Mine in Cornwall, England
What does putting “flesh on the bones” have to do with our ancestors? Well, let me tell you of an example of just that. My maternal grandfather had a pretty rough childhood. His family didn’t share much, and weren’t really all that educated. He worked from a young age, and didn’t have the opportunity to have much education himself. In fact, my great great grandparents, who I have talked about before on my Family History Friday, signed their parish record for their marriage with an “X”, because they could not read or write. They were miners, and spent their lives working very hard. Other family lines have many hand written histories telling of the ancestors experiences in their own words, but not this family. When my mom was researching this family, she realized that she was not going to get much information except names, places and dates, the “bones”. She really wanted to know more about them, the “flesh”. But how? She checked the location. Where were they living? What was life like in the community? She checked the date in history. What was happening in the history of the world, area, or town? What were the customs? She read histories of others who lived in the town or area. Could their life be similar?
You bet!
You bet!
I live in a community,
and my neighbors have
a very similar routine as I do.
a very similar routine as I do.
What about those you work with?
Do they have a similar work day?
If you work in a mine, you’re doing about the same thing as someone else working in a mine. So if you found a book or a history that described life as a miner, would this give you an idea of what your ancestors work and life might be like? If you found a history of the town or parish where your ancestors lived, that talked about the customs and traditions of the area, would this give you an idea of what life was like living in that place? What about pictures? Wouldn’t it be neat to see a detailed picture of the ship your ancestors crossed the ocean on? Or better yet, actually print an internet picture from space of the town they lived in. The town that these ancestors lived in is still a tiny place. That is the kind of research my mom did to build a history of my ancestors on my maternal grandfather’s family. The book of histories and information about life in the area, and at the time my ancestors lived is a treasure to our family. I believe, because she put “flesh on the bones” of this family. They mean more to me than they would if she hadn’t found this information.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy
