Suggestions And Items To Consider In Writing Your Personal History

This page of tips and suggestions for writing your family history was found in some miscellaneous files by my dad, we are not even sure of the author.   I like the quote from Job that is used: "Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book!  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!" (Job 19:23).  As family historians, don't we all wish that each of our ancestors had recorded their personal histories and stories to be passed down to future generations.

Suggestions And Items To Consider In Writing Your Personal History

1. Your birth: when, where, parents, surrounding circumstances and conditions.

2. Your childhood: health, diseases, accidents, playmates, trips, associations with your brothers and sisters, unusual happenings, visitors in your home, visits to grandparents, relatives you remember, religion in your home, financial condition of parents.

3. Your brothers and sisters: names, date of birth, place of birth, accomplishments, names of spouses, date and place of marriage, their children.

4. Your school days: schools attended, teachers, courses studied, special activities, associates, achievements, socials, report cards, humorous situations, who or what influenced you to take certain courses or do things you might not otherwise have done.

5. Your activities before, during and between school sessions: vacations, jobs, attendance at church, other church functions, scouting, sports, tasks at home, fun and funny situations.

6. Your courtship and marriage: meeting your spouse, special dates, how the question was popped, marriage plans, the wedding, parties and receptions, gifts, honeymoon, meeting your in-laws, what influenced you most in your choice of spouse.

7. Settling down to married life: your new home, starting housekeeping, bride's biscuits, spats and adjustments, a growing love, making ends meet, joys and sorrows, your mother-in-law, other in-laws.

8. Your vocation: training for your job, promotions, companies you worked for, salaries, associates, achievements, your own business.

9. Your chilren: names, dates and places of birth, health of mother before and after, how father fared, characteristics, habits, smart sayings and doings, growing up, accomplishments, schooling, marriage, vocations, sicknesses, accidents, operations.

10. Your civic and political activities: positions held, services rendered, clubs, fraternities and lodges you have joined.

11. Your church activities: as a young person, through adolescence, churches attended, church positions, church associates, church certificates, answers to prayers, necessity and power of love.

12. Your avocations: sports, home hobbies, dramatic and musical activities, reading habits, genealogy, travels, favorite songs, movies, books, writers, poems, etc...

13. Special celebrations or holidays you remember: Easter, Christmas, national and local holidays, vacations.

14. Your plans and hopes for the future.

15. Your ancestors: your impressions of those you knew personally; a general sketch of those you did not know; father, mother, grandparents, great grandparents, other relatives.

16. Your encouragement and counsel to your descendants: carrying on family traditions and activities; their obligations to their country, church and  family; your suggestions to your progeny and others on honesty, humility, health, diligence, perseverance, thrift, loyalty, kindness, reverence, the Bible and other religious and edifying books; service to fellow-men; your belief regarding God, etc...

Never underestimate the effect you may have on unborn generations in helping them through the trials and tribulations of life by the written word of advice you leave your children, grandchildren,etc.. If you would like them to live upright, honest lives, give them the benefit of your experiences.  Job, of the Old Testament lamented the fact that his words were not written when he said, "Oh, that my words were now written!  Oh that they were printed in a book!  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!" (Job, 19-23).  But they were written, and he then gave his beautiful testimony of the Redeemer which has been used countless times as the text of sermons in both Jewish and the Christian worlds.  Your communications to your descendants must be written.  They will also appreciate your life story as a precious treasure, and bless you all their days for it.

17. Hints on writing your life story: tell your story plainly and with directness; write truthfully of uplifting, refined and honorable occurrences and experiences.  Humor helps to make for easier reading.  If you can give the whys of your decisions and changes in activities it may help others.  Illustrate with as many pictures as possible.  Make several copies, or better still, mimeograph or print and give one to each of your children and grandchildren.  Place copies in local and national libraries and/or historical societies.

Wordless Wednesday: Brothers

Travis & Jason LeMaster, October 2011

You Bought What At The Auction?

October 1st found me at an auction over in Jay County at the Portland 4-H Fairgrounds.  The contents of the general store of Murl May in Salamonia, Indiana, which had been shut up as it was since 1952, were being auctioned off by an auctioneer out of Greenville, Ohio.  Because so many of my relatives had lived their lives in Salamonia and Madison Township, I was hoping there might be some items of interest of the LeMaster, Wehrly, Chew, etc. families.  Plus, I just love going to auctions.

I spent nearly 6 hours at the sale, watching the farm-fresh advertising, parts and other items of local interest go for extremely high prices.  Wandering around the sale items, I located a set of ledger books that appeared to be from the store.  

Flipping through the books, I searched the "L" section for entries regarding my LeMaster relatives, and hit the jackpot.  I found listing for my grandfather, my great-grandfather and my great-great-grandfather, as well as entries for great-uncles, etc.  The auctioneer was a long way away from getting to these tables, but I was definitely going to stick around and see whether or not I could get them.

I managed to obtain a few pieces of local memorabilia from the 4-H fair at a very reasonable price - the type of things that could end up on eBay or in a museum.

The Lon Wehrly listed as a President of the Fair was the son of John P. and Catherine E. (LeMASTERS) WEHRLY, making him a 1st cousin 3 times removed.

By the time the sale came around to the tables with all of the ephemera and the ledger books that I wanted, I had been there almost 6 hours.  I was fortunate enough to obtain a couple of sets of loose ledgers for $ 2, that appeared to be from the same store and mentioned my relatives.

I quickly snapped up several other ledgers at similar prices, but by the time it came around to the large ledgers, someone else had caught on and the bidding war began.  Not wanting to let a piece of family history to get away, I was willing to spend what it took, which in this case turned out to be $50 for the two large books.  Not much more than I might spend on a good genealogy book, I tried to explain to my wife and family who questioned my sanity.

When I finally had a chance to bring them home and take a look at what I had purchased, I realized that not only did I have more than one ledger that mentioned the financial transactions of my relatives from the mid-1920s through the early 1930s, but that the ledgers were not from the store, as I had first believed.  Instead, what I had was the ledger books of the Farmers  Bank of Salamonia.  Indeed, I had the records of deposits and withdrawals, including some copies of cancelled checks from the 1920s.  How cool is that!

What a thrill it was to find the record of my grandfather depositing $1 in a savings account for my uncle, when he was just a baby.  There is a lot of genealogy in these records, as the accounts often mention the names of the parents, etc. as well as showing who endorsed the checks and dates when accounts were closed, etc.  At least one administration of an estate in my LeMaster family has been discovered.

I have yet to begin the process of scanning the relevant pages and adding the information to my family history.  Eventually, these books will probably be donated to the Jay County Historical Society.  I've already contacted them to try and find out more about the history of the bank.  The ledger records go up until 1933, I'm wondering if the bank survived the Depression.