Yesterday, my family and I attended a family reunion for the maternal side of my dad's family. Aside from getting to catch up with distant relatives and visit with those who we are closer to, I learned quite a bit about my family's history. I recently took up studying my genealogy and was excited to fill in some of the blanks I had on my dad's side. At the reunion, I discovered that my great-aunt had compiled one line of our family history back to the 1700s and that they would be willing to send it to me. I also learned that a great, great, great-grandmother had traveled to America, by herself, from Germany when she was 13 years old as an indentured servant. A distant cousin of mine shared that she has original letters shared between 2 brothers, related to our family, who were both serving in the military during the Civil War. I am sure I won't get the originals of those letters, but how neat it will be to read them when she sends me the copies.
Those of you who are genealogists, do you have any neat stories from your family history to share? If you are not into genealogy, I encourage you to at least trace your family tree back through your grandparents and if you ever have the chance to talk with other relatives, ask to hear a story about your ancestors and be sure to record what you learn for future generations. It is a really neat feeling when you discover a connection between yourself and history.
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