Who's Y'Daddy?

While most of us know who our daddy's are, it would be a rare bird that knows much if anything about their great grandparents.  I am not an accomplished genealogist nor do I imagine I ever will be but I treasure the memories I have and want to encourage others to record what they remember for the sake of younger generations.

Dates of birth and death can not begin to convey the richness of their lives.  I think students forget that their ancestors lived through the various periods of history that are presented to them.  (Did you know that in 1815 there was a huge volcanic eruption that cooled the northern hemisphere so much that we went a whole year without a summer... and talk about COLD!)  1815 is NOT that long ago.  Which of your great grandparents lived through that?  We probably can't recover the thoughts of any particular "Will'm" who fought the Normans in 1066, but we can record the personality, the talents, the skills of those we've been privileged to meet.  I've tried to do this for my Great Grandfather, Hiram Woody Boatright.  Take a look at http://hiram-boatright.forevermissed.com.

If you'd like to make one for someone in your family, please let me know so I can congratulate you.  You can do it free!  I did!  Just email me at deartome.wdc@gmail.com with your name as the subject.  You'll soon be on your way to creating a family tradition that you all can collaborate on from anywhere in the world.

You may have someone lurking in your family tree that sailed on the maiden (and fatal) voyage of the Titanic and their dates of birth and death will not tell the story.  How hard was it for them to acquire the ticket?  What record did they leave of their preparations to leave Europe?

I am blessed to have lots of letters from various members of my family, some of which were written on their knee  from a Civil War encampment and some of which were written on Department of the Interior stationery from the Oklahoma territory before it became a state.  They were delighted to be there but enduring hardships that would provide considerable material for a movie.