History is Important, isn't it?

What happens when you become the family historian? Or, hopefully, one of the family historians? I have found several,  most of whom are researching their own line. I started with Daniel and Charlotte Holmes and worked my way down, so mine is more of an overview of all of their twelve children. And I finally was able to do a write up about the family in the book I distributed at the reunion this summer. I titled it "A Homestead on the Old Post Road," because that is where Daniel built his house, brought his bride, and, together with his wife, raised twelve children. It was torn down when the Trans-Canada Highway was built. Their house sat where the off-ramp is now.I can't remember when that was but I think probably in the '60s. I had great footsteps to follow: one distant cousin, who is now 95,  researched Daniel's ancestry the old fashioned way, and shared much of what he learned with me.

These are some of the people who helped me write my book, in one way or another. Some of them are family historians. That's me in the middle, wearing the hat.

Before I was able to hand out the book to the folks at the reunion, my cousin handed me "Riverbank Visitors." My book is now out of date. New information about one of Daniel and Charlotte's children, Maggie, and her husband, Billy, changed their story. And probably that is only the first major change. I think anyone who writes such a book can probably say the same thing. If you keep at your genealogy, it changes. New information comes in all the time, from other family members, from new transcriptions on the internet, from data and histories that you find. And that's okay. One of these days, if people request it, I'll fix the errors in the book, change "my Karl" to "my cousin Karl," and update it with new information.

Back to my question: what happens when you become the family historian? You become the keeper.You start to inherit. People send you stuff. They don't want it, but Peggy will. That's true, or, at least, I don't want to see it disappear forever. If you don't want it, please send it to me. Don't toss it. If you do want it, but think I might like to see it, send it to me, I'll copy it and send it back. My mother found some Moore clippings the other day. She'll give them to me the next time she sees me, and she said, "I don't want them back."  The stuff starts to accumulate: papers of all kinds - vital records, military records, photographs (many of them unlabeled), books, diaries (I wish I had more diaries), newspapers and scrapbooks, etcetera. And naturally, you are glad to get the stuff, or at least, I am. And there it sits, waiting. Or, worse yet, the work you were currently doing sits, waiting, while you delve into the new stuff. Every now and then I go on a binge, and sort and file. And sometimes I can't find what I want but I know it's here in my house; where to begin to look for it is the problem.

Do I say this to you to discourage you from starting your own genealogy or family history? Oh, no, not at all. I just want you to be aware of what might happen to you. And if you want a piece of advice, do as I say and not as I do (well, sometimes I do, but not as much as I should). Before you even look at a family tree program, get yourself a filing method - a cabinet, binders, CD's - whatever suits you, and file as you go. And backup. Backup. Backup.

If you are like me, this will become a passion. Well, maybe an obsession. Maybe, an addiction? I try to rationalize it. History is important. Keeping the family together is important. Bringing the family together is important. Isn't it?