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Mary Penner: Learning about your past is an awesome journey

By Mary Penner
Thursday, February 21, 2008

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I remember a "Frank & Ernest" cartoon from years ago in which Frank is sitting in an office and there's a large sign on the wall that says "Genealogy Service — Your Family History Traced."

Frank leans in toward the genealogist sitting behind the desk and says, "I just want to know, who do I blame?"

Good question, Frank. I think the same thing sometimes when I watch "Antiques Roadshow" and see these people with incredible family heirlooms handed down from their ancestors.

"Oh, yes," someone will say, "my fourth great-grandfather was an ambassador to Denmark and the king gave him this original Rembrandt drawing as a gift."

Or, "My ancestor was a wealthy businessman in New York. He bought five Tiffany lamps for the family mansion and his wife had all her jewelry made in France and Russia."

Me? I have practically nothing in the way of family heirlooms. Most of my ancestors before 1900 couldn't even write their own names — fat chance any of those poor, illiterate farmers would acquire expensive doo-dads.

So, I guess I can blame the whole collective lot, on both sides, for failing to pass on priceless heirlooms to me.

On the other hand, even though my ancestors didn't hand down any original artwork or expensive jewelry, they gave me something far more valuable — they gave me, well, me, and my parents, my siblings and my daughter.

Without that random chain of events, that joining of couple after couple, century after century, my immediate family clan wouldn't be here today.

OK, I can give them credit for propagation, but couldn't someone, somewhere along the line have married into a taller family, so that I could be a little taller than 5-foot-nothing?

Aside from the lack of family heirlooms and tall genes, perhaps, the better question than whom do I blame is whom do I thank?

I can thank all of my ancestors, from the first ones to step on North American soil in the 1630s right down to my own grandparents. Learning about the lives they led has been, and continues to be, an awesome journey.

My ancestors have deepened my knowledge of history; they've influenced my travel with all those visits to ancestral stomping grounds; and they've enabled me to become a part of a vast community of fantastic family history researchers.

My pursuit of their sometimes-elusive and colorful pasts has morphed from an engaging pastime into a profession that I love — researching, writing and speaking about genealogy every chance I get.

So, in my final column for The Albuquerque Tribune, I owe many thanks to all of my ancestors. My gratitude also extends The Tribune for giving me the opportunity to share my love for genealogy every week.

Thanks, also, to all my column readers. I appreciate all the e-mails I have received from genealogy enthusiasts across the country.

When The Tribune ceases publication Saturday, it's like the end of a generation, just as generations in our family trees eventually die out. But a new generation always rises to take its place. Every ending is really a beginning.

Even though Lineage Lessons has been hushed for now, please visit my Web site, marypenner.com, for updates on my other genealogy writings. Thanks again to all.