Fidig the Stories
LDS Acestors Mormos ad their Neighbors lib.byu.edu/digital/acestry Daughters of Utah Pioeers www.dupiteratioal.org LDS Church records Available at the BYU FHL ad the Salt Lake FHL
Newspapers www.newspapers.com www.newspaperarchive.com www.digitalewspapers.org
Google/Big searches
Histories Family Histories Couty Histories You ca fid some of these o the followig sites: www.acestry.com www.archive.org Books.google.com
Recordig ad Sharig the Stories
If there is o biography or life sketch It is your job to write it. (I get to do a lot of this because I do t have Nick s acestors:) Search for all possible records o your acestors Read the records with a eye for arrative details Do historical backgroud research
Tur Records ito Stories-Fredericka Family Group Record of Walther Family, Cleebro Germay
Name District Birthdat e Ackerma, Joha Brackehei F m Ackerma, Aa Brackehei Carolie m Walter, Christiae Friederike Walter, Luise Katharie Walter, Katharie Gottliebi Ackerma, Christia Friedrich Ackerma, Gottlob Heirich Ackerma, Jakob Friedrich Ackerma, Christiae Fried Brackehei m Brackehei m Brackehei m Brackehei m Brackehei m Brackehei m Brackehei m 18 Ja 1837 24 Ja 1840 9 Ja 1842 10 Jul 1844 30 Ja 1847 16 Aug 1849 30 Sep 1854 Birthplac e Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Cleebro Emigratio Date Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Feb 1855 Destiatio North America North America North America North America North America North America North America North America North America FHL Film Number 560450 560450 560450 560450 560450 560450 560450 560450 560450 Emigratio (departure) record of Walther/Ackerma Family, February 1855 Immigratio (arrival ) record of Walther/Ackerma Family, NYC, April 1855
1860-1880 cesuses Schaefer Family
Fredericka s Death Record, 1899 Cemetery Plot Record, lists burial iformatio for childre ad gradchildre of Fredericka ad Joh Fredericka s Death Record
Iterviewig You ca couple this with records you fid for livig people. So may older people tell us, I wish I would have asked my gradparets questios whe they were livig. Oe motivatio for me is my kids, I wat them to kow ad love my parets ad gradparets. Your livig relatives ot oly have their ow stories, but stories about the geeratios before them.
Iterview Techiques Schedule a time i advace. Prepare a list of questios beforehad Brig several otepads ad pes to the iterview. If you pla to make a recordig, have equipmet for that Take good otes ad make sure you record your ame, the date, the place the iterview is beig coducted ad the iterviewee. Start with a questio or topic that you kow will elicit a reply, such as a story you have heard her tell i the past. Ask questios which ecourage more tha simple 'yes' or 'o' aswers. Try to elicit facts, feeligs, stories ad descriptios. Show iterest. Take a active part i the dialogue without domiatig it. Lear to be a creative listeer. Use props wheever possible. Old photographs, favorite old sogs ad treasured items may brig memories floodig back. Do't push for aswers. Your relative may ot wish to speak ill of the dead or may have other reasos for ot watig to share. Move o to somethig else. Use your prepared questios as a guidelie, but do't be afraid to let your relative go off o a taget. Do't iterrupt or attempt to correct your relative; this ca ed a iterview i a hurry! Whe you are doe, be sure to thak your relative for her time. Tips: Put your relative at ease by tellig them that they will have a chace to see ad approve of aythig that you write before you share it with others. Keep the iterview legth to o more tha 1-2 hours at a stretch Cosider preparig a trascript or writte report as a tagible thak you to your relative for her participatio.
Ask Ope Eded Questios Describe your childhood home Describe the persoalities of your family members What foods did you eat ad how were they prepared? Dea remembers vividly whe her momma made chocolate puddig. She said, It was ot ofte, oly whe Momma could get some cocoa ad real sugar. Maggie would get out her pretty glass compay dishes to serve the puddig i oce it cooled. The childre ate their shares slowly ad carefully. They took tiy mouse sized bites, tastig every bit of it so as to make the smooth chocolate flavor last as log as it could. Wome leared to cook from their mothers, relatives ad eighbors. Dea s basic skills were leared as a child of seve, makig biscuits, fried potatoes, ad baco. She says, It was t much. Yet it amazes me, for I kow few seve year olds today that are allowed to be ear the stove, let aloe use it. Dea started early o helpig Maggie ad learig from her. Her brothers, o the other had were t taught ay of that. She says with a laugh, If people foud out a boy was helpig his momma cook he d be disgraced forever! The family ate ay meat that did t eat us first. This icluded thigs such as possum ad raccoo. Dea says The raccoo tasted pretty good. Maggie would soak it i viegar to get the wild taste out ad the roast it.
Tell me about a time you fell i love. What is somethig you are proud of accomplishig i your life? What was somethig aughty you or a siblig did, ad how did your parets react? Warre ad Dea were, like may sibligs close i age, alterately competitive ad cospiratorial. Dea relates that Warre liked to play tricks o me, ad I beat him up every morig just to show him I could. There was oe warm sprig day they were playig outside at school. Dea got so hot that she rolled her socks dow, ad her log uderwear ad bloomers up. Her bare legs were shiig i the su. Warre tattled o her ad Momma gave her a whippig. Oe summer ight whe she was aroud seve, she ad Warre came back from the swimmig hole. They saw a light i the kitche widow. Momma s sister Lea (who lived with them for a time) ad her boyfried were i there ad they were sparkig. So Warre ad Dea both climbed o top of a barrel ad peeped i the widow. Almost as soo as they did that, Momma came tearig aroud the corer, yellig at them ad chasig them away. Dea said, Warre ad I were always i trouble what he did t thik of I did. There are lots of lists out there, eve software programs (Persoal Historia, etc) that will help you come up with story prompts Dea ad her brother Warre are the two childre o the far left.
Oe of Dea s saddest memories is whe her brother Elbert Wade died suddely at the age of two. She says He was my baby. Elbert Wade took sick o Friday, October 28th, 1933. The ext day, Doctor Widsor of Climax sprigs came, but by Suday, Elbert Wade was dead. Dea remembers the doctor sayig he had membrae croup. His death certificate lists primary cause of death as larygismus stridulus, which is a respiratory disorder, [producig] sudde spasm of the laryx that occurs i childre ad is marked by difficult oisy, breathig. The secodary cause of death was listed as playig out i rai. Robert ad Maggie were outside whe Elbert Wade died. Dea ad her mother s cousi Goldie were there with him, rubbig his feet ad body. They kew he was dyig, but all they could do was try to make him more comfortable Dea recalled he was just gaspig for breath, ad he was so blue. The family made a simple little woode coffi for him. They buried him at the Climax Sprigs Cemetery. Dea recalls, Momma looked so forlor. It has bee sevety five years sice Elbert Wade died, ad Dea s voice still quavers whe she talks about losig him.
Addig Color to the Biography A picture is worth a thousad words. Use visuals, photos of people ad places, maps of the area (draw if you have to), images of ufamiliar items (farm equipmet etc), relevat documets. Research the historical ad cultural settig of the biography subject. Put your portrait withi a ladscape of time ad place. Use laguage that grabs your reader. Sesory details of sights, smells, ad souds. Let your arrator speak as much as possible so their voice comes through. Make it a geuie ad fair treatmet of the subject as much as possible.
Sharig the Stories Biographies/Histories, prit, copy, share with relatives ad childre Website to help get your kids iterested i learig the stories of their acestry http://kids.familytreemagazie.com/kids/default.asp Preserve your ow history ad those of your childre Formal histories Jourals Scrapbooks/baby books, savig memetos, school papers, etc Photography E-mail/blogs/ewsletters
Why We Do This Behold, I will sed you Elijah the prophet before the comig of the great ad dreadful day of the Lord: Ad he shall tur the heart of the fathers to the childre, ad the heart of the childre to their fathers, lest I come ad smite the earth with a curse. Turig the hearts requires us to love ad care about our acestors, ot just fill their ames i o a chart. That love is what motivates us to help them obtai their ordiaces, ad keep our coveats so that we may see them agai someday There is power i these coectios that ca bless our lives. Stories of acestors ca help us ad our families i our challeges i life. They are real beigs o the other side, ad they care about us. They receive power to do good as we help them receive their ordiaces. I love my acestors. I love learig their stories, it makes me look forward to meetig them someday, because I feel like I already kow them.