Last night I gave a
presentation to the Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society on Writing
Your Family History. Below are a few ideas I shared with them.
At a New England Regional
Genealogical Society Conference several years ago we attended Warren Bittner’s
session on Writing to Engage Your Reader. In that presentation he stressed
the importance of writing up your research – now! He admitted research is never done but, share what you have now. That’s
when we learned about monographs. Technically, a monograph is a learned treatise
on a small area of learning or a
written account of a single thing. For
genealogists it means following one ancestral line from the earliest to
recent.
Why Bother?
Because birth,
marriage, and death dates are not enough. As family historians we want to learn about our ancestors; we want to tell their stories, we want to bring
them to “life.” And …
Writing helps us make
sense of our research. It tells us what we are missing, names, dates, and
especially citations; Writing can catch the interest of family members, and
maybe nurture future genealogists; Writing/publishing your carefully researched
family history will help other researchers and maybe connect us with cousins.
Most of us have our family
trees online. Future generations may not be interested in online family trees. But
if there is a well-written book about their ancestors, they are more likely to
keep that and read it. Remember: Online doesn't necessarily mean forever. Really Important:
Retain control of your information.
Your audience - Will it be ...
Immediate family?
Libraries, historical societies,
or other repositories?
Will you produce a monograph
(focusing on one family line), Photo book, Cookbook, scrapbook, memoir?
Once the ancestor line is identified, gather you materials
Assuming you have done an
exhaustive search following the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) -
- Reasonably exhaustive research has been conducted.
- Each statement of fact has a complete and accurate source citation.
- The evidence is reliable and has been skillfully correlated and interpreted.
- Any contradictory evidence has been resolved.
- The conclusion has been soundly reasoned and coherently written.
Gather vital records, deeds,
military information, wills, maps, letters, recipes, interviews, photos,
timeline.
Organize!
- Develop a style sheet – A reference list for
consistency – Some decisions to make:
-Will main ancestor be in
small caps bold?
-State names abbreviated?
How?
-Maiden Names are in
parenthesis
-Will you use WWI or World
War I?
-How will dates be written?
1 July 1930 or July 1, 1930?
[End of Part I]
