Hi Substack Community!
Hello-hello and welcome!
Why am I starting a genealogy newsletter?
My interest in genealogy seems to have been passed on to me from my dad, fittingly. He’s been fastidiously researching our family history since I was a kid. Genealogy interests me personally for a few reasons.
1. The wonder of stories (Drama! Mystery! Inspiration!)
While my curiosity about family history comes from my dad, I inherited a love of stories from my mom. Multilayered characters and dramatic backstories stir something in my soul, whatever the form - novel, movie, Netflix series, webcomic, or even video game. Family trees are heavy with the true stories of our ancestors. In writing this newsletter, I would like to explore these family narratives, plus the surrounding world events (particularly in Canada, the US, the Philippines, Ireland, and the UK) that connect my ancestors to the grander story arcs of history.
2. Interconnection and belonging
I believe that all of us on this planet are intrinsically connected. Family trees can trace our interwovenness on a genetic level, and the further back we climb, the more clear it becomes that we are all related. All humans alive today descended, parent to child, back through the ages to ancestors shared by all people alive today (see “Mitochondrial Eve”). As members of a shared family, we belong to one another and we are responsible to one another.
3. Drawing out meaning from data
Like any human, I look for meaning everywhere. In my work as a bookkeeper, I compile and organize large quantities of small details. I double-check them against official sources (e.g., bank statements), and synthesize them into reports and charts that are (ideally) understandable and meaningful. One of my goals in creating this newsletter is to learn to do something similar in my family history research: to gather many small details, verify their accuracy, and put them together into something cohesive and valuable.
This is a learning process
My dad has been researching our family history since I was a kid, sorting through the ever-growing databases online and (less frequently) visiting libraries and archives in person, winding through rolls of microfilm or visiting cemeteries for photos of gravestones. I, however, am not (yet) an expert.
I’ve dipped into the formidable archives of Ancestry and FamilySearch, quickly gathering as much data as I could find, going as far back as I could, only to look back at my pile of names and dates and think - how much of this is actually correct? How can I be sure? Did I take a wrong turn somewhere? I asked my dad about this and he pointed out that I need to make sure I verify information against official records: birth and death records, census data, and the like. So this time, I want to be systematic and to keep careful records. And, instead of quickly searching as far back as I can, I want to take an in-depth look at more recent ancestors before moving further back into the tree.
What kind of space will this be?
One difficulty I often face in learning something new is trying to learn everything there is to learn before allowing myself to begin sharing what I’ve learned with others. I hope that this Substack community helps to keep me moving forward and reaching out for help when I get stuck. I want this to be a place to share my research discoveries, successes, and failures; a record of my imperfect learning journey.
I want to write about the lives of those who lived before us. I want to ask questions about them and wonder about their joys and fears, motivations and passions. What were they like as partners, as parents or as friends? Do I see any of these characteristics in my family today? What were the formative experiences of their lives? What experiences wounded them? How did they cope or develop resilience? How did these coping behaviours and strategies for survival carry down intergenerationally?
In short, I want this to be an interesting, encouraging and uplifting space where I (and hopefully we) can ask questions, learn, and wonder about how the lives of our ancestors are reflected in our own lives.
Subscription details
This is currently a free newsletter. If you subscribe, you will be joining my little Substack community, and you will be notified of my new posts as soon as they come out! Generally, I will be posting once every one or two weeks.
What’s next?
Practically speaking, I want to start exploring my family tree and my husband’s family tree, beginning with our eight grandparents. This is the most recent generation of our family that has passed away. Collectively, they lived between 1917 and 2020 in three countries: the Philippines, Canada, and the US. I will not write about any living relatives unless I have received their permission. Whatever the case, I intend to write with sensitivity and kindness.
I would be honoured for you to join me!
Great intro! I know what you mean about wanting to research and research before sharing. I'm the same way and hopefully I'm going to be getting over that soon!
I think the hardest thing is to be thorough and systematic in your research—having the discipline to track everything, even in the excitement of making a breakthrough. I have wasted a lot of time trying find down a record I had previously found and not saved and filed properly! Also avoiding getting pulled down a rabbit hole of something that seems more interesting at the moment and losing the structure and direction of your research. Finally, the danger of making assumptions! Reading records assumptions-free is incredibly challenging and the professional genealogists have trained themselves to do it. (I have made every mistake!!) Good luck and have fun. I look forward to reading your work.