What if a book written about your grandmother, great-grandparents, or great-great-grandfather existed? I love biographies, which usually feature well-known current or historical figures, like Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama. As I read more biographies about famous subjects, I wondered what reading one about one of my ancestors would be like. But since my ancestors were not well-known historical figures, I knew that if I ever wanted to read a biography about one of them, I would need to write it.
That’s really cool, Jack! I’m doing something similar. I was 8 years old when my great grandfather died (at 98). I’ve been able to piece together some of his life (actually a lot) from stories we had him record on a tape just before he died. His stories gave me more paths to explore for research. He was not famous, but well known in his community as a winemaker pre-prohibition era. The unexpected punchline: some long lost (or unknown) cousins in Italy discovered him in genealogy research, prompted them to Google “Gemello Winery,” triggering their discovery of my substack about our family branch.
Well done, Jack! Congratulations on seeing the project through to publication, that's a huge accomplishment. Preserving stories can take so many forms today, printing into books is a wonderful form that has withstood the test of time. I hope you continue to explore these stories, it's an endless source of discovery, isn't it?
I started writing a history of a local family here in Substack in case someone is interested because the present living family history is uninterested. However, there are a lot of people who are descended from the immigrant ancestor five generations back who are interested. I only have one installment, however as I have planned the next few installments I realized that I am telling the stories of other ancestors, history of a German kingdom, German immigration, and the peculiarities of a small German town in Pennsylvania. There are so many factors that affect a person’s life. I am enjoying it became I love writing, history, and people. I also have videos and pictures too. Essentially I have discovered that I am telling the history of this area through the eyes of their ancestors.
That’s really cool, Jack! I’m doing something similar. I was 8 years old when my great grandfather died (at 98). I’ve been able to piece together some of his life (actually a lot) from stories we had him record on a tape just before he died. His stories gave me more paths to explore for research. He was not famous, but well known in his community as a winemaker pre-prohibition era. The unexpected punchline: some long lost (or unknown) cousins in Italy discovered him in genealogy research, prompted them to Google “Gemello Winery,” triggering their discovery of my substack about our family branch.
Congratulations, Jack! What a great accomplishment.
Well done, Jack! Congratulations on seeing the project through to publication, that's a huge accomplishment. Preserving stories can take so many forms today, printing into books is a wonderful form that has withstood the test of time. I hope you continue to explore these stories, it's an endless source of discovery, isn't it?
And you, my friend, are an inspiration. 😊
I started writing a history of a local family here in Substack in case someone is interested because the present living family history is uninterested. However, there are a lot of people who are descended from the immigrant ancestor five generations back who are interested. I only have one installment, however as I have planned the next few installments I realized that I am telling the stories of other ancestors, history of a German kingdom, German immigration, and the peculiarities of a small German town in Pennsylvania. There are so many factors that affect a person’s life. I am enjoying it became I love writing, history, and people. I also have videos and pictures too. Essentially I have discovered that I am telling the history of this area through the eyes of their ancestors.