LAWS OF GENEALOGY
I used to publish a newsletter for the Clan Colquhoun Association of Canada. I would like to share with you a couple of items from past newsletters.
LAWS OF GENEALOGY
The document containing evidence of the missing link in your research invariably will be lost due to fire, flood or war.
The keeper of the vital records you need will just have been recently insulted by another genealogist.
Your Great-Great-Grandfather's obituary states that he died, leaving no issue of record.
The town clerk you wrote to in desperation, and finally convinced t give you the information you need, can't write legibly, and doesn't have a copying machine.
The will you need is in the safe on board the "Titanic".
The spelling of your European ancestor's name bears no relationship to it's current spelling or pronunciation.
That ancient photograph of four relatives, one of whom is your progenitor carries the names of the other three.
Copies of old newspapers have holes which occur only on last names.
No one in your family tree ever did anything noteworthy, always rented property, was never sued, and was never named in wills.
You learned that great-Aunt Matilda's executor just sold her life's collection of family genealogical materials to a flea market dealer somewhere in New York City.
Yours is the only last name not found among the 3 billion in the world famous Mormon Archives in Salt Lake City.
Ink fades and paper deteriorates at a rate adversely proportional to the value of the data recorded.
The 37-volume, sixteen-thousand-paged history of your country of origin isn't indexed.
The critical link in your family tree is named "Smith".
A Family Tree of 10 Generations
1024 g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandparents
512 g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandparents
256 g-g-g-g-g-g-grandparents
128 g-g-g-g-g-grandparents
64 g-g-g-g-grandparents
32 g-g-g-grandparents
16 g-g-grandparents
8 g-grandparents
4 grandparents
2 parents
1 child
The generation Totem Pole accomplishes it's purpose. It provides unity with the past and through the unity, the child's identity both as a human being and as an inhabitant of a particular place in the past and present.
Not only do the ancestors of the child increase when stepping into the past, but the descendants of the child also increase when stepping into the future.
GENEALOGYFEVER
Is a deadly and infectious disease. The symptoms are: Newspapers stuffed in pockets and files;heart palpitations at the site of gravestones and old trunks filled with letters; bloodshot eyes from excessive microfilm exposure; erratic speech patterns punctuated with pilgrims and princes; cold sweat upon arrival of the daily mail.
This disease is incurable.
Have A Nice Day !
Owen Calhoun
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Re: LAWS OF GENEALOGY
barbara 9/11/04
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11/05/00
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11/06/00
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Re: LAWS OF GENEALOGY
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Re: LAWS OF GENEALOGY
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