Stating how you know what you know is critically important for making your information usable over time by others.
I am using a genealogical example today, but this general rule of thumb bit of information is applicable across the board. Context is the Queen of meaning.
Simple statements about how you know something can take your word and move it from the world of conjecture to reasonable information.
The difference between saying my grandmother’s mother was a Brubaker and her family traces back to Switzerland, and me writing down my name, my mother’s name, my grandmother’s name, and the county and state in which they lived most of their lives and where they are buried is the difference between an unverifiable story and enough information to trace these women’s ancestors back to Hans Jacob Brubaker arriving in American Colonies in the early 1700s, if you know what you are doing.
One of the things we will be doing on this site is helping you know what you are doing in several areas related to living your legacy fully including genealogy.
This little bit of difference in how you present what you know is a difference of context. Contextual information is the key to telling good family stories. Good family stories accompanied by a family tree are even better.
And now when it comes to the wonders of being alive today in the 21st Century we can add genetic testing to the composite of yourself you can build to add authenticity to your stories. A relatively simple test can provide you with your overall genetic ancestry. As of this writing, the tests seem to be priced from $99 at archives.com to $199 at National Geographic.
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Post 2, the Letter B, Blogging from A to Z April Challenge
Fascinating. My family originated – as far as we can tell from fairly extensive research – from rural Devon in England, where I still live. This apple hasn’t fallen far from the (family) tree!
Purrfect, your comment started me thinking about how it would be rather tempting to presume that because a place has been inhabited for thousands of years that your ancestors originated there. But people have always traveled and moved around, and when people do that, they tend to leave relations behind. In the U.S. when you ask, “Where is your family from?” you will most often get a response to another country, even if the family of the person has lived in the U.S.A. for many generations!
Getting as much verification as we can is important for any research. Speaking of DNA testing, I belong to a group called The Jackson Brigade who are family members related to the Civil War general Stonewall Jackson. A few years back they determined that one of the members and I were probably the most closely related to Stonewall so they paid to have our DNA tested. I still don’t understand all the particulars of how these things are figured but they said that I was definitely related to Stonewall–not a direct descendant, but of the lineage. I thought that was kind of cool bragging rights.
Anyway the group does a lot of research on the genealogy of the family. I haven’t really gotten involved, though maybe I should eventually.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
A Faraway View
Now that would be something. Only interesting folks in my lineage are a Fraktur artist on my Mom’s side and some horse thieves on my Dad’s side, according to my Dad. Knowing how you know is important, and I would think that your genetic information is pretty reliable.
This is something I’ve wanted to do for awhile. My friend did it last year and was surprised to discover her diverse background. Now she is searching for long last relatives and has met several already. It has been an amazing and wonderful journey for her.
Living in this time is providing us with formerly unimaginable opportunities to gain knowledge about ourselves and this amazing living system of which we are a part. If your friend is interested in sharing her story, have her contact nancy@womenslegacyproject.com