Diggin' Up the Dead

  Genealogy has been a big thing since Alex Haley’s “Roots” made the best seller list and then became a movie.  Everyone saw it because it came out on prime time TV long before cable and satellite, computers and video games (except for table tennis in black and white).  Roots seemed to spur more people to search out their ancestors than ever before.  However, long before Roots my church has been very interested in genealogy and holds the largest repository of records in the world.

   I have been attending a weekly class to help me figure out more about doing genealogy than the few things I knew before.  I’m learning about all kinds of resources I never knew existed.  I’m getting better organized about keeping all the information I’ve gleaned on my ancestors straight in the process.

  My Mom has always been our “Family Genealogist”.  She has traced some lines of the family back to the 1500’s and beyond and has collected information on more than 25,000 family members.  With Mom doing all that over the years I never really got the bug myself.  Why should I?  She was doing a pretty good job and I could just get it all from her!

  A couple of books fell into our hands for my husband’s side of the family… My interest was piqued and I started organizing the information the books contained as what was contained in them was in random order.  Finally after several months I had it sorted out on paper.  The basics… names, places and dates… who begat who and all their siblings and in-laws too. 

  After organizing all of this information I entered it all into the computer and left it alone with the exception of taking care of some sacred ordinances on behalf of each person I had “dug up”.  I just lost the fire to go any further with it.  My husband was intimidated by it so it has just sat for a while until I started this weekly class.

  It’s funny how information can just fall into your lap sometimes. 

  I’ve been dabbling half halfheartedly on and off for the last several weeks and while rummaging through facebook posts I saw that a family member had discovered a facebook page with the sole intent of family history on a specific line on my Mom’s side of the family.  I quickly asked to join the page and found myself up until 3:00 am gleaning pictures and tidbits of information about some of the people in them. 

  My computer skills have developed quickly as to how to gather and organize the old photographs and information and to enter it into Legacy (a computer program specific to genealogy – free on the internet).  I’ve been inspired to “dig a little deeper”.  I was told about a website called “Find a Grave” which contains photographs of tombstones and some obituaries from all across the country.  At first I didn’t have much luck but I am finding more all the time. 

  This week I discovered photos from an entire cemetery where everyone in it is related to me no matter their last name.  Teasers I think these bits of information are…  I gain just enough information to keep me working at it.  It has amazed me to find so much information in the last couple weeks. 

  The information has been there all the time just waiting to be discovered, but only comes one piece at a time, but like a roll of toilet paper each piece is connected to another and another and another and it is downright  frustrating to run out of… You just have to find another roll.

  It has been quite amazing to me how easily I can get lost in all of it.  It seems like I just start and I look at the clock and I’ve been at it for hours.  I’ve found myself going to bed at 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning over the last few days.  It seems the dead don’t want me to sleep.   I suppose it’s like being a grave robber going hunting in the grave yard late at night.  So, here it is, way past dark and I’m back to diggin’ up the dead.