Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Picking my parents’ brains

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I’m going next week to visit my parents in Walla Walla, Washington. I’ve kicked myself over the past year for not asking them more questions (or listening better when they volunteered information) about family lore and ancestors when we were all younger. Their memories aren’t as good as they were twenty years ago, naturally.

When I’m there visiting, I plan to ask a few questions that have come up as I’ve been doing genealogy research this year. I don’t know if they’ll be able to answer them, but I have to ask.

And here’s the tiny thing I’m doing that feels kind of radical. I’m actually writing down the questions, even the small curiosities. I’m not relying on my memory. I’m not going to assume that there will be a natural opportunity to ask these questions. I’m writing them in my notebook and at some point I’m going to pull out that notebook and interview my parents. And the notebook will be handy for writing down their responses.

My parents’ memories aren’t the only ones deteriorating with age. My memory is definitely not what it used to be (I’m 50) and I’m not going to take any chances.

If you’re visiting with family members over the holidays, you might jot down some questions to ask them. I so wish I’d done it years ago!

 

Census connections

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The 1940 census is out and, thanks to my mother’s good memory, I was able to find her on the 1940 census. She was born in 1933, so this is obviously the first census I read her name in. Such a thrill!

I noted that, according to the census, my mother’s brother, Joe, was born in Georgia. This was a big question mark for me, because I’d never, ever heard talk of my family living in Georgia. I figured I’d ask my mother about it next time I see her.

I posted a link to the census page on my personal Facebook page and my first cousin, Joe’s daughter, Janis, commented. That allowed me to ask her about the Georgia connection and she told me that our grandparents had lived there the year after they were married (they were married in 1930) and that my grandfather was a door-to-door lingerie salesman!! I’d never heard that before, but apparently my grandmother told Janis stories of living in Georgia.

I went back to the 1930 census and saw that at the time of the enumeration (April 1930) my grandfather was living with his parents and was listed as a “Commercial Traveler” for an adding machine company. I have a copy of his marriage license application, just a month later. So some time in 1930 (Joe was born in 1931), my grandfather went from selling adding machines in Missouri to selling lingerie in Georgia. I wonder how that happened?

By 1933 when my mother was born, my family moved back to Missouri. I’m going to see if I can get the story from my mother. This is such a springboard for conversation.

I love the connections the census allows us to make about our family members’ lives. I also love that posting about the 1940 census allowed me to make that connection with my cousin, who had this knowledge about our family that I’d previously known nothing about. And, of course, I love that Facebook is helping me make these connections.

Yet another reason I love family history research!