Why this Addiction Called Genealogy?

No doubt there are many, many reasons we have such a passion for genealogy. For me it started with an innocent question from my doctor. During a routine exam when I was 28 years old the doctor asked me what kinds of illnesses and diseases are prevalent in my family. I told him my father and three of my four grandparents were already deceased. They all passed but the only one I really knew the circumstances of their death was my father.

This was a wake-up call for me. It was highly unusual for my family to have lost so many close family members at relatively young ages, but why? So I began to investigate. I found governments are not as forthcoming as to how people died. New Jersey is the worst. In my humble opinion this is an outdated and unreasonable denial of important health information that could possibly prevent premature deaths but that’s a topic for another day.

My goal was to look for trends. In the manner in which my father passed away frankly scared the hell out of me. He had a ton of health issues, some avoidable, by not smoking for one, but other reasons out of his control. So I wanted to know, did my grandfather have any of these same issues? My grandmother? At first it was extremely frustrating to get answers. Cause of death on death certificates were blacked out. There was plenty of other information such as person reporting the death, name of spouse, where they lived, etc.,  even cause of death…well at least there was a place for the information, just redacted. So what’s a guy to do?

Interestingly, I found that some cemeteries kept burial log books which, incredibly, included cause of death. I could hardly believe what I was reading! Could this be the case for my relatives at the cemeteries where they are buried? Unbelievable still, the answer was yes! So I began learning how my relatives had died. In doing so I began to feel a sense of relief in a way because there really hadn’t seemed to be any trend of any particular illness at all. There were clearly diseases that if occurred with the knowledge we have today, many could have been prevented. But in general as long as I kept to a healthy lifestyle I should be ok.

So you’re asking yourself, what does this have to do with genealogy? This may seem a bit morbid but I was incredibly interested in knowing how my ancestors met their peril. A grandmother died of a mosquito bite, a cousin from a horse kick, another by drowning. I then became interested in how or what conditions brought on these situations that caused their deaths. As I dug deeper and deeper into their lives it was over. I was not only bitten by the genealogy bug I was infected by it. With no cure I became a lost cause.

When I started at twenty-eight years of age I was researching on microfiche at the local LDS research library, mailing letters the old fashioned way – with a stamp, and miles upon miles of driving in the car to corners of states only my ancestors have seen, seeking out records at the local historical societies in the towns or counties in which they lived. I drove my wife insane for the longest time with this obsession but now, as crazy as it sounds, we both have a passion for visiting cemeteries. There’s something peaceful about it and always someone’s story to discover. The cemetery is an amazing place.

This was all great but I wonder if I can possibly meet other cousins who might be doing the same thing. Cousins I’ve never met before. And indeed I did. A wonderful cousin in NJ. Then another in Minnesota. Any yet another in London. London??? My first international cousin, and he found me! Now I can’t get rid of the poor guy, or worse yet, he can’t shake me!!! The shear excitement you feel of finding cousins you never, ever met and you share the same passion. You begin to share notes, collaborate, hypothesize and with a little luck you’re piecing together a family line until not long before, you never knew existed.

To me this is genealogy. When I’m asked by people why I’m so involved in genealogy I tell them that no-one wants to die knowing they’ll be forever forgotten. I feel it’s our duty as family historians to keep alive the individual stories of our ancestors. I believe each and every one of us that do this was chosen to do this. We were born with the desire to learn about our heritage, the sufferings and successes our ancestors endured which brought us to who we are today. It is our duty to share this intimate family history with our families, enabling us to learn from their history guiding us to make our future generations brighter. This is the gift our ancestors gave us to share with our future. So no, they will not have died to be forever forgotten.

Why do I share this story? Because we need to make sure we leave a legacy for future family historians when we’re gone. We laid down the foundation of our history so what will happen to your life’s work? Will it be sent to the curb when you’re gone? Will you have designated that it is donated to your local historical society? Have those arrangements been made? I don’t know about you but if I find out my 25 plus years of research went to the curb after I’m gone there’s going to be one unhappy camper in the after-life I can assure you of that!

So what else can we do to preserve our family legacy? Many of us I know have DNA results. Have you taken the steps to make sure they are not left in limbo if anything happens to you? Have you designated in writing what happens to your DNA results and any remaining DNA sample in the lab freezer? Have you uploaded your tree on your DNA testing company’s website so a family member can find it and pick up where you have left off? Have you made a digital backup of your work? Do you have a hardcopy? Have you distributed your work amongst your family?

And it’s not just important to upload your tree to a genealogy site for retention purposes, but remember when I discussed finding cousins I never knew I had? How do you think I found them, or they found me? It is incredibly important, if you desire to advance your genealogy that you upload your tree somewhere. If you have DNA results it’s preferable to upload it where those results are displayed, i.e. Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, etc.

Once you’ve done that you might also consider joining GEDmatch and uploading your DNA results there as well. GEDmatch is a repository of sorts where testers upload their results and can compare with other cousins who have tested from other testing companies, all in one place. It’s a one stop shopping for cousins! Don’t do all this work and at the same time restrict yourself from endless opportunities to fully develop your family’s history.

So there you have it. I’m sure there are countless reasons why we become involved in genealogy, but I hope one reason is prevalent for all of us. Let’s honor those that left us by sharing their story with those who come after us.