Preserving Family History for Future Generations
Genealogy is all about preservation: preservation of family lineage; preservation of facts; preservation of documents; preservation of photographs; preservation of memories; preservation of stories; preservation of relationships; preservation of family treasures.
At some point things become lost; people die; memories fade; someone with no emotional connection or without resources gets rid of things; sometimes people don’t recognize the importance of documents or items; people move and things simply disappear; sometimes there is no room for things; distance creates barriers; values change. It’s so very unfortunate and discouraging when these items are lost forever.
We are who we are today because of the past. Times change but understanding what has happened and what our ancestors went through and what they deemed important can help us form connections with our relatives and ancestors and further understand our heritage.
It is always a pleasure to discover some of those connections with the past.
Gary’s grandmother, Anna Mae Coble, gave his family a framed collection of family photos with a handwritten account identifying each photograph on the back, providing some of the family history, and showing how the spelling of the name has changed. This framed treasure is hanging on the wall of John and Georgene Coble’s house.
On our visit to Billings, Montana to visit Gary’s parents in July 2022, Georgene also shared a couple of items from her side of the family. Georgene will be 90 in April so these items have been meticulously preserved and are in excellent condition. They will definitely be special items to be passed down to her great granddaughter, Emmy. The basket belonged to Emmy’s 3rd great grandmother (who Georgene called Mammy). She would regularly take it on the trolley so it got a lot of use. The child sized rocking chair belong to Emmy’s 3rd great grand-aunt Sadie. Aunt Sadie lived to be 103.
These items are truly priceless and a special link to the past.
The handwriting is so beautiful it is calligraphy!