Some of us start our genealogy search to find the heroes in our family tree. Others look for the horse thief – because we are more likely to find newspaper reports, court proceedings and prison records. Most of us fail on both counts. We look at census records, birth and death records and come away with only a superficial knowledge of what our ancestors lived through.
Carol Darrow
In the 1900s, we sometimes find newspaper reports of grampa as a 22-year-old arrested for drunk driving. We may find a teenage son who shot his father for habitually beating up his mother. Earlier newspapers in the 1800s may not have given us that information. Do you imagine that it didn’t happen back then?
The first recorded divorce on the American continent occurred in 1639 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony when Mrs. James Luxford applied to the court for a divorce because James already had a wife.
The magistrate granted the divorce, seized James’ property and awarded it to his wife and banished James back to England.
This brief account leaves some questions unanswered. Was the first wife back in England? How did the second wife find out about the first wife? Did she fear that she would be left destitute if she was granted the divorce? Did the tiny community urge her to seek the divorce?
From the earliest history of humanity, people have lived “real” lives. They have faced hardship, war, disaster, humanity and inhumanity at the hands of their fellow human beings. They have sent their children into the world with hope for their success and dealt with disasters of every type. As a researcher, it is your duty to consider how lives are lived. Avoid painting a rosy picture and try to develop a clear image of the struggles and triumphs of your ancestors.
~ Carol Cooke Darrow is a professional genealogist who will be teaching Beginning Genealogy online on August 8, 10 am – noon. Go to www.cogensoc.us to register for this free ZOOM class.