I believe family means everything in life. I talk and people listen but do they understand what I say? "The past is in the past" There is a past, present and future. "To Infinity And Beyond" Why are we not supposed to bring the past into the present and beyond? As my family genealogist I study the past. I am a private investigator. I study the Raw Details. I find people. They are dead and gone but I find them. I use the smallest amount of information given to me and using any and all available resources to link each and every individual. I must verify who they are analyzing the dataset before me. I must use credible sources and not rely on individual family lore. For there are secrets of the past that want to be buried in the past. I find the secrets of the past. I find the cause of death. I find the real story behind family folklore. Sometimes stories are embellished, edited, or deleted all together. The secrets of the past will always be revealed. Not always by me but by someone in the present or perhaps in the future. Some people are seldom or never spoken of. Family reunions are a means to remember, honor, or memorialize those from the past. Many of my stories I like to talk about have nothing to do with me but my family. Whether it be my surname Rozell. Which include in my direct ancestry a Revolutionary War soldier, a postmaster who had Rozellville named after him. Many civil war soldiers and just some ordinary folk who owned stores, bought and sold land, farmed, and raised families. My Russell bloodline includes pioneers of Illinois, founders of Livingston County who had to flee for a couple years due to Indian raids. They include one of the first congressmen of the United States of America and the Vice President of America who unfortunately became the President of the Confederacy and many immigrants. I am proud of my family and I like to get the story correct because the past is never hidden forever. To tell a family story that was fiction would be a lie and an injustice to future family genealogists. I try to not tell a story about my family or include a family member without first verifying or corroborating with reliable sources. The downside to all of this is nobody else really cares as much about family to listen or read the tales or see what I have gathered. Or perhaps it is because it is in the past and should remain in the past. 20+ years of research and thousands of individuals in my family tree all for nought. ;)
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:36:55 +0000