Family historian, designer, and author of The Record Keeper: The Unfolding of a Family Secret in the Age of Genetic Genealogy

Category: Records

5 Ways to Interview Your (Living) Relatives
5 Ways to Interview Your (Living) Relatives

Genealogists often focus on deceased ancestors, overlooking the importance of recording stories from living relatives. Interviewing family members can be done in various ways: casual conversations, prompted journals, or engaging in shared activities. Focus sessions on specific life areas for deeper insights. Remember to document their experiences and also share your own life for future generations.

Interview Your Dead Relatives: Using Your Senses to Unlock Your Ancestors’ Stories
Interview Your Dead Relatives: Using Your Senses to Unlock Your Ancestors’ Stories

Exploring family history can extend beyond genealogy to amateur anthropology by using the senses to connect with ancestors’ lives—through touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. By immersing in their world using artifacts, photos, recordings, and even replicating their recipes and gardening habits, one can gain a deeper, empathetic understanding of their heritage.

Yours Very Sincerely, Sallie: An 1898 Love Letter from Coosa Creek, Georgia
Yours Very Sincerely, Sallie: An 1898 Love Letter from Coosa Creek, Georgia

The post shares a transcribed love letter from the author’s great-grandmother, Sallie Gillespie, to William Bowers from 1898 Georgia. Sallie expresses her affection for William and details some local happenings. The couple married later that year and had six children. The author reflects on this family history, connecting it to their own relatives and seeking to learn more about the people mentioned in the letter.

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