Last week, as afternoon temperatures soared well above the century mark, I found myself a a little bored. Having almost finished reading “The Last Green Valley”, I found myself haunted by questions about the journey my own ancestors had taken. With a new appreciation for the perils of traveling so far with a baby on the hip, I decided to go to Ancestry.com and begin.
With only my name as a beginning point, ancestors began to appear. In the beginning, they were familiar. Of course, it’s not unusual to be lucky enough to know grandparents. Mine built the very house in which I played as a child and later, grew into a woman raising her own children. My great-grandparents were a little more mysterious, most of them having died before I could memorize their face or voice.
Like images coming out of a fog, a sea of strangers appeared that possessed traits passed down through the ages to me. Reading the names of towns in which they were born, one fact remains. I am of German/Danish heritage, an undeniable fact.
To start your own journey, you simply go to Ancestry.com and choose the plan that works for you. Then you begin by searching your own name.
After a few nights of excitement from the computer, HHH became intrigued. The hook was set when I mentioned he could start his own research off my name now that we are legally hitched. And that we did.
So far, I’m just as enchanted with his stories as those of my own people. You see, he came from a family of writers who created and supported a major newspaper in the countryside of Nebraska. They were the movers and shakers of Nebraska and the East Coast. Some ran for political office, while others farmed.
One ancestor fought for the Union in the Civil War, even being a prisoner of war for a time. So far, only one of HHH’s great-great-great grandfather came from Germany. Surprising, as he is of Scottish heritage, a blue-eyed red head.
While studying different names and families, pictures and stories appeared that were downloaded by other. Details appeared that might shock some and confirm the suspicions of others. Don’t begin this journey unless you can roll with the answers you find which might be different than the ones you were sure you already knew.
One of HHH’s widowed grandmother’s homesteaded land in Nebraska while raising her young son. I would have loved to have been in her class as she taught school, or helped her in the fields after her school day was over.
While discussing these things with Auntie TJ and The Goddess of the Central Coast, the intrigue grew. How blessed I am to have Auntie TJ as a link to those names of long ago. She lived among German-speaking immigrants as the youngest of four daughters born to August and Lizzie.
She mentioned that the attending physician to her birth in a small country home was Dr. Pomeroy. After our conversation, I saw Doc Pomeroy’s name on many birth and death records. He was the country doctor who witnessed it all.
Whatever you do today, consider taking a little trip into the past to discover something new about your ancestors. Stories of those already gone is a lovely gift to share with family. Above all, stay cool while brutal heat of summer blazes on (5:54 am — 78 degrees).
More tomorrow.
