Hi all. I apologize ahead of time to those who will get more than one copy
of this but thought it was important enough for all. I just attended the
funeral of my 78 year old aunt. She was the self-appointed guardian of all
family info and she guarded it well. I've been doing research for almost
20 years and she absolutely refused to let me have access to my
grandmother's photos, etc. Yesterday, my father, who inherited from his
sister, gave me access to this material. I found my grandfather's death
certificate and the sermon read at his funeral, my grandmother's birth
certificate, wedding certificate, death certificate, obituaries and family
letters, church membership records, a history written in 1932 that confirms
the royal line of one of my families and tells me that my Rodgers ancestor
was the "tallest man in England in his day and had a huge head", school
reports for my aunts and uncles (now deceased), I could go on and on. But
what's important is this: I now have photos- hundreds of them from my
gggrandmother, Margaret McConahy and gggrandfather, George Van Eman Morrow,
down to my own son. So what's wrong? Many of then aren't labeled- some of
them were hanging in a damp basement, some are falling apart, some glued to
the album, etc . I have a photo of three teenagers that is just marked
"Morrow". Now I think it is my grgrandmother and her siblings but ?
Sadly the older family members are mostly gone and I don't know if they
will ever be identified.
So, I am begging all of you- share the photos, etc. now, sit down with the
family members and mark them - get your own info in order so that 100 years
from now, our descendants aren't lamenting the loss of family info. You
can bet that within the next few weeks, all of my photos will be labeled.
and copies of these photos made and shared with my cousins.
Thanks for listening and I hope this saves at least one photo.
Donna