Can Genealogy Be Found in Boxes?

©Copyright 2009 Caroline Pointer.

Now, what else do you have around the house?  No, not for a garage sale.  I mean genealogy "stuff".  You know.  Your grandparent's marriage license.  Perhaps a family Bible that [Gasp!] has been written in.  [That's actually a good thing, and  I'll tell you why later.  You know.  Because I'm the genealogist. That's why. *wink*]

Today's the day you find all those items that pertain to your family.  I would say you're house cleaning, but you're not.  [Because who would want to do that? *snort*]  The fact is you might [if you're lucky] have quite a bit of a mess on you're hands.  Or your dining room table.  Or wherever you might be piling all this stuff.  These clues.  These artifacts that will help to reveal your family story.

So get one [or more] of those plastic tubs, or a box, or a laundry basket.  Put it on the dining room table.  And "go to town".  You'll be surprised how one item will lead to 5 items, which will lead to ten items.  And before you know it, you'll have a bunch of rabbits [Oops. I mean family artifacts.] on your hands.  Then you'll have a bunch of ancestors on your hands.  [See, I told you they multiply like rabbits.]

Don't believe me?  Try it out for yourself.  Below is just a small sampling of family artifacts that you're looking for.  In other words, if you find something that you think tells something about your family and it's not on the list , then put it in the tub/basket/box.  Simple, right?

• Birth, marriage, and death documents
• Land documents
• Photos
• Family Bible(s)
• Quilts, baby blankets, and the like
• Obituaries, funeral programs
• Old newspapers, newspaper clippings
• Graduation announcements, programs
• Report cards, yearbooks
• Wills
• Old letters, notes, postcards
• Tickets and programs to plays, sporting events, etc.

Basically, empty out all those boxes of family stuff that no one else in your family wanted in their garage or attic.  [Oops, I mean the family stuff that you've inherited.]  It's time to go through them.  Inside of them just waiting to be found is your family story.  What are you waiting for?

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©Copyright Caroline Pointer 2009.

Tell me [and everyone else] what you found in comments below.  Was there something you didn't know you had?  Was there something that you can't identify, but you know it belonged to your Great-Aunt Bernice?  Was there something that was just plain odd?

Here.  I'll go first.

Here's something I didn't know I had.  After my Dad passed away, I found it in his jewelry box that was inside a cardboard box of some of his things.  His father's [my grandfather's] World War I Victory Medal.  Huh.  I never even knew that he'd been in WWI.  Then I found a photo of him in his WWI uniform in a plastic tub of my parent's stuff.  So then, I hunted down his story.  My family story.

So yes, genealogy [and ancestors and family history and family stories] can be found in boxes.

~Caroline

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