Beyond Fiction

Well, I’ve been wanting to get back to writing articles for the Carnival of Genealogy but this one is a really hard one to write for. The current theme is “If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why?”

My question would be “Why just four?” but I know the answer would be because you have to draw the line somewhere! So, who do I choose? Well, after much debate I decided I would choose one person from each of my grandparent’s lines. That would be one from the Spangler, one from the Gamble, one from the Forbes and one from the Stevensons. Now, who will that be? It’s so hard to choose just one! OK, OK, I’ll try!

On my Spangler side, I would probably choose Gideon Spangler. He is my 4th-great-grandfather. Being as that is my stopping point, I would like to sit down and talk with him and find out more about my Spangler heritage. Of course, I feel this way about everyone of my dead-ends on my tree, however I would want to start here because I really don’t know much of anything about my Spangler relatives! I never knew my grandfather or any of his relatives and my dad never talked about his family. This side of the family is like a great big mystery. What better place to start than at Gideon?

On my Gamble side it would have to be my grandmother, Ora Elizabeth (Gamble) Spangler. She’s the only grandmother I ever knew and it would be so nice to see her again. She had a mean streak but she was more of a loving and caring person to me. I always looked forward to our visits to see her. I believe she was really knowledgeable about her family history. I know she had some very old pictures and really took good care of them!

On my Forbes side, I believe I would love to see my grandfather, George Charles Forbes. I never really got to know him as well as I would have liked to. During the course of my research I have found that he was considered the family historian and loved to talk about the history of the family. It would be nice to confirm the tales of him playing baseball with Babe Ruth or acting in a movie with Hoot Gipson! I believe it would be more interesting to hear him talk about his father and his grandfather and his memories of Wisconsin. Lots of the stories he told his children have been confirmed but there are so many more that I would love to be able to fish out of him!

On my Stevenson side, I believe I would really love to be able to talk to my great-grandmother, Nettie Eudora (Freeman) Stevenson. From letters I have read, she seems to be a very interesting person. It would be nice to sit down and talk with her. I’d love to hear more about how it was growing up in South Carolina and how she came to be in Texas.

I know that it seems so short and sweet but, honestly, in order to keep this blog from becoming a novel I have to cut it short. I’m sure that each and everyone of you who are researching your families know that there would be so many questions to ask your relative of choice. I had so many more I would have loved to included but I had to choose just four. Just being able to have dinner with just one of these relatives would be so wonderful! I can just imagine the information I would gather. Then again, how disappointing it would be to hear them say they didn’t know anything about their past! I think I chose the ones I chose because I know they were genuinely interested in their history or lived in a time when it was important to keep up with family!

Oh, and to verify, I would love to be able to sit down over a meal at THEIR home, eating what they ate and reliving what it was like in their time! Why settle for the same old place I see everyday! I would love to be able to travel back in time.

Honestly, I believe that on any given day I AM able to go back in time with my family members. When you come across an unknown relative on the Internet and they are able to share info with you, it’s almost like you were willed together by those you are researching. Some of the folks I have met on-line have been able to give me such a sense of what life was like for our relatives that I almost feel like I am there! One thing is for sure, when I am dead and gone my work will remain and will help my descendants to know more about their ancestors! That is my main purpose now, preserve what I have and pass it down to trustworthy hands!

That’s it for today! I wish everyone success in their quests! Have a great day!