Beyond Fiction

Well, it took a little bit but I finally figured out this WordPress software. I am very pleased to announce the beginning of the Beyond Fiction weblog!

Why such a title? Well, I thought about naming it “Footprints” but that is the name of my newsletter (which I hope to get back into publication soon!). I thought of many other names but this name won out. Strangely enough, I asked my son about 6 or 7 years ago to come up with a name for my email address and he just pulled “Beyond Fiction” out of the blue! I have used it as an email address for many different things but today it will be the title of my blog. When you think about it, it’s a pretty good title for a genealogy blog. What is “Beyond Fiction”, beyond fiction would seem to be the truth but is that really what it is? It could be even stranger than fiction. If you have been doing genealogy very long, you will know where I am coming from when I say that sometimes in your research distinguishing between the truth and fiction is very hard to do. When you have an uncle who says that your grandfather was married once before he married your grandmother but that his first wife died while giving birth to their first child and that same uncle says that he has a half-brother running around somewhere but only has a name to give you. You wonder if maybe he is just a little confused. You investigate but find nothing but dead ends and then one day, unexpectedly, you run across someone with a name similar to what he said was his half-brother’s. You investigate and lo and behold you have found that lost brother! Now, does that mean that the story about the first wife is true also? You see, sometimes you don’t know.

This same uncle has told me stories of my grandfather playing baseball with Babe Ruth and starring in a movie with Hoot Gibson! How much of this is true? You find that the line between truth and fiction is very fragile in genealogy. Don’t box yourself in to a certain way of thinking. Your ancestors always have a way of throwing a monkey wrench into the works!

Well, I won’t bug you anymore for today. For those who have stumbled upon this blog, I want to say “Welcome, come on in and make yourself at home!” I hope that this will be something everyone will enjoy reading!

Thanks,

Ken Spangler