My father passed away when I was 17 and he was only 50. I never knew either of his parents or grandparents. I really don't remember hearing him tell any stories about growing up other than they called him "Red" for his hair color. I also knew he had a little sister, Betty Grace, that died when she was two as a result of cat scratch fever.
The person I was most interested in researching was my father's biological grandfather, "Grandpa Mac." I had been to the parish where he resided 14 years ago to visit the court house and get as many documents as I could on the family. Every time I ran into my grandfather's name, I hit a brick wall. It was so frustrating. All I knew was he and my great-grandmother were only married three years, he had my grandmother who was two years old and he died from an illness at 37 years old. That's all I could find. I have the drugstore bill so I know it was a lengthy illness to some extent and I found a court document that showed my great-grandmother was left with nothing after his death. Can you imagine what she must have gone through.
Well because of the show on Friday nights, "Who Do You Think You Are?" my interest has been reignited. With the convenience of my laptop, and high speed internet, and oh, my Keurig, I settled down to climb that family tree once again.
In one night - granted it took four or more hours, I was able to go back five generations! I was beyond excited. I found births and deaths and towns and marriages and occupations and oh, I was on a roll. My new friend was a website called, www.findagrave.com, (morbid, I know) and most often it shows photos of the headstones. That was invaluable. I also searched quite a bit on www.ancestry.com, but honestly, at the beginning, the grave marker site was remarkably informative!
So in regards to Grandpa Mac, I found that, yes, he did die at 37 and my great-grandmother was 15 years younger than he. So there she was at 22, a widow with a two year old. I had to sit and ponder that! Yes, I cried - just a little. I also discovered Grandpa Mac's family was large with seven children but it appeared that they might have been a puny bunch. One passed away at 2, another at 8, my great-grandfather at 37 and his brother at 41. To make matters worse, his mother, Miss Jane, was left to raise these children after a divorce from her husband who later remarried. Who needs soap operas when you can delve into your own history!
So after getting to bed late that first night, I couldn't wait to return to my tree and see what else would be discovered. I had just begun to look at census records and found them to be a perfect picture of history. Seriously, after I would read one, I would sit and close my eyes and imagine what that household must have been like. Ahhh!
The second day I was determined to find more information on Grandpa Mac. I want to know what he died from, what his occupation was, was he perhaps married prior to my great-grandmother and so on. I realized shortly after I began working, that in order to get to the meat of the documents and "evidence" I was going to have to bite the bullet and pay for a membership with ancestry.com. I only paid for a month and it was worth every penny. Within five minutes, a picture - a portrait - of Grandpa Mac popped onto my screen and I screamed with jubilation! "Well, hello there Grandpa! It is so nice to finally meet you." I stared at this precious man for an eternity. Grandpa Mac now has a face to go with the name and a very nice face at that. I looked at his eyes to see if I saw a resemblance to any of his offspring, then his nose, his bone structure, his mouth. Oh, I am loving this!
As I continued to scour the census records, I came across the 1930 census. Now let me back up a little here. My dad was raised as an only child after the death of his baby sister. In my mind, I pictured him in a quiet home with his mother, the strict school teacher and his father, the laborer in the sawmill. He probably played with neighbors but basically a quiet childhood. We often laughed at his culture shock when he married my mother who had seven siblings and were quiet the fun bunch! Then Daddy had six children of his own. Well, to my surprise, the census listed my father being one year and four months old and living with a host of family members; his mother, his father, his grandmother and grandfather (his grandmother had remarried), his uncle (who was only 11 years old and was always like a brother to him) and his great-grandmother! Wow. That changes everything. I can't imagine the love bestowed on my father and the rich culture he grew up in. I have not been able to pin down how long they lived in this situation but it plastered a smile on my face to know he had indeed lived in a large family setting and tell me, what's not to love about this precious little boy?
I continue to spend my spare time researching my family and I seem to be chasing more rabbits than I've ever chased in my life. One clue leads to another, and then another and before you know it you are six and seven generations back. I cannot wait to discover what country my ancestors hail from.
I encourage you to dive in and check out your family tree. Hey, there's even an app for that!
With a smile and a VERY happy heart,
Elle
Find A Grave link
Ancestry.com
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