Congrats! I wrote and published a book on one ancestral line several years ago, and it was such a wonderful learning experience! It successfully engaged several distant cousins enough to dig into their own ancestry, and ultimately has really allowed a ton of new family stories to be shared. Huge fort, as you know, but the effort is worth it and the ripples it sends out are priceless.
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.
That's awesome, Kevin! There's an interesting parallel between us—I was 3 years old when my great-grandmother died at 97. That sounds like an incredible project, and I'm looking forward to reading some of those stories on your Substack. That's how it started for me, too, with a few standout stories about my great-grandmother, and as I started to piece them together, a clear path towards a full biography emerged. I'd love to learn more about his work as a winemaker during that time, he sounds like a fascinating person. I'm glad you found my post because it's great to be connected with someone doing similar projects!
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.
Congrats! I wrote and published a book on one ancestral line several years ago, and it was such a wonderful learning experience! It successfully engaged several distant cousins enough to dig into their own ancestry, and ultimately has really allowed a ton of new family stories to be shared. Huge fort, as you know, but the effort is worth it and the ripples it sends out are priceless.
Congratulations for writing your great-grandparents biography. I hope you will do your own now, so your great-grandchildren can read 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.
That's awesome, Kevin! There's an interesting parallel between us—I was 3 years old when my great-grandmother died at 97. That sounds like an incredible project, and I'm looking forward to reading some of those stories on your Substack. That's how it started for me, too, with a few standout stories about my great-grandmother, and as I started to piece them together, a clear path towards a full biography emerged. I'd love to learn more about his work as a winemaker during that time, he sounds like a fascinating person. I'm glad you found my post because it's great to be connected with someone doing similar projects!
Congratulations, Jack! What a great accomplishment.
Thanks, Robin!
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. 😊
Thank you! You're right, the discoveries are endless and unexpected, that's what makes it so fun.
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.