The other night John and I were out to dinner with long time friends. One of the couples, John and Jill Carter we have known for many years, so long that we actually know their family history and we have a common ancestor, William Furlsbury Carter. I began telling them about some recent information I had found about the Carter family when the other couple, Rick and Carolyn Evans became interested as well. That’s why I was telling them about a something new I had recently found out. We all know that for the most part, family history can be an instant turn off, but Carolyn was very intense about wanting to make certain she had tracked the story correctly and that these were people that had settled in Provo, Utah. After a few volley of questions we discovered that she was also a descendant of this same family, only through a different sibling, Eliza Ann Carter. What’s the likely hood of that happening?
Eliza Ann Carter Snow has always been one of my hero’s because she brought Hannah Carter, daughter of Richard and Hannah Parker Carter across the plains after her parents died. It was wonderful to actually be able to hug one of Eliza’s progenitors and thank them for Eliza’s great kindness.
I can learn so much from this simple experience about family history.
· If you know who your people are, you’re bound to find others that are related to you
· Nothing is a coincidence, it turns out that Eliza Ann’s birthday was the next day. She wanted us to celebrate her. At least that’s what I think
· Don’t be afraid to tell stories about your ancestry, you never know what you might learn in a simple setting
Challenge: Talk to someone you know about an ancestor and see if you have a connection. Who knows where it will lead you.
That's a cool story. I probably need to learn more about my ancestors so I can actually put the story with the right person.
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