What’s your why? In our podcast Getting to Good Enough, my co-host, Shannon Wilkinson, and I frequently talk about the importance of knowing why you want to do something. Taking a moment to focus on that why can help you make decisions about how you want to spend your time, money and energy.
So sometimes I think about why I do genealogy research. Why do I spent countless hours and, face it, quite a bit of money ancestor hunting? I do it for the fun of it. I absolutely love playing detective. I love getting to know my ancestors. (And I love getting to know the people I’ve met through being a genealogist.) I even love organizing my research. The whole kit and caboodle is my idea of fun.
I don’t have kids, so I’m not doing this for my descendants. I’m doing it for me. I hope that my research will outlive me, but I’m okay with it if it doesn’t. But I think that might make me atypical.
So I’m curious: Why do you do genealogy research? Please share in the comments!
The reason I do genealogy is to know who came before me. You could say my maternal Great Grandmother started it when she copied letters received by her sister from the wife of a distant cousin and letters that her father wrote in response to the questions that her sister asked and my Mom let me read the copies. Growing up, my Mom and Grandmother also told family stories so I felt I knew the relatives I’d never met. I was the fifth generation of all girls in my direct maternal family and the only one of the three sisters that were raised together who had children. When I had my two daughters, I started researching my families myself. As my two daughters each had a daughter and those girls had their children (the first born being a girl, of course), we ended up with eight generations of girls only – until my granddaughters both popped out boys after the great granddaughter! I wanted my girls (and now the boys) to know where we came from and, as all but one of my families were working folk, I wanted them to know that even ordinary people were important. As my eldest granddaughter’s children do not have the most stellar paternal family in their father, grandmother and great-grandmother, it was fantastic to be able research and show the g-grandkids that they have a rich, proud family history in their paternal lines that include most of the First Families of New Mexico and a number of Spanish explorers. I never set out to prove we were related to royalty or to proof how snobbish we could be. In fact, I had a great reverse snobbery going until I identified my Dad’s grandmother and found she was related to just about all the European royalty! To me, genealogy is just all about the joy of learning who my people were and where we came from.
Thanks so much for your comment, Diane. I really appreciate your taking the time to reflect and share. I love this sentence, “I wanted them to know that even ordinary people were important.” And I love that you discovered that not all your ancestors were ordinary!
I always enjoyed American History and genealogy research helps me to see what of my ancestors lived during various periods of American History. I really enjoy the hunt to document the lives of my ancestors. I remember when I was in my early 20’s and visited one of my uncles. He had genealogy data on my ancestors and I copied the data down on a yellow legal pad of paper. When I got home I folded the paper up and did not look at it again until I was in my mid 40’s. By than I was hooked on genealogy and the data that I had copied in my 20’s provided me leads.
Thanks so much for commenting, Jerry. I love how history comes to life when I can relate it to one of my ancestors. I think it’s great that you hung on to that piece of paper for so long!
I do genealogy because I have a great curiosity (yearning even) to know more about my relatives/ancestors. At about age 12 I began asking questions and no one knew much at all, or else they weren’t saying much. i was too young to know how to pursue it. Skip 30 years and I took another look. Found a couple of cousins and a sibling of my Dad’s and they remembered a lot! While visiting Indiana I was propelled to drive myself to Kentucky and look for more living relatives. Kept researching off and on for about 40 more years. Wish I could have started sooner, and wish I could still pursue it now. But I am so glad I know what I know to pass on to my family.
June, that’s fantastic. I love that you didn’t abandon your childhood interest because no one seemed to know about your ancestors. It’s a wonderful thing you’re passing on to your family.
Quite a question! I must say I started doing genealogy to disproof my husband’s claim that he was descended from Mayflower pilgrims. I failed, I found 5. I was 21 and I guess a little chippy, in that I knew my ancestors were here many years before the Mayflower arrival. I have always loved history and have enjoyed see the times of history through the eyes of those I seek. I am in awe of pioneers who crossed the plains and those who fought in the civil war. I think at this point I am looking at my heroes, those who came before me and for who’s ability to survive is the reason I am here. I also do this for my children and grandchildren. I was able to meet my great grandmother, an old native lady who was about 108, I carry that story with me and I am able to give that to my own posterity. Is it a love of history, or is it a busybody who can’t get enough of those old stories?
Beautifully stated! This statement in particular resonated with me: “I have always loved history and have enjoyed seeing the times of history through the eyes of those I seek.” How amazing that you met your great grandmother when she was 108! Thanks for commenting.
As a member of a lineage society, one is always looking for more ancestors! I was able to attain my membership through a cousin. It was so simple to just copy her application but after retirement, I began to wonder if there were other ancestors who might qualify. Learning the many genealogy tricks to help find these relatives is fun and the thrill of finding what you’re looking for keeps me excited about this hobby! So far, I have five confirmed and ten more great possibilities!! Zenda
That’s great, Zenda. Thank you so much for sharing!
For me it started with a 4-H project on my family tree at 11 y/o. I’ve been fascinated ever since, knowing that family had come from Germany, Denmark and Bohemia. Between a love of travel and good puzzles, it’s the perfect hobby for me.
I love that you started so young, Shelley! Travel + puzzles = genealogy!
I began searching my family history after I retired (as a librarian, so obviously I like researching!) because I wanted to find out where I came from, so I could travel there. (England, Ireland, Germany and France, so far…). What I didn’t realize is how much I would learn about who I am. Or how far I haven’t gone! It turns out (and I had no idea prior to this year) that I am living where my Dad’s ancestors lived 350 years ago! (I wasn’t born here, and neither was my dad, or his dad, or his dad or his dad!). So like the others, this is really fun!
What an amazing discovery, Janet! Thanks so much for sharing your why.
My paternal grandmother was a professional genealogist beginning her searches in the early 1900s so the results of her work piqued my interest early and gave me a head start on that side of the family. I also love the hunt and discovered more and more details about both my family (one ancestor was a courier in Geo. Washington’s spy network) and that of my husband (one ancestor was drawn and quartered and his head put on a pike for being on the wrong side of an English civil war!) What I am most grateful for are the letters, photos, and mini-essays some family members kept and passed along so that we have firsthand accounts. One letter I treasure was from a Scottish relative to a cousin in the US discussing fairly mundane things but with comments about the US civil war that was going on. I have been inspired to try and write down what I can about my life and my husband’s. Now, if only someone would step in and digitize all I have accumulated!
Sandy, it’s wonderful that you’re contributing to this wonderful written record of your family’s firsthand accounts! And how very cool that your grandmother was a turn-of-the-20th-century professional genealogist!
My Mother was doing family research before it was fashionable and I have continued with her research. I found that my gr-grandparents traveled from Madison county, NY to Wisconsin about 1863 while the Civil War was going on. And they had 2 children with them, 1 and 2 years old. What brought them to Wisconsin and how did they travel? I enjoy the search and the news about what was going on in the States and the world as I read newspapers.
Mary Kay
Thanks for sharing Mary Kay. I find reading old newspapers more interesting when I can imagine my own ancestor experiencing what I’m reading abaout.
Like you, I don’t have any children to hand down my research… so I do it for me. I just wish that my parent’s were still alive so that I could share with them what I’ve been able to find out. In 2018, I visited 55 villages in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where 95 percent of my ancestors (both maternal and paternal) lived.
I also do it so that I can feel a connection to my ancestors. For example, my paternal grandfather died when my father was a boy, so of course, I never knew him. When I went to the cemetery to visit my grandmother’s grave, I’d go to visit her, but not her husband; I found it strange to call him Grandfather. It wasn’t until I started doing genealogy that my grandfather came alive for me.
When we went to Germany in 2018, I was able to attend a church service in the same church where my great great grandmother was baptized in 1845. It was the most joyous moment in my life. I know in my heart, that she would have been so honored that I am keeping her story alive.
So true, I do it for me… but I also do it so my ancestors will be remembered.
That’s wonderful, Kathy. Thanks so much for sharing your story. I agree that getting to now and remember my ancestors is a huge part of why I do genealogy.
I started at 19 when my grandmother died in 2003 and I realized I knew next to nothing about my ancestry. It has been 20 years and while I’ve made immense progress in it,I question why I do it. Obviously I enjoy it but I have no kids and my nieces and nephews won’t care about it.