I love to tell stories.
Telling stories has always been an honorable vocation. One can trace storytelling to times past, when our ancestors passed along legends to the next generation - sung ballads of the exploits of their heroes - even left crude drawings on cave walls. Now, stories are told by way of history books on library shelves and the occasional family researcher.
True, all of us, as witnesses to contemporary events, should be day-to-day storytellers. But, the more I edit or read genealogical publications, the more I am drawn to the stories about, and by, ordinary people. Each of us is, after all, a collection of stories. Some are long ones; many, short ones. Some stories are about happy times; others are about things sad. Other stories focus on our dreams, passions, successes, failures. I suspect, when we die, our newspaper obituary just won't do us justice.
Fortunately, a growing number of people are daring to put their stories in print - family histories sifted from long hours of genealogical research to be mixed with hybrid tales of memory, family stories, and vivid imagination. To paraphrase Ezra Pound, "What is important is the writing - it is a matter of indifference who writes it." Egos notwithstanding, such an observation should encourage us lesser mortals to quit talking and start writing.
We may not win a Pulitzer Prize or a National book award or the acclaim of our peers. But, we just might earn the lasting gratitude of our family and friends for telling a story in which so many of them helped to enliven the plot.
I love to read stories almost as much as I love to tell them. Bless the storyteller.
Aug-Oct 2001
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
ON THE HISTORIAN'S MIND - Listening
I'm always amazed at the insight that I gain from the most unlikely of places.
Here in Coal Creek Canyon is published and distributed to residents a monthly "magazine" called the Mountain Messenger. It's filled with canyon news and other articles of interest, local's recipes and business cards, and, occasionally, words of infinite wisdom. Like . . . .
Have you ever noticed that it's not the "life of the party" or those with entertaining stories or witty insights who form the most lasting and deepest friendships? It's those who really know how to listen.
Listening is a lost art in our present day culture. Lee Iacocca has said, "I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen." Indeed, too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.
We lead such busy, fast-paced, distracted lives that we fail to listen to those around us. Maybe we hear their words - and maybe we even try to find the proverbial bottom line behind those words, but we still fail to hear the heart behind the words.
Listening is not a skill of a specially-gifted minority. Nor is it a unique gene that some have, and others don't. Listening is a skill to be developed, a discipline to be honed and practiced. Listening is active, not passive. Listening is aggressive, not lazy. Listening places another person and their needs ahead of ourselves and our own agenda.
"We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." How many opportunities have been overlooked because we chose to talk and not to listen?
As we go throughout each day, we should choose first to understand, then and only then to be understood. May we all learn how to listen, and may we all practice that skill at every opportunity. It's a great New Year's Resolution!
Written Nov-Dec 2001
Here in Coal Creek Canyon is published and distributed to residents a monthly "magazine" called the Mountain Messenger. It's filled with canyon news and other articles of interest, local's recipes and business cards, and, occasionally, words of infinite wisdom. Like . . . .
Have you ever noticed that it's not the "life of the party" or those with entertaining stories or witty insights who form the most lasting and deepest friendships? It's those who really know how to listen.
Listening is a lost art in our present day culture. Lee Iacocca has said, "I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen." Indeed, too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.
We lead such busy, fast-paced, distracted lives that we fail to listen to those around us. Maybe we hear their words - and maybe we even try to find the proverbial bottom line behind those words, but we still fail to hear the heart behind the words.
Listening is not a skill of a specially-gifted minority. Nor is it a unique gene that some have, and others don't. Listening is a skill to be developed, a discipline to be honed and practiced. Listening is active, not passive. Listening is aggressive, not lazy. Listening places another person and their needs ahead of ourselves and our own agenda.
"We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." How many opportunities have been overlooked because we chose to talk and not to listen?
As we go throughout each day, we should choose first to understand, then and only then to be understood. May we all learn how to listen, and may we all practice that skill at every opportunity. It's a great New Year's Resolution!
Written Nov-Dec 2001
ON THE HISTORIAN'S MIND - Descansos
They are called descansos - a Spanish word that means resting places. I see many of these roadside crosses on my migratory trips to Texas - tragically more new ones with each visit. These memorials are created and erected by family members or friends to mark the sites of automobile accidents resulting in violent, unexpected death - the last place on earth that a loved one was alive.
Their origins are as diverse as their decorations. Author Rudolfo Anaya in his book Descansos: An Interrupted Journey writes: "In the old villages . . . . the coffin was often shouldered by 4 or 6 men. Led by a priest and followed by black-dressed mourning women, the procession made its way from the church to the cemetery . . . . if a far distance, the tired men would pause to rest, lowering the coffin and placing it on the ground. The place where it rested was called the descanso." And, the mourning women would mark the spot with a stone cross.
Others say that early pioneers, with no time to properly bury their dead, dug graves beside trails and erected markers so that passersby could pay their respect. Still others believe the custom to be of European origin, reminders of shepherd's sanctuaries in fields or miniature churches along Greek roadways, much like the sanctuarios along New Mexico's mountain drives.
Regardless, all descansos express the shock of unanticipated death. Many tell a story of seasonal visits and communicate through notes, favorite objects, and photographs. As they weather and colors soften, they speak of healing.
I see the descansos - but I'm not sure I truly perceive their significance. Can anyone adequately revere and appreciate the beliefs, the losses, the aesthetic values of strangers?
I think of the descanso as a tombstone that marks not a place of burial but a place of transition. The descanso is just as meaningful as a gravesite - perhaps more so, because of the personal artifacts that adorn the crosses.
Life is, after all, a journey. And, the place where life ends is as rich with purpose and meaning as the place where life begins.
The descanso stands silently, splendidly - a sentinel of grief and loss, yet commemorating life - and leaving for those of us who came after a most personal glimpse into the lives of those who went before.
Written Spring 2001
Their origins are as diverse as their decorations. Author Rudolfo Anaya in his book Descansos: An Interrupted Journey writes: "In the old villages . . . . the coffin was often shouldered by 4 or 6 men. Led by a priest and followed by black-dressed mourning women, the procession made its way from the church to the cemetery . . . . if a far distance, the tired men would pause to rest, lowering the coffin and placing it on the ground. The place where it rested was called the descanso." And, the mourning women would mark the spot with a stone cross.
Others say that early pioneers, with no time to properly bury their dead, dug graves beside trails and erected markers so that passersby could pay their respect. Still others believe the custom to be of European origin, reminders of shepherd's sanctuaries in fields or miniature churches along Greek roadways, much like the sanctuarios along New Mexico's mountain drives.
Regardless, all descansos express the shock of unanticipated death. Many tell a story of seasonal visits and communicate through notes, favorite objects, and photographs. As they weather and colors soften, they speak of healing.
I see the descansos - but I'm not sure I truly perceive their significance. Can anyone adequately revere and appreciate the beliefs, the losses, the aesthetic values of strangers?
I think of the descanso as a tombstone that marks not a place of burial but a place of transition. The descanso is just as meaningful as a gravesite - perhaps more so, because of the personal artifacts that adorn the crosses.
Life is, after all, a journey. And, the place where life ends is as rich with purpose and meaning as the place where life begins.
The descanso stands silently, splendidly - a sentinel of grief and loss, yet commemorating life - and leaving for those of us who came after a most personal glimpse into the lives of those who went before.
Written Spring 2001
ON THE HISTORIAN'S MIND - Ripples in a Pond
Recently, while developing a presentation about Germanna - Virginia's first non-English settlement - I ran across the text of a keynote speech given at the 28th Anniversary of the First Germanna Colony of 1714. The speech was presented by the Honorable John O. Marsh, Jr., former Secretary of the Army and the descendant of a Germanna colonist. Marsh has some interesting reflections.
Of all the creatures on Earth, only man has a sense of history. That is why we have monuments, calendars, centennials, anniversaries, and the like. The search for our past is an important part of our human dimension. Why are we here? Our history is best understood by examining the lives of the people and understanding the wide impact an individual can have - how we each interrelate with each other - how our lives, throughout time, often intersected to share events. Marsh referred to this as a ripple principle - throw a stone into a pond, and watch the formation of surface ripples, reaching far beyond the place where the stone fell. Toss more than one stone at the same time, and the ripples will intersect. Our "ripples" - those that impacted ourselves and others - some call coincidences. Maybe such intersections are not just coincidental, but providential.
Case in point - Baron Christopher de Graffenried was responsible for that colony of German iron miners coming to Virginia's Germanna in 1714. One of those miners was Johann Kemper, my husband Frank's 4th great-grandfather. If it hadn't been for the persuasiveness of the Baron, Johann would probably never have come to America, would never have married the daughter of another Germanna colonist, and Frank and all of his Kemper and associated ancestors in between would never have been born.
I met and married my first husband Bob in Texas. My research revealed him to be a direct descendant, a 9th great-grandson, of Baron Christopher de Graffenried. If it hadn't been for my first husband's ancestor, I would never have had the privilege of meeting and marrying my second husband Frank. Coincidence? Providence? Or, just a serendipitous intersecting of ripples in the vast human pond?
Heritage, lineage, genealogy, pride in ancestral achievements belong to those of us willing to study them and ultimately claim them as our own. If we don't care about our roots, we will never know the extent of our incredible heritage. Genealogy isn't just closely connected with history - it IS history.
Henry David Thoreau said, "Time is but the stream I go fishing in." Each of us - with the help of our ancestors, friends, teachers, historians, and others - goes fishing in that stream. It's those 'ripples' that enrich our understanding of the whole human past and of ourselves. And, often, we find it is not what happens when and where that's most important, it's who it happens to.
Written Nov-Dec 1997.
Of all the creatures on Earth, only man has a sense of history. That is why we have monuments, calendars, centennials, anniversaries, and the like. The search for our past is an important part of our human dimension. Why are we here? Our history is best understood by examining the lives of the people and understanding the wide impact an individual can have - how we each interrelate with each other - how our lives, throughout time, often intersected to share events. Marsh referred to this as a ripple principle - throw a stone into a pond, and watch the formation of surface ripples, reaching far beyond the place where the stone fell. Toss more than one stone at the same time, and the ripples will intersect. Our "ripples" - those that impacted ourselves and others - some call coincidences. Maybe such intersections are not just coincidental, but providential.
Case in point - Baron Christopher de Graffenried was responsible for that colony of German iron miners coming to Virginia's Germanna in 1714. One of those miners was Johann Kemper, my husband Frank's 4th great-grandfather. If it hadn't been for the persuasiveness of the Baron, Johann would probably never have come to America, would never have married the daughter of another Germanna colonist, and Frank and all of his Kemper and associated ancestors in between would never have been born.
I met and married my first husband Bob in Texas. My research revealed him to be a direct descendant, a 9th great-grandson, of Baron Christopher de Graffenried. If it hadn't been for my first husband's ancestor, I would never have had the privilege of meeting and marrying my second husband Frank. Coincidence? Providence? Or, just a serendipitous intersecting of ripples in the vast human pond?
Heritage, lineage, genealogy, pride in ancestral achievements belong to those of us willing to study them and ultimately claim them as our own. If we don't care about our roots, we will never know the extent of our incredible heritage. Genealogy isn't just closely connected with history - it IS history.
Henry David Thoreau said, "Time is but the stream I go fishing in." Each of us - with the help of our ancestors, friends, teachers, historians, and others - goes fishing in that stream. It's those 'ripples' that enrich our understanding of the whole human past and of ourselves. And, often, we find it is not what happens when and where that's most important, it's who it happens to.
Written Nov-Dec 1997.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
ON THE HISTORIAN'S MIND - Passing Time
It seems when I'm not worrying about one thing, I'm worrying about another. Right now, I'm worrying about time. I don't know about you, but I think I'm running out of it.
Every so often, I actually sit down and pick up a genealogy magazine and skim through it. I have a foot-high basket to choose from. Looking through these magazines really wears me out. There are so many new ones, not to mention new books, new software, new Web sites. Geez - I haven't had the time to read the old material, load the old software, access the old Web sites. Sigh! Some day . . . .
A relative just sent me via e-mail a 66-page pedigree chart of my WINTERS family. Looking at it all gave me a headache. I now need to find a place to put it so I'll be sure to find it when I look for it again - quite the challenge. Some day, I will need to integrate the information into my surname notebooks and computer files - some day.
You must appreciate that I have a room full of this kind of data - from single pieces of information to entire family files. I began serious family history research in 1985 - that's 15 years of material piled on shelves of floor-to-ceiling bookcases and stored in filing cabinets and boxes - 15 years of photographs in shoe boxes - 15 years of books and periodicals - 15 years of . . . . some day.
The other day I read something that reminded me of my research room. I've changed the focus somewhat to make it more apropos -
"At the threshold of something we have never seen before, we always pause a moment before opening the door. There's a quiet thrill in knowing you are about to enter new territory - a world where the familiar, strange, and magical will come together in ways you have yet to fully imagine."
Well, maybe . . . . some day.
In my house, if it weren't for some day, nothing would ever get done. I suppose the trick is to turn that "some day" into "to-day."
Maybe I will . . . . some day.
Originally written in the Spring of 2000. The 15 years of material has now escalated to 23, and "some day" has yet to become "to-day."
Every so often, I actually sit down and pick up a genealogy magazine and skim through it. I have a foot-high basket to choose from. Looking through these magazines really wears me out. There are so many new ones, not to mention new books, new software, new Web sites. Geez - I haven't had the time to read the old material, load the old software, access the old Web sites. Sigh! Some day . . . .
A relative just sent me via e-mail a 66-page pedigree chart of my WINTERS family. Looking at it all gave me a headache. I now need to find a place to put it so I'll be sure to find it when I look for it again - quite the challenge. Some day, I will need to integrate the information into my surname notebooks and computer files - some day.
You must appreciate that I have a room full of this kind of data - from single pieces of information to entire family files. I began serious family history research in 1985 - that's 15 years of material piled on shelves of floor-to-ceiling bookcases and stored in filing cabinets and boxes - 15 years of photographs in shoe boxes - 15 years of books and periodicals - 15 years of . . . . some day.
The other day I read something that reminded me of my research room. I've changed the focus somewhat to make it more apropos -
"At the threshold of something we have never seen before, we always pause a moment before opening the door. There's a quiet thrill in knowing you are about to enter new territory - a world where the familiar, strange, and magical will come together in ways you have yet to fully imagine."
Well, maybe . . . . some day.
In my house, if it weren't for some day, nothing would ever get done. I suppose the trick is to turn that "some day" into "to-day."
Maybe I will . . . . some day.
Originally written in the Spring of 2000. The 15 years of material has now escalated to 23, and "some day" has yet to become "to-day."
SIM'S SOURCES - Frontier Times Magazine
Ever heard of Frontier Times Magazine?
It's an historical and genealogical gem published in Texas by J. Marvin Hunter from October 1923 until October 1954, during a time when early Texas settlers, pioneers, cattlemen, and other event observers were still alive and able to relate their stories. Its articles were written largely from the vantage point of the eye-witness or actual participant - which makes the magazines of unparalleled value to historians, collectors, and genealogists. Imagine reading first-hand accounts of early settlers, frontier expeditions, soldiers, Texas Rangers, Indians, and outlaws; of battles, privations, and tragedies; of riches won and lost, of mines, of hidden treasures - the bold, bloody and accurate facts. Each issue is a voluminous resource of genealogical data - family names, ancestors, relations, locations, employments, migrations, birth dates, and death dates.
Frontier Times is a gold mine of information - and Sims Library has issues dating from its beginning in 1923 through 1928. These are not the original issues; in the 1970s, Western Publications reprinted most of the volumes, and it is these reprints that will soon be available for unrestricted patron reference in the Library's Genealogy Collection.
In 2004, the full and exclusive copyrights to all 344 of the magazines were awarded FrontierTimesMagazine.com. Their aim is to provide the genealogical, historical research, and literary archivist communities with quality-minded, technologically advanced means of access to the publication. Through their website, The Frontier Times Magazine can be purchased in 3 different formats - original and reprinted hard copy, compact discs in PDF format, and as downloads that are the exact duplicate of the hard copies. Interested in a specific individual or event? No problem - the site is fully searchable.
Just for fun, I searched the website for James Washington Winters, an ancestor who was a Battle of San Jacinto Veteran. Much to my delight, I found the article "James Washington Winters - San Jacinto Veteran and Indian Fighter" in the September 1936 issue. I bought the reprinted issue for $12.95 - I can hardly wait!
Each issue has a comprehensive table of contents, but the name or names of persons may not appear on the contents page. No matter - it is so much fun to flip through each article that soon you find yourself reading the entire issue. Many Letters to the Editor are also published - these are as interesting as the articles themselves.
There's lots of sweet stuff in the Sims Genealogy Collection. Some of it is new to the collection, and some of it has been around awhile, just not overtly advertised.
Watch for more SOME SOURCES AT SIMS postings.
It's an historical and genealogical gem published in Texas by J. Marvin Hunter from October 1923 until October 1954, during a time when early Texas settlers, pioneers, cattlemen, and other event observers were still alive and able to relate their stories. Its articles were written largely from the vantage point of the eye-witness or actual participant - which makes the magazines of unparalleled value to historians, collectors, and genealogists. Imagine reading first-hand accounts of early settlers, frontier expeditions, soldiers, Texas Rangers, Indians, and outlaws; of battles, privations, and tragedies; of riches won and lost, of mines, of hidden treasures - the bold, bloody and accurate facts. Each issue is a voluminous resource of genealogical data - family names, ancestors, relations, locations, employments, migrations, birth dates, and death dates.
Frontier Times is a gold mine of information - and Sims Library has issues dating from its beginning in 1923 through 1928. These are not the original issues; in the 1970s, Western Publications reprinted most of the volumes, and it is these reprints that will soon be available for unrestricted patron reference in the Library's Genealogy Collection.
In 2004, the full and exclusive copyrights to all 344 of the magazines were awarded FrontierTimesMagazine.com. Their aim is to provide the genealogical, historical research, and literary archivist communities with quality-minded, technologically advanced means of access to the publication. Through their website, The Frontier Times Magazine can be purchased in 3 different formats - original and reprinted hard copy, compact discs in PDF format, and as downloads that are the exact duplicate of the hard copies. Interested in a specific individual or event? No problem - the site is fully searchable.
Just for fun, I searched the website for James Washington Winters, an ancestor who was a Battle of San Jacinto Veteran. Much to my delight, I found the article "James Washington Winters - San Jacinto Veteran and Indian Fighter" in the September 1936 issue. I bought the reprinted issue for $12.95 - I can hardly wait!
Each issue has a comprehensive table of contents, but the name or names of persons may not appear on the contents page. No matter - it is so much fun to flip through each article that soon you find yourself reading the entire issue. Many Letters to the Editor are also published - these are as interesting as the articles themselves.
There's lots of sweet stuff in the Sims Genealogy Collection. Some of it is new to the collection, and some of it has been around awhile, just not overtly advertised.
Watch for more SOME SOURCES AT SIMS postings.
Friday, January 9, 2009
ON THE HISTORIAN'S MIND - The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is dead!
Well, truthfully, the Lone Ranger will never die. However, Clayton Moore, whose alter ego the Lone Ranger became, passed away on Tuesday, 28 December 1999, at the age of 85.
No, Moore was not a relative. He was just my childhood hero. His theme, The William Tell Overture, birthed my love of classical music. His faithful Indian companion Tonto taught me tolerance for cultures not my own. And, Silver - his "fiery horse with the speed of light" - was the horse I always wanted but never got.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto brought law and order throughout the American West and made my little part of the world a safer place in the process. Without a doubt, I knew I would always want to wear "a white hat."
The Lone Ranger Creed - according to Clayton Moore - is in part a prayer and in part a set of beliefs - inspiring resolutions for a new Century and a new Millennium. And, so, I offer them here - restated as my hope for the year 2000 and for all the years to come.
TO have a friend, a man must be one.
ALL men are created equal. Everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
GOD put the firewood here, but every man must gather and light it himself.
BE prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
A man should make the most of what equipment he has.
THIS government - of the people, by the people, for the people - shall live always.
SOONER or later, somewhere, somehow, we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
ALL things change, but truth, and truth alone, lives on forever.
BELIEVE in your creator, your country, and your fellow man.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! HI-YO, SILVER - AWAY!
February 2000
Well, truthfully, the Lone Ranger will never die. However, Clayton Moore, whose alter ego the Lone Ranger became, passed away on Tuesday, 28 December 1999, at the age of 85.
No, Moore was not a relative. He was just my childhood hero. His theme, The William Tell Overture, birthed my love of classical music. His faithful Indian companion Tonto taught me tolerance for cultures not my own. And, Silver - his "fiery horse with the speed of light" - was the horse I always wanted but never got.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto brought law and order throughout the American West and made my little part of the world a safer place in the process. Without a doubt, I knew I would always want to wear "a white hat."
The Lone Ranger Creed - according to Clayton Moore - is in part a prayer and in part a set of beliefs - inspiring resolutions for a new Century and a new Millennium. And, so, I offer them here - restated as my hope for the year 2000 and for all the years to come.
TO have a friend, a man must be one.
ALL men are created equal. Everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
GOD put the firewood here, but every man must gather and light it himself.
BE prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
A man should make the most of what equipment he has.
THIS government - of the people, by the people, for the people - shall live always.
SOONER or later, somewhere, somehow, we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
ALL things change, but truth, and truth alone, lives on forever.
BELIEVE in your creator, your country, and your fellow man.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! HI-YO, SILVER - AWAY!
February 2000
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