Grandpa Henderson
Jen Henderson, a freelance writer and family history buff, shares some tips for exploring your family tree.
Father Figures
Growing up in Utah, I remember my Grandpa Henderson, my dad’s dad, telling me that his mother had a Scottish brogue. At first, I thought he was talking about a small dog, like an Irish terrier.
“What the heck is a brogue?” I asked my mom later that night.
“A brogue is an accent. Your great-grandma was from Scotland.”
Sadly, by the time I had the chance to visit the country of my ancestors, Grandpa Henderson had died.
What I really wish is that I’d asked my grandpa more questions about his family and what he remembered about his own mother’s stories about her homeland. What was day-to-day life like? What did she do for fun? What was it like to start a new life in America?
Jen Henderson at Scafell Pike in Scotland
It’s the kind of personal knowledge that not even my dad can tell me, though he has shared with me what he knows. Over the years I’ve pieced together my family’s story, which threads through hundreds of years and more than a dozen countries. I even discovered I’m related to British royalty!
Five Ways to Learn about and Preserve Your Family History
- Interview Your Dad and/or Grandpa.
Father’s Day (or a family reunion) is the perfect time to pay particular attention to the men in your family. Help your kids brainstorm a list of questions. What was it like when grandpa was growing up? What was his favorite toy? An important memory? His best friend? Consider videotaping the conversation so you can have a visual record of your loved one’s voice and personality. - Do Some Research Online Together.
Plug in your dad’s last name in free popular search engines, such as Ancestry.com, RootsWeb.com, or FamilySearch.org and use what you learn to create a family tree with your relatives’ names, countries of origin and other fun facts. - Read, Listen, Watch.
Check out books or videos about the countries connected to your family history and have kids explore them with dad or grandpa. What interesting facts did you learn? Where would you want to visit, if you could?You can even use Google Earth on the computer to take a “virtual” vacation to those places! - Recreate a Family Story.
Identify an interesting historical event that took place during an ancestor’s lifetime and use questions to help bring that person to life.Was she a nurse during a war? What would she have seen or heard? Was he an artist during a revolution? What might he have painted? Encourage your kids to write a story or create artwork based on the event and share it with the family. - Host a Family Culture Day.
August 1 is American Family Day, so why not create a new family tradition that incorporates what you’ve discovered? Cook a dish native to an ancestor’s country or play a game popular during that person’s life. In my house, we make a British breakfast—beans on toast, fried eggs, sausage, skillet mushrooms, sliced tomato, and of course, tea—that celebrates both my and my husband’s joint heritage.
So, what will you do this Father’s Day to learn more about your family history?
Jen Henderson writes about about health, sustainability, and weather safety–when not lost in family history. She also offers writing and family history classes .
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Great Jen! I do love listening to the stories of my grandpa and grandma. They keep on telling the funny stories about the younger years of my dad or mom.It makes me interested to meet our other relatives who live in other places as well. We have a huge family tree.
Great tips, I think the first one is probably the most important, just ASK questions. In my family it has gotten rather interesting in cases where different people gave different answers… !
So true, Leah. We are in Turkey now on vacation and have been peppering my Turkish in-laws with questions. We have also started video-taping the interviews, using Jen’s ideas as the starting point. Interesting to hear how my father-in-iaw’s recollections differ from my mother-in-law’s.
Hey All,
Thanks so much for your responses. Pat, yes, I know. I’ve been meaning to visit Germany to learn about my mother’s side, and you’d think I’d do so soon given my missed opportunity with my grandpa. Ah, but life gets in the way. I’ll have to stop by and see you if I’m ever in Switzerland (right, it is Switzerland).
And Vicki, so good of you to stop by! Yes, those assumptions go both ways. Just yesterday I realized that my mom’s brothers, whom I’ve rarely met, are not so much older than she is. But because she was the youngest of 13, I assumed they were. It’s amazing what we take for granted / don’t learn about just within one generation.
Hey Linda! Thanks! Hope they’re useful!
Great ideas, Jen! Thanks for the tips.
Jen – This is so true! I remember asking my Dad a question about whether someone had lived with his aunt. He looked at me like that was the stupidest question in the world. “Of course he did.” “Daddy,” I told him. “That was in the 1930′s; I wasn’t born yet.” Sometimes you have to dig deep because they assume you know what they know, and that what they know isn’t very interesting. Not true on both counts! Great suggestions!
Fabulous ideas and oh so important to preserve our family histories. What better time to do it than on Father’s Day. My ancestors were Scottish and I am sad to say I have to visit Scotland even though I live in Europe. Just reading this post makes me want to book that flight.