Genealogy in case some of you readers do not know what the word means,the dictionary says genealogy means "descent traced continuously from ancestors; pedigree,or study of pedigree. The words "family tree" is the same principle. We trace our parents, our grandparents, great great grandparents,until we can no longer find anyone else. But the fun of it ,is not only getting the names of them, the best part is knowing little tidbits about them, were they heros? ,if not, it doesn't matter, the hero that they should be to us, is because of them we are here. I know we must have some unsung heros among our ancestors, something that wasn't written in a book, this is why I believe now is the time for us to jot down about an uncle who saved a little cat from a fire, a father who is a fireman, a brother who is in the police force, these folks must have little stories, something good that they did. Did your grandmother win a pie contest? Do you have her recipe? Write it down. Did anyone win any contests, beauty contest, lumberman contest, did anyone meet someone important or present a gift to a VIP? I just came across some photos of my late husband taken with Henri Richard and Yvon Lambert the hockey players for the Montreal Canadians,way back in the 1960s or so, and my son did not know I had them, he is a fan of the Montreal Canadians and so is my grandson, can you imagine how they felt knowing they have a photo of their dad and grandfather with these stars? I have a photo of my grandmother sitting at a spinning wheel and yes she knew how to use it. Ah all of these things are so important , we must write down all these things, we must share our parents and aunts and uncles, and grandparent's memories for future generations. I believe we all have a purpose in life, in my heart I know that this is MY purpose, to search, to find, and to preserve for my descendants and kin down the road.
Another thing I want to mentions also, we cannot make our genealogy all nice and rosey, there are skeletons in our closets, that is still history that is still the truth, we cannot deny it. Should our grandfather have done a crime, no matter how big or how small, it is the truth, we cannot hide it, we should not hide it because it happened, it happens today, I am not saying to be proud of it, I am saying it happened and we cannot paint a beautiful picture , mistakes were made in the past as well as in the present. No matter who or what ,the most important thing to remember is because of them, we are here and our lines continue .
I have a book in front of me called Searching through the old records of New France a translation of Father Cyprien Tanguay's A travers les registres and he has little stories this is why I did today's blog this way. here are a few things mentioned in a book to give you an idea why I believe our descendants would enjoy what we pass on to them.
"Jan.1705;The burial of Mathieu Bosselet dit Jolicoeur age 40, soldier in M. de Beaucours' company who was found dead on the ice."
"Jan.1707;The baptism of Joseph Stover, the son of Jean and Abigail from Cape Vadick, between York Maine and Wells Maine. Born in 1690 and kidnapped by the Abenaquis in 1706 he was later ransomed by Francoise Domitilde, an Abenaquise woman who lived among the french and sent him to Montreal.
April 1758; Hilarion Landry the husband of Marie Taphorin was attacked and killed by the Indians while returning by boat from the Riviere aux Boeuf to Fort Duquesne. He was about about 1152 feet away from the Fort. Widowed with 3 very young children Marie married Louis Charlan. (Quebec Registers).
I hope you understand why it is so important for us to keep records ,write down stories, and write down what we find about our ancestors so our followers won't have to search as hard as we are doing. And if something regarding your families comes out on the newspapers save the articles.
I hope you have enjoyed today's blog,and will return again. Now I am still looking for more followers to let me know they are reading these blogs. Please click on the blue "follow this blog" upper right. If you do not want to give your name, sign as Anonymous. I would like to reach at least 25 followers can you help?
Have a great day.
Aline