A Family Story Told...

I just read this awesome and touching "family story." It isn't my story, but it is a wonderful example of finding one's family story (or a "chapter" of it), and how it unfolds before your eyes bringing the past to the present. It's about a Col. Isaac Erwin Avery and his last moments as a Confederate soldier. Because of certain circumstances, he's buried in a crude grave, and his family is left not knowing his actual grave site. Later, his body is exhumed and moved to Washington Confederate Cemetery (within Rose Hill Cemetery) in Hagerstown, Md due to Gov. Bowie's (Md) decision to honor the Confederate soldiers in a cemetery set aside for Confederate soldiers. The soldiers are identified and marked (346 in total). Those not identified are buried there as well in unmarked graves, which number 2122.

Though the soldier's last words are used by a prominent member in American history, the Col's family is never notified of the grave's whereabouts, and went undetected until a newspaper article in The Washington Times in 2007. President Theodore Roosevelt in Raleigh, North Carolina at the unveiling of the statue commemorating Sir Walter Raleigh, became "choked up" when it was time to read a yellowed piece of paper he held in hands. He handed it to Lord James Bryce (Britain's minister to the U.S.), which after reading it, Bryce responded, "President Roosevelt, we have nothing to compare with this in the British Museum." A true and rare compliment, indeed. You see, they were the words of Col. Avery who knowing he was about to die, he scrawled in his own blood with his left hand (he was paralyzed on the right due to his fatal injury)the following request, "Major, tell my father I died with my face to the enemy." His father eventually sacrificed a total of 3 sons and later another due to injuries sustained in the Civil War.

This story, which is told in its entirety at the link below, is a perfect example of how learning your family story can bring not only closure to a family chapter, but fill-in important facts about your family story. It's kind of like the difference between reading a non-illustrated book and an illustrated one. While you can't read "picture" books all the time [yes, I'm serious], neither can you tell your family story without "pictures" [literally & figuratively]. It's called many things in genealogy like: "filling-out your family tree", "adding branches or leaves to your tree", "fleshing-out your family". It doesn't matter what you call it, just do it. Find your family story. You'll never know what you might find -- a military hero, a thoughtful and loving son, a courageous soldier, a pirate [I've got one - a story for another day...], etc. Sometimes you find them, and sometimes in the midst of looking for one, another one will find you!

One thing is certain: you'll never know until you try.

http://genealogytrails.com/mary/washington/averyfamilystory.html

Caroline

Why Know Your Family Story?

What is your family story? Is it what you did this morning? Is it what you did last week? How about last year? Or, does it have anything to do with you at all? The thing about a family story is that it's all of the above and then some. It's about you and everyone in your family that came before you. It's also everyone in your family that comes after you. Each person is a chapter in your family story.

So, why care about your family story? I once read somewhere that everyone has a deep desire to know where you came from, who you came from, and who your people are. It's a desire to know where you belong. It's your heritage, and one day it will be your legacy. What will people remember about you? Just your birth, marriage, & death dates? Aren't you more than that?

Of course you are, and your ancestors are more than that, too.

Whether they were famous, high in social standing, or hard-working farmers, they were real people with real lives just like you. They lived, they loved, they grieved...they were everyday people.

Everytime I look at my family's old pictures, I always wonder what they were thinking when the picture was taken. Were they really as happy as they seem to be in the picture? One thing is for sure: I wish I had been there with them and I wish I knew them. These people who I am related to by blood. Would our similarities be apparent? From whom do I get my stubborness from?

As you are sitting there -right now- you are not a void. You are not a hole in history. You have a life. You have a place in your family, and you have friends. Your days are filled with your activities. You are an ongoing family story.

What will your children's children know about you and your story later on when you're no longer on this earth? Will they know your story, or will they just know your basics - birth, marriage, death, etc., or worse yet, will you be a void on your family tree? The chapter that's missing from the book?

Your ancestors were once more than a void in the family tree. They were more than just their vital stats. They had homes, jobs, and lives. They were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Each with their own chapter in your family book. Their own story that interweaves with all the other family members' stories creating...your family story.

Join me as I take a tour through history and my family story. Maybe yours looks like mine...

Caroline