing the video
and researching.
Today, I have an information book for each
grandparent! This all happened because I
asked questions. SO, get to asking.
Already posting regularly, teaching & documenting your SURNAMES online?! You are a BORN genealogy blogger! You just earned yourself a student (or 2) for the BLOGEST!:)
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time someone said this to me today and I agree totally - they won't tell you if you don't ask.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Absolutely love your blog! You are so right. We must ASK questions. Great job Delores. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. Im always asking questions and documenting what i learned and from whom. Sometimes i find it may be uncomfortable asking some things but it benefits everyone in end. Congratulations and happy hunting:-)
ReplyDeleteI agree we shouldn't assume our family can't help us with the research. I have discovered that a couple of my relatives who aren't talkative, are good family historians. They just need a little more prompting and patience.
ReplyDeleteIt is fortunate that your family sense that you are one of the designated family griots and passed along the obituaries with vast information to you.
ReplyDeleteStephani
Delores, I once stumbled upon a relativeo f my husband's in Kansas. She offered to send me information and when the packet arrived I found that she had photographed her obituary collection for me. It was filled with wonderful things that we didn't know. About a year or so later, this lady died. A few months later I recieved another package from her daughter of a whole album she had on side of our family. She had it labelled with my name. I was so touched. She was so thankful for someone to pass on the info she spent her life collecting. She was 90. I love how aggressively you grabbed those moments with your relative!
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl...sorry I missed your comment, but WHAT a GOLD MINE! I hope one day I can find a relative like that! So have you found anything useful in the discovery of your husband's AA side?
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