It was a story that captured my attention. A young man going off to seek his fortune after his family was devastated by the loss of one of their members, the wife and mother. Setting off to seek his place in the world was a time honoured rite of passage; coming back to find the family gone not how the scenario normally played out.
But how do I know what the young man, Alexander Mathison, did after that? It's in the copies of his letters which I have. Letters which he wrote to his sister Margaret when they finally connected again in 1895 after 40 years. They had a lot of catching up to do.
I pulled the letters out to see if there was anything written about my great grandmother, Lottie Tripp, as she was part of this Mathison clan. Her name appeared but so did those of other people. Margaret must have asked Alexander about what he remember of their family background hoping that as the eldest child he knew more. There are names to follow up on and explanations of family connections which require careful interpretation.
I've only skimmed the first letter so far. There are others. It makes me wonder what other nuggets of information I will find. It also reminds me that I have spent years amassing documents about my ancestors. I'm good at the finding part, not so good at the filing part and, obviously, not that great with the analysis and planning for next steps part. I need to remedy that because, as I look through my amassed information for stories to tell, there is sure to be more untapped genealogical treasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment