Why Do This? Who Cares?

I can't totally explain why I've always been interested in my ancestors. For the most part all I can know is a name and a date, neither of which really tells me much about what they were like. So what is the point?

Let's start with the reasons that don't interest me.

I don't care about descending from royalty, wealth, or prestige. Just don't. Not a bit. This is one thing I've always been suspicious about with entities like Daughters of the American Revolution. I love history and I applaud people making historical records accessible. I just may be a little too cynical when I think about why a group like this might have been started in the first place. Was there a hint of anti-immigration, anti-antisemitism, or racism in celebrating that your family has a long American history? I honestly don't know.

Our ancestors, for the most part, weren't heroes. They were people who were subject to the prejudices and shortcomings of their times. While it would have been awesome to find an abolitionist or a suffragette in the family, it's not fair to place my politics onto my ancestors. Most of us are able at best to influence a small number of people in our immediate circles. We have slave owners in the family. That's not something I was happy to find, but half of my family is from the South, so it wasn't unexpected. Most of them weren't wealthy enough to own slaves. They were small farmers.

So, why do I feel compelled to continue to dig into my family's past? Growing up, no one I knew gave two shits about our genealogy. I got the impression that my asking questions was itself something my parents would I have preferred I not do. I don't know why, as I haven't unearthed any murderers or anything. I think my parents maybe just wanted to get away from the places where they grew up. They were thinking ahead, not behind, which made me feel kind of uncentered.

There is another reason, and it's not deep. I like to look for things if I know that they are there. This applies to arrowheads in the field, sharks' teeth at the beach, and family names in the record books. Everyone has, more or less, the same number of ancestors. They existed. Records vary according to time and place, but the idea that the information is out there somewhere just doesn't allow me to ignore the search. I enjoy it.

The internet has revolutionized genealogy. You can find out an awful lot about your family from your own recliner. And you don't have to pay for it. More on that in the next post.