My Family Tree-Tracing Family History
There is a house in Memphis. It was built in 1920 by my maternal great-grandfather. It was the home where my grandmother and great-uncle were raised. My great-uncle, in turn, raised his family in the home, and to this day a cousin is raising his family in the home. My mom would talk about the many times as a child she her mother, and brother and sister would visit that home in Memphis. She even wrote an article that was published named “Too Late In June”, about her visits to Memphis and the family home, and about the many updates that took place on the home over the years.
Researching Family History Is Interesting
I have always been interested in family history. When I was a child, many times at family gatherings, instead of running around playing with my cousins, I would be in with the adults listening to them talking about the “old days.” You can learn a lot that way. I remember hearing my uncle, my dad’s older brother, tell the story about how one of my ancestors, in some small town in Kentucky, was elected mayor back in the late 19th, or early 20th century. Some locals thought it would be funny to add his name to the ballot. A black man. He ended up winning the election. They never expected him to win, but I’m guessing that most people saw it as a joke and voted for him. Of course, such as the times were, they did not actually allow him to be the mayor, but the joke was sure on them that he had actually won the election.
Ancestry Sites Are A Great Help
Like I said, I have always been interested in family history, and learning about who my relatives are. I have actually joined a couple of ancestry sites where I have learned quite a bit about some lines in my genealogy. I have met a few relatives who contacted me from clear out of the blue. I have also learned a few people who I always thought were blood relatives, are not actually blood relatives at all, but that we instead have mutual relatives. All in all though, it is still family. I think it is really important to know who your family members are. I have often heard stories, even in my own family, of people unknowingly dating a relative, simply because they didn’t know. I remember playing basketball every weekend for just about a year with a guy who turned out to be a relative. He was the son of a second cousin of mine, and he was a couple of years younger than me. It was still wierd though, that neither one of us realized we were related. The light bulb finally came on for me when someone happened to mention his complete name. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you Janice’s son? I’m your cousin.”
A Rewarding Pursuit
Researching family history, and genealogy can be very rewarding. I never knew much about my paternal grandmother’s family. All the relatives I knew of on my father’s side of the family, were from his father, or my paternal grandfather’s side. That side of the family was pretty large, but I think my paternal grandmother’s side of the family is even larger, and I never met anyone from that side of the family until a relative contacted me through one of the ancestry sites I had joined. I have met a few other relatives through the same site.
It Can Also Be Frustrating
While researching family history can be very rewarding, it can also be very frustrating. I can find no information what so ever on my maternal grandfather. He died when my mother was five. My grandmother was his second marriage. His first marriage ended in divorce. It was also rumored that he may have also had children with his first wife in addition to the three he had with my grandmother. The ancestry site I use also uses DNA to trace your roots. In addition to that, they will also put you in contact with anyone else on the site with matching DNA. I have paid for the kit, and now I just have to return it. Hopefully, that will help me a little with tracing the history of my maternal grandfather.
Name Variations
Another frustration is that there has been different variations, and spellings of my last name, so sometimes that makes it kind of hard to trace family history when you don’t really know what you are looking for.
Social Media Can Help
With the rise of social media, here is another way to meet relatives. A relative of mine started a family Facebook page, and I have met a number of relatives throughout the country, that I never knew previously, through this page. In addition, we have monthly Zoom meetings, and a family reunion is being planned.
Finding Your Roots
These days finding your roots seems to be the rage. It seems that almost everyone wants to know about their family history. There are a number of different ancestry, and heritage sites all over the internet. Henry Louis Gates even has a program on PBS called, “Finding Your Roots,” where he will have people, who are popular in today’s culture, as guests, and research their family history. It is a very interesting program.
Trip To Memphis
I was grateful to be able to see the home my great-grandfather built. My wife and I drove down to Memphis in May 2021, just to be able to take a vacation. It was a 12-hour drive. My mom wanted to make sure I took a picture of the house. This was the home where her mother was raised, along with her brother, who was my mom’s uncle. She had given me the phone number of my cousins there, which are her first cousins, and who were the children of her uncle. I had not seen them since I was a preteen. I tried calling about a week before I left, but only got the voicemail, and I did not receive a return call. I tried a couple of times when we got to Memphis, but still only got a voicemail, and no return call. I decided to go by the house anyway.
Meeting A New Relative
At that time I wasn’t quite sure if it was still owned by the family, or not. As my wife and I pulled up to the house, there was a man who looked to be maybe in his late thirties outside cooking on a grill. I looked over to my wife, and jokingly said that I should leave the car running in case we had to leave quickly. I mean, this was Memphis. I had her stay in the car. Just in case. I walked up to the house, and the man saw me and looked at me, I’m sure wondering who the heck I was. I explained that my great-grandfather had built this house, and I would like to take a photo of it.
Still Family Owned
He said his people owned the house. I asked him who his people were, and sure enough, his mom was my cousin. I told him we were cousins, and explained how we were related and named off his aunts, and uncles, and his grandmother and grandfather, who were my great-aunt and uncle. I introduced him to my wife, and he introduced me to his wife. I explained I had tried to get in touch with his mom, uncle, and aunt. When I showed him the numbers I had, they were all land line numbers that they still had, but no longer used. He gave me his mother’s cellphone number. We were able to get together with her, and her husband, and had a great time catching up. Unfortunately my other cousins had to work, and were unable to come on such short notice. She showed me some photos of me when I was young, my mom when she was young along with her brother and sister, and my grandmother. She later texted to me a picture of my grandmother and great-uncle, with their mother, my great-grandmother. She also texted a picture of my great-grandfather. I had never seen a picture of him.
Family Of God
Researching family history can be very fun and rewarding, especially if you are able to find pictures or articles to go along with the names you’ve heard over the years. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ though, there is another family that you belong to. I like to call it the family of God, and this family is eternal.
A Comforting Thought
It is a comforting thought to know that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are part of God’s family, and our relationship with him and other believers will last throughout all of eternity. As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
From Ephesians
Ephesians 2:18-19 says, “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
Learn More
If you are not currently a believer in Jesus Christ, and not part of the Family of God, and would like to learn more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, then just click on this “link”.
Pic Of The Post
The Pic Of The Post is an art piece of the home my great grandfather built. Just click on this “Pic Of The Post” link to take a look at it. Also, feel free to leave any comments.