On Family History
and Family Pride

One of the accusations against a serious look at the family genealogy is that it is the height of egotism in the search for some rich or famous ancestor in the family heritage. While on the surface, genealogy often is guilty of this, and deserves the ridicule of those who would thus proclaim themselves independent of all family heritage; when one really takes the study of family history seriously, the revelations are rather humbling.

It isn't quite fair to pick out your favorite ancestry and do all your research and writing on this one line of the eight, or sixteen, or thirty-two lines which one might study. To take genealogy seriously is to try to uncover ``the covered up'' and to find out why certain lines of the family show evidence of wanting to forget their ancestors. This is not exactly the proud and boastful side of family history but may prove to be the most rewarding of them all. It is here that one runs into ancestors of unrecorded heritage, horse thieves, blockade runners, and soldiers who were not exactly heroes.

In family genealogy and history the whole gamut of human life is held before you, with its sorrows, its tragedies, and its depravation. Of course, the whole story of such things is never very fully recorded or remembered, but the outline of the life of tragedy is there for one to see and behold, and it is held as a mirror to see oneself in it.

Life as it is lived--that is what family history is all about. Not only the lineage, but the character of individuals in the lineage, and the record of their horse-trading through life. Some people think of genealogy and family history only in terms of the bright side of the family story, but the one who digs into the story always finds the truths of eternity standing out while people batter themselves against some of these hard truths. One descendent observed of her great-grandfather that had not proved to be so great, ``He lies in an unmarked grave and so far as I know he deserves to be forgotten.'' He is my great-grandfather, too. While expressing well one side of the truth, the other side need not be overlooked. He deserves to be remembered for his folly and for his unfaithfulness as a reminder to us that, even so, we may prove to do likewise unless we remember.

My intention is not to preach a sermon, but to say that in family history and genealogy, as in any cultured pursuit, honesty and integrity in the search will reveal the true values of the Universe and reveal values and disvalues as our reward. One who is overly proud of a single line of the family should be encouraged to search out as many diverse lines of the ``good lineage'' as possible as a lesson in humility. With honesty and perseverance in the search, the relationship of lineage and character will become clearer and pride will be tempered with thoughtful reflection of the relative values in life as it was, and is, lived.