My Family Tree

I am secretly a huge fan of the television show "Who Do You Think You Are." I know those celebrities probably didn't do any work to trace their own genealogical line, but it's still neat to hear someone else's stories about how their triple great so-and-so was a civil war hero. This inspired me to do some research into my own genealogical line which got me talking to my grandmother.

The Bryson family documents ~everything~. And people just don't write letters like they used to (the salutation from one funeral home director: I hope to always remain respectfully yours, {insert name here}). I found my parents wedding invitation, several of my cousin's birth announcements, receipts from funeral homes from the early 20th century, and copies of birth certificates form the late 19th century. I remember one of my aunts putting together a family tree when I was younger and it looks like she has continued to document our heritage. I feel like there is very little that I'm going to find that hasn't already been found.

However, my mother doesn't know very much about her family. She only knows the stories that have been told to her by her father which I took and ran with. My grandfather & his brother lost their father when they were very young. Their mother remarried a man and the children took on his name, although not legally. This makes it very difficult to find any information about them. Their mother died when my grandfather was around 13 and his brother was 9. From that point, my mom tells me, they were orphans, going from family member to family member throughout their childhood. But there is so much more to find out about this family! Where they came from, what they did, the people they allowed to board in their home. I don't have a lot of experience and most of the time don't have a clue what I'm doing but it's kind of fun to research.