Atw June Web Final

Northeast North Carolina Family History
SUMMER!!
By: Irene Hampton
Last month I wrote of how even some psychologists have been converted to the importance of family history as a tool to strengthen children’s ability to deal with
the trials that eventually come in life. When and where to obtain and then pass on such information can be answered many ways, the first of which is summer!
The season of graduations, weddings, family vacations and reunions is upon us. In the summer of 2006 our family drove to Las Vegas to visit one son and then
up to the Canadian province of Saskatchewan for a family reunion. We celebrated the 100th anniversary of my grandparents farm as it was officially recognized
as a Centennial Farm. Our youngest son was a captive audience as we shared stories and memories across thousands of miles. During an earlier reunion, I had
pushed a cousin to gather the children of those grandparents (our aunts and uncles) in a panel discussion of growing up from the 1920’s through the 1940’s on a
rural Canadian farm. There was a 25 year difference between the 11 siblings, and one of my favorite moments was the horror on one aunt’s face as her younger
brothers described stealing chickens and having a friendly neighbor cook them. Thankfully their life of crime ended there. The years stretching between the
brothers and sisters led them down very different paths. One became a nurse, another an artist, one brother became the president of a college . Most remained
farmers and many of the sisters became homemakers after they married but wielded influence in their communities across three Canadian provinces.
The trials and triumphs of struggling through the depression and the Dirty Thirties shaped my mother and her siblings. They were industrious and very self-sufficient.
The girls’ skill in sewing made them the envy of their classmates. As the oldest child, my mother recounted snaring gophers whose pelts became a coat
for a baby brother. When my husband spoke of his fondness for a Davy Crockett cap he had as a boy, she promptly found a thrift store fur coat and turned it
into a coonskin style cap for our son. One of my favorite memories of my mother’s inventiveness was her desire to remove the heavy snows from our one story
roof. Mom was taken out of school in the eighth grade to help at home. She was ever inventive and purchased a lengthy pole, attached a cookie sheet to the
end and created her perfect snow removal tool. Perhaps inspired by her own mother, who told stories of putting her firstborn in the back of a wagon to go out
with the men to fight a prairie grass fire, there is a way to resolve every problem!
With all the technology at our disposal today, almost anyone can permanently record and share interviews with family members. At the gatherings so many will
be attending this summer, make a point to ask open ended questions - questions that need more than a yes or no answer. During the two decades we lived here
before my husband’s grandmother’s death, I never thought to ask her how she and her husband met.
I was surprised to find that her children didn’t know either and that wonderful piece of family history
is now lost forever. SO, what would you like to know? What would you like future generations to
know about you - what has made you who you are? What do you wish you had asked about people
who are no longer here? Ask those questions and then share, discuss, laugh and enjoy!
Next time I’ll delve into some of the specifics about research to help you on your quest to learn about
your family history.
Irene Hampton earned a Certificate in Genealogy from Brigham Young University and worked as the
Genealogical/Local history Researcher for the Pasquotank-Camden Library for over 12 years. She has
also abstracted and published “Widow’s Years Provisions, 1881-1899, PasquotankCounty, North
Carolina”; “1840 Currituck, North Carolina Federal Census” and “Record of Marriages, Book A
(1851-1867) Currituck County, North Carolina”.
You may contact her at nencfamilyhistory@gmail.com.
26 Albemarle Tradewinds June 2015 albemarletradewinds.com