What are your thoughts on emotional genealogy?

[JanR]

Those of you who do genealogy, do you find that the more details you learn about your ancestors and relatives as people, and about their lives and personal experiences, you begin to feel things for them as the sense of connectedness grows ever stronger, especially if they shared things in common with you and you find parallels between their personalities and your own, even shared physical traits?

Do you find it broadens your appreciation and increases your understanding of your own fundamental nature and that of your more immediate family members? As you learn more about who your ancestors and relatives were, the better you’re able to know who you are? I have found much of this to be true, in my case.

I’ve found genealogy to be more than just the gathering of documents, photographs and historical facts. Those are very important, too. But there’s also a human element, as these people were just as real as I am, had real lives, real burdens and struggles, real joys and triumphs – and I’ve found myself experiencing some intense curiosity to know more and more by following not only the documentary trails, but also listening eagerly to stories told by living descendants (remembering that their revelations may be somewhat subjective and interpretive, as well as containing some true, solid facts).

DNA has strengthened the emotional aspect of it, as well as confirming much of what I’ve learned. That is solid proof of genetic connections, along with all of the other evidence.

I find the emotional element a natural component of genealogical study. Anyone else find this is so?

 

[Irishmom2]

Yes to everything you have said, lol!

I have been researching my family for about 30+ years. I have found out my relatives addresses, their occupations, where they are buried and read their obituaries. It has made me feel a stronger tie to them, even to family members I have never met, but have heard of from my parents and aunts and uncles.

Still trying to find out where my grandfather emigrated from, and anything about his family, but he came here in 1882 and I have hit a wall.

 

[JanR]

And, there’s nothing like photographs to put faces to the names, to observe body language in the pictures, and see a glimpse of what was going on in their lives when the photo was taken. It can reveal a lot.

 

[Irishmom2]

I have a poem my grandfather wrote, in his own handwriting, in 1901. I treasure it. I always wondered where my artistic side came from, and I think it might be him. I am hoping to meet him someday in heaven.

 

[JanR]

I got my gift for writing poetry from someone on my mother’s side, I think. None of my paternal blood relatives, that I know of, wrote poetry, although one great uncle is said to have played the fiddle. I taught myself to play mandolin and folk guitar, and to read the melody line of sheet music. No lessons taken. So, maybe some of that got into my genes. This great uncle, by the way, has been named “favorite uncle” by two of my cousins, and had I known him during his lifetime, from what I’ve learned about him, he probably would have been my favorite great uncle.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I like to hear family stories and find out stuff about my family, and my husband’s family. My husband and his parents were very strait-laced people so it was amusing to discover a number of significant family scandals including bigamy (a couple of cases, and my husband’s bio great-grand was actually arrested), pregnancy out of wedlock (hidden), etc. I myself was told by my mother that I had some similaries with her brother who died years before I was born.

But for me, geneaology is more a case of I just like learning about people’s lives and how they looked, where they lived and such, imagining what they did all day and what it was like to move across three states to some little prairie town or whatever. I don’t suddenly feel I know myself better or got some gift/ ability from some ancestor I never knew. I feel like I’m pretty much a product of my mom, dad, and God, and that’s it, especially since I did not grow up around a lot of family and we only saw relatives for a few days out of the year.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I came from a troubled family of origin and often didn’t understand the things that were swirling round me and became very angry.

But as I got older and learned more of the family stories, I’ve become more compassionate towards their struggles, and the situations, and in some respects impressed with what they had to overcome.