Why search for your roots? Alex Haley’s famous quote
explains why this popular hobby of GENEALOGY or FAMILY HISTORY is pursued so
passionately by many individuals throughout the world: In all of us there is
a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage-to know who we are and where we
came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No
matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and
the most disquieting loneliness.
Could this quote explain the reasons that many
individuals seem lost in today’s world, wandering through life without purpose or roots, not knowing
who they are or where they came from? Find out more about your ancestry than
just facts: what they did for a living, what was important to them, what trials
and struggles they overcame, what they were like as individuals, how you are
different or similar to them, what skills, attitudes and values they have
passed on perhaps unknowingly to you. Share what you learn about your ancestors
with your descendants.
Begin by contacting members of your family who may
have genealogical information: old photos, letters, clippings, certificates or
memorabilia that can give you clues about your parents or grandparents’ names,
dates and places. A trip to our local Family History Center at 162 North 400
East in St.
George can help you in the search for your roots. Don’t feel you have to be an
expert at genealogy to begin. There are also marvelous resources and volunteers
available for discovering and sharing your family roots online at www.familysearch.org. Their new FAMILY TREE program is available free to
the public to share family history complete with photos and stories on the
Internet.
You could meet some new extended family cousins out
there with information to share on a common ancestor. Try doing a google search for your ancestor
you want to know more about by typing in their name, birthplace and date: “John
Lemmon” North Carolina 1780. Click on any
links that look promising after your search. You’ll be amazed at what you will
find from Internet cousins who are sharing photos and histories of an ancestor
they have in common with you. Look at my webpage www.famhistory1867.com/ with my family
histories and photos of my ancestors that I have collected for over 50 years.
Others are doing the same perhaps for your very ancestors.
NEXT TIME: Discover
Your Past. Send me stories about your parents. How did they
contribute to your life? What qualities of theirs do you admire?