President's Pen - June 2025
Here’s a trick question: What do genealogy and writing have in common? The answer is simple. Our ancestors and descendants depend upon us to do both right! Steven Morrison’s topic – Start Writing: Your Ancestor’s Legacy Depends Upon YOU! – focused on taking the next step in our genealogical evolution: writing about what we have learned and sharing our results with family and, perhaps, an even greater audience.
Steven encouraged us to turn all the piles and files we have amassed over the years into something that our descendants will cherish. There are a multitude of formats that we can use to put our research into a readable form instead of dry charts and forms. What to write? A biographical sketch or surname book? A compiled genealogy or lineage research? How about a collection of family stories? Whichever format we choose, we need to keep in mind that what we write must pass the “sniff” test. We must show proof that what we have written is “the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Quality writing encompasses many facets. In addition to all the factual data that we have worked so diligently to collect, we need to include accurate source citations in the form of footnotes or endnotes to add veracity to our writing. The easiest way to do this is to record our sources as we go along, and whenever possible, we need to cite original material as proof of our work.
My favorite tip from Steven was to create a personal timeline about the individual or family group we are planning to write about so that important records aren’t overlooked. By filling in the information as we go along, we quickly see where we need to find documents, maps, census records, photographs, etc. to build the framework of our story. Be sure to include a column for listing the sources that will support our genealogical research and our writing. Remember, “genealogy without correct source citations is mythology.”
On a personal note, to date all my genealogical writing has been more of a private journey, rather than a desire to publish my stories in a professional journal. However, I now see how even my stories should include references to where I found all my information so that future generations will know that what they are reading is supported by fact and not fancy.
Writing our family stories is a rewarding endeavor, and if we don’t do it, who will?