I remember years ago when I started my genealogy research and had heard the story from my grandfather how he had ran away from home at 16 to my hometown back in 1910. I also knew from him why, although I did verify it several years ago from my grandfather's brother's kid. But my question was why did he run to my hometown? Why not somewhere else? Which led me to where would I run away to, if I were 16 back then? I'd run to where I either had extended family or friends. I found my answers and much more. However, still don't know how my grandparents met!! Another great piece.
There is definitely an art to getting inside the heads of the people who left us their stories. That's why I always document the stories (if I can) and see if there are ways to verify them.
But asking "why" is always the key to learning more!
My favorite thing to do is ask “why?” and “how come?” There have been some interesting family lores that on the surface are fun or funny and almost always possible, but not really probable. Tracking down the truth with critical thinking is a mystery I enjoy. Did my great grand uncle come to Minnesota’s cold St. Paul instead of California’s warm São Paulo die to language barrier issues? Funny to consider, but through good research, I learned otherwise.
Your point about documenting the untruths so that future researchers don’t make the same mistake is one we can all do better at.
I remember years ago when I started my genealogy research and had heard the story from my grandfather how he had ran away from home at 16 to my hometown back in 1910. I also knew from him why, although I did verify it several years ago from my grandfather's brother's kid. But my question was why did he run to my hometown? Why not somewhere else? Which led me to where would I run away to, if I were 16 back then? I'd run to where I either had extended family or friends. I found my answers and much more. However, still don't know how my grandparents met!! Another great piece.
There is definitely an art to getting inside the heads of the people who left us their stories. That's why I always document the stories (if I can) and see if there are ways to verify them.
But asking "why" is always the key to learning more!
My favorite thing to do is ask “why?” and “how come?” There have been some interesting family lores that on the surface are fun or funny and almost always possible, but not really probable. Tracking down the truth with critical thinking is a mystery I enjoy. Did my great grand uncle come to Minnesota’s cold St. Paul instead of California’s warm São Paulo die to language barrier issues? Funny to consider, but through good research, I learned otherwise.
Your point about documenting the untruths so that future researchers don’t make the same mistake is one we can all do better at.