Fabulous Fayre
By Sherlene Hall Bartholomew

Sometimes we look on genealogy as a vertical endeavor—an exercise linking grandparents in one straight chain, as far as back as we can get to Adam and his proverbial apple.  This skinny approach to family history needs broadening that is appropriate to this season of gathering to feast.  As we this year clear away what is left of our holiday turkey, let’s cover our tables with bounty of a non-fat, but still horizontal sort (as in “Let your soul delight in fatness” Isaiah 55:1-2).  How about a spread of family group records to include not only our ancestors, but also their brothers, sisters, and spouses, as well as their children and even theirs!

Enticed!

I remember the year my parents invited their seven children and, of course, all grandchildren to come from sundry places we had scattered to celebrate Thanksgiving in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, home of some of our ancestors.  It was one more of my mother’s creative approaches, enticing my father to places where she wanted to do family research.  We, their posterity, not only relished a traditional meal much like that our ancestors might have enjoyed, but also caught the memorable scent and flavor of fall in the Keystone State.  (I’ve heard that urban sprawl has overtaken even Lancaster County, but if you leave the beaten track you can still find scenes that hearken back to an earlier century.)  As we watched traditional horses and buggies retrace colonial paths and admired rich farmland surrounding sturdy multi-generation homes, with their neat barns, we began to understand how hard it must have been for our people to leave that green-pastured place for the comparatively arid West.

It was, however, only direct-line ancestors I thought of, as I visited craft and quilt fairs and purchased books at local gift shops about everything from religions to recipes said to be part of the lives of original settlers.  I’m chagrined now that I did not stop to think that my ancestors were perhaps only a small part of those who traveled west.  It did not cross my mind that I might have cousins still living there who might have been as curious about a Mormon relative like me, as I was to learn more about the Mennonites and Amish.  Why, in my deep fascination with ancestors, did I overlook the living legacy they left behind?  Next time I’ll search current directories for same-line names and do a little correspondence, ahead of time.  Maybe I can then also enjoy learning more about our living family history, while visiting ancestral places.

“Light on a Hill”

Next time I’ll have some new surnames to look for, as I only recently deduced that my ancestor Hannah Hall Staley’s parents were James A. Hall and Keziah Kain.  An internet search for Kain genealogy turned up wonderful work by Frank L. Light, of Ohio, whose posted records told much about Keziah’s ancestry, including new-to-me Weaver and Light lines.  After a little correspondence, Frank told me he was mailing some information that might be of interest.

In no time at all, I got a thick package of documents and photos that I opened with as much excitement as a child at Christmas.  Frank even included a table of contents with a long list of documents that included such treasures as photos of the beautiful, still-standing stone farmhouse my ancestor Peter Light built, of Peter’s gravestone, and of fields his father Jacob and brother John (Frank’s ancestor) owned in Conestoga Valley, along with copies of land deeds, maps, and other important documents. 

My newly-discovered Light cousin even explained the difference between the Conestoga wagons our ancestors used in Pennsylvania and the prairie schooners my Mormon pioneers used to cross the plains.  As you can see, doing genealogy is one sure way to meet the nicest people!

“Bough . . . over the wall” (Gen. 49:22)

I admit that life as an avid genealogist isn’t always that exciting.  Sometimes “The Search” seems like a lot of hard work, with few results.  Every now and then I think my kin deserve to stay in spirit prison, for all the help they are.  I guess they know full well when I’ve about had it, because then I start to hear chains rattle.

Last week, for example, while I was feverishly deleting political ads from my e-box, I almost junked one with an address I’d never seen before.  I brought it up, just to make sure, and there before me was one lovely, living cousin – from over the ocean, no less:

Hello,

My name is Suzanne.  I live in England. I have been researching my family tree and came across your fascinating articles in Meridian. (No “junk mail,” this!)

Imagine my surprise when I realized that my third great-grandparents are your ancestors Elizabeth Shenton and Thomas Burdett

… I read in your article that you once visited Wigston Magna to see the Framework Knitters College in Bushloe End.  My family’s traditional home was about four doors from that cottage.  In fact, my uncle Peter, on my father’s side, is curator at the cottage and possibly even showed you around!

I have quite a lot of information on the Burdett family and your English relatives, many of whom are still living here in southern England.

I would love to hear from you, as until this morning I had no idea I had relatives in America! I very much look forward to hearing from you.

Suzanne

One guess how many split seconds it took to answer that.  Since then we have kept the ‘net humming, trading information and photos, so that I feel we already know each other as dear cousins. 

The first time I looked at a photo of Suzanne’s family, I was bowled over at the likeness of her son and my grandson Ethan, when they were the same ages.  Everybody in the family who has seen it thinks they could be identical twins!  I think Suzanne looks like she could be a sister to my lovely nieces, Erin and Emily, and their mother said she, too, saw a lot of family resemblance.

Suzanne, husband Martin and children Hannah and Thomas

Yesterday I forwarded Suzanne a photo attachment of my grandmother, Florence Almina Tracy, as a young girl, along with a short bio I once wrote about her:

Florence Almina Tracy Hall, whose mother was a Burdett

Suzanne wrote back that when her mother Dorothy saw it begin to fill the screen, “Shivers went down her spine, as it was like looking at a picture of herself with a wig on (Mum has always had short hair).  Mum is coming to spend a few days with us next week.  She has been digging out photos of her when she was young.  When she arrives, I will spend some time scanning them in and let you see if you think the similarity is as strong.”

Perhaps most fun of all was seeing photos of Suzanne’s family dressed up for a recent wedding.  In Suzanne’s words:

The second picture may seem a bit odd, but is a picture of my Mum Dorothy, my brother David and myself at a recent wedding. The theme of the whole wedding was “medieval,” and these photos were taken the day before the wedding at a Medieval Fayre. I thought you may like to see how our ancestors may have looked in medieval times.  The final picture is of my Hannah & Thomas at the same wedding. I thought they might make you smile!

Suzanne, far right, with her brother David and mother Dorothy

Suzanne’s children Hannah and Thomas, dressed as their ancestors

We also discovered that Suzanne’s ancestor Mary Ann Burdett was the youngest sister (b. 1840) of my ancestor, Thomas Jr. (b. 1828).  Suzanne had read my account of doing a radius search before finding the 1841 census that listed Thomas as age thirteen and Mary Ann as an infant, in a workhouse with their parents and other siblings younger than Thomas.  What misery and poverty our ancestors shared at that time of widespread area depression, as compared with joys Suzanne and I experience, sending notes in seconds, via our home computers and the ‘net, while forwarding photos with speed only made possible with digital cameras! 

What fun we’ve had, sharing some of our educational and family experiences, as descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth on different sides of the ocean!  Writes Suzanne:

It was great to hear about your family and what you have all been doing. I find it fascinating that for such a long time my ancestors never moved anywhere and then suddenly some of them up and left for America. As far as I am aware my branch remained followers of the Anglican faith. My family are still very active within our local Church.

Had either of us been content with only linear views of family history, Suzanne and I might never have found each other as cousins.  Nor would we have enjoyed Frank’s rich contribution to our family history.  So here’s to the broad view of family history, with thanksgiving this season for its festivities, feasting, and fabulous “fayres.”