Is genealogy a Fill-in-the-blank hobby?

Question

I was born curious. At twelve years of age, my curiosity took the form of "Where did I come from?" I peppered my grandmother with questions about how she came from Finland to America.I asked my father about his grandparents in Arkansas. I discovered the Family Tree chart and a new hobby was born: Fill in the Blanks!

32 years later a car accident created months of enforced quiet time, and I picked up where I left off - filling the blanks on my family tree. When I found where a couple was married, and couldn't find where they were born, I itched to fill-in-the-blanks, so I put the same location for birth as I found for marriage. It felt so good to look at a form and see all the lines filled in.

Now, I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I consider how my enthusiasm led me to make up facts for my ancestors. How often does a story begin with "it seemed like a good idea at the time"!

Three years later, my mother and I took a six week course in basic genealogy, and my passion for sources was born.That was 26 years ago, and I still enjoy a good fill-in-blanks session -- only now every answer must be tied to a document, preferably one created at the time of the event, such as a birth certificate or christening entry in church records. The satisfaction of seeing all those blanks filled in is even better for being harder won.

Does this ring a bell with anyone else, or was my experience unique? Did you begin your family tree with the guidance of an experienced genealogist, or were you the first in your family to explore your ancestry?

Comments

Certainly judging from the number of totally fictitious parents and dates given to people, lots of people consider genealogy fill in the blanks. "Genealogy abhors a vacuum." Those blanks should be looked on as a challenge. I have some fifty year old blanks on my family group sheets. I poke at them every now and again. I just found my great great grandmothers second marriage. It popped up out of nowhere.

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Very right on Anne!

I check on my old blanks too, and WikiTree has been wonderful for filling in many I didn't even know existed until I found them here.

I almost pity future genealogists who will have so many documented trees, and miss the joy of the hunt and discovery.

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The question should be.

Is Genealogy a Fill-in-the-blank hobby or more of a Jig-saw puzzle or a combination of both?

Fill in the right blanks leads to more blanks to fill and better answers.

Fit the correct pieces together and you see a big beautiful picture.

Me. I like Jig-saw puzzles better. Never was good with words.

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So true Chris! I've also met people who compare genealogy to the old board game "Clue".

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I got my passion for genealogy from my grandfather.  I have never seen genealogy as a fill in the blanks hobby, but a treasure hunt. Each bit of  information is a treasure and only inspires me to find more! Those nuggets are getting harder and harder to find as I go back, so I satisfy my treasure hunting urge by working on projects within my scope of interest!

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Oh yes Terry - a treasure hunt is a great simile.

"Each bit of  information is a treasure and only inspires me to find more!"

You see the heart of the matter - and why genealogy is so 'addicting'.

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Genealogy is a jig-saw puzzle where you have to go out and find the pieces!

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Laughing out loud, Jack.

So true:)

Answer 1

I used to think it was like being one of my favorite crime detective novels that I love so well!  It is great to think of it as fill in the blanks as well.  When I first saw the heading before I read it, I thought, "Oh please do not let this be another diatribe about why is everything not instant here on WikiTree!"  And I was so pleased to see that it is all about the process that we each have embraced.  

Filling in those blanks is a hard won victory and not remotely an instant process.  But gosh, it is so very rewarding and fulfilling when you can add value to a person's life history along with all the others working on it together.  I really love what we do here together and want to keep doing this up until the day I die!

Answer 2

I was working on the computer one night and decided to take a break from the complex spreadsheet I was dealing with.  So I just started putting in our surnames to see what came up.  

I literally found family in that first session I never knew existed.  Being an only child from a small family, finding family is a big deal!   (I married into a large family which is lots of fun!)

I was fortunate to fall into the hands of people who were not only experienced at genealogy but some are professors and historians.

They taught me that if you see competing versions of the same story to make sure to document both versions with its supporting data.  

I still do that today.  

I enjoy doing the research and for every blank you fill in it opens up more to the point that one line is back into the 1400s and I am working with an international team of cousins to take it farther back if we can.

Comments

Laura, thank you for sharing how you connected with cousins to collaborate on research. I wish I had your luck to be mentored by experienced genealogist and historians when I started on my family tree. Lacking a 'people connection', books have been a substitute, and classes which are so much easier to access now on the Internet. (I had to cross a city and two counties to get to my first genealogy class.)

Finding family in records of ancestors is great, but even better is finding living relatives who care about genealogy. I found a 6th cousin who is a certified genealogist and shared her research on my surname ancestors. She has records for that line going to the 1500s, and has posted them on WikiTree.

Thank you so much for your reply!

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This is why I try to pay it forward by helping others if I can.  It is my way of repaying the extreme help and kindness I was shown.

Answer 3

Fill in the blank.  I would have never characterized genealogy as "a fill in the blank hobby."  But after reading your post, I see what you mean.  My obsess - er - hobby began kinda/sorta out of my love of reading historical romance novels.  Bear with me here.  It turns out I picked up a lot of actual knowledge of history without even realizing it.  It was to the point that my sister used to call me up to help her study for her Bachelor's degree in history.  Anyway, she went on to get her Master's in Library Science, and a PhD in something.  So, now she's a librarian.  We always thought it was because she could only "go" in library bathrooms, but I digress.  My sister apparently loves to do research.  She started genealogy and tried to get me interested, though I resisted.  I finally went on a fishing expedition, to Philadelphia I think, and was hooked.  Now I do far more research than she.

For me, genealogy is a puzzle that needs solving.  It is much more than a crossword puzzle, but there are clues and the answers are all linked to give more hints.

Comments

Lucy your answer was fun to read!

Yes, I agree doing genealogy is more like a crossword puzzle. I've also thought of it as connect-the-dots and as a complex jig-saw puzzle. Or aspects of all of those things.

Really it is much more, as you point out -- it is love of history and details and how it all works together to create understanding of who our ancestors are and how they lived.

Added benefit -- connecting to like-minded cousins here at WikiTree:)

Answer 4

Fortunately, I am not the first in my family to reasearch my ancestors. I got a lot of information from a relative of my grandmother or from my direct ancestors (grandparents or my great-grandmother, who is still alive).

I still sometimes "fill in the blanks" without having any evidence. But I mark them as "unsourced". I do that because I want to keep estimates in mind, for example approximate birth years. This helps me research my family, because a lot of them had the exact same names but different birth years.

It was just two days ago that I found my grandmother's long lost cousins in America. Their parents lost contact during WWII and both are dead now. But it's still incredibly mind-blowing to put the pieces together now. We finally know what happened all these years ago.

Comments

Finding many 'same name' ancestors makes me feel dizzy:)  Evalina, your solution makes sense, and eventually you may find the documents to nail down your estimated dates, etc. Meanwhile you have a good way to keep the name twins separate.

Your 'lost cousins' story is wonderful. There were so many separated families from war, it is great to have answers for yours.

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We actually got more answers than we expected!

All we knew was that we had relatives in the United States, but we didn't know who it was. My great-grandmother never told us she had a half-brother or that her father was married twice. It was exactly this "unknown" half-brother that migrated. He named his only daughter after my great-grandma, because he missed his family so much when they lost contact. They both didn't like to talk about this whole story, apparently they were very hurt and traumatized by what had happened. I really wish they were still alive, they would be so happy to hear from each other again!

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What a lovely 'rest of the story' ending Evalina.

My grandmother married four times, and I never could get her to tell me about it - divorce was not talked about in the 1920s, death from tuberculosis was kept secret for fear of social ostracism, etc.

Like you, I finally got answers from records: military, national, state and local. I appreciate her more knowing some of the difficulties and grief she overcame.

Answer 5

I love to fill in the blanks....hopefully with accurate information.

Comments

Doug, you know I love the way you fill in the blanks! especially the documentation you have added to a great many of the Magna Carta profiles and descendants! Thank you!!

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You're the best April.

Answer 6

Yes!  When I was 8, I was entranced when my mother showed me a partially-filled seven-generation chart, with the the thought that every filled blank created two new ones to fill.   Having been at it for over 40 years, I'm pleased to say that I know all the names of my 32 3X-great-grandparents, except for one missing maiden name.  And the next generation back, I'm only missing seven out of 64, so now I can fill in almost all of the blanks in a seven-generation chart.

But genealogy is of course much more than that.  My early interest in genealogy eventually led to a master's degree in history, and my great-grandparents came from eight different backgrounds, giving me a lot of different areas to learn about.

And four years ago I finally discovered an extensive medieval lineage, giving me a whole new realm of genealogy and history to explore.

And I have to say that one of the most rewarding aspects of genealogy is sharing information, both receiving and giving, with distant cousins.

Comments

I agree John. Initializing the Magna Carta Project with you, I learned so much, and from others who joined in also. It may be possible to create a family genealogy by one's self, but that would truly be missing the best part, the cousins!

Answer 7

It happens in the sources as well. You get death certs and censuses where the informant had no clue about the birthplace, so they just made something up.

Comments

arghh!

RJ, you have opened a whole new box of worms to my sight.

I get it - FIll-in-the-Blanks-itis is an equal opportunity disease, and may strike anyone daring to look at {gasp} a blank!

Seriously, I have been a tad too trusting about death certificates -- census records I had already met and recognized as dicey.

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I was first intrigued with genealogy when I was in high school.  I read and really enjoyed the 7-volume Williamsburg series of novels by Elswyth Thane (sp.) which traced a family story from Williamsburg, VA in the 18th century through WWII in the 20th century.

It began with a book, "Dawn's Early Light" and each book had a family genealogy chart inside the front cover which I really loved to study as I read the stories about the parents, children, cousins, in-laws, and outlaws.  I began asking questions of family members about our genealogy and prepared some family group sheets and genealogy charts.

However, myinvolvement in genealogy at that time was short lived as I had college, the Army, then more college keep me occupied, but finally in my mid 30's I jumped back into the fray.  Now, at 71, I am still hitting the books, searching on-line, writing letters, making phone calls, and hammering away at brick walls.

April, I too understand how so many primary sources, such as death certificate, census reports, etc. can be real dicey.  Even if the dates and places on the death certificate are OK, then I pull my hair out because the deceased's parents are "Unknown":!

EuGene "Butch" Smith

Clinton, AR

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EuGene, what a great story about how your interest in genealogy was caught and grew.

Although census records cannot be taken at 'face value', when I discover one that solves many problems it is so incredibly satisfying. In my husband's tree was a family whose name was nearly always misspelled, and when they were not on the census index where I knew they had lived (or any other) I went through the original county census line by line, until I found them (fortunately a large family with many unusual names).  Nearby lived  a woman, her husband and her son from a previous marriage - she who according to a garbled tradition had died earlier. That one discovery made me love census records - with all their quirks.

The last line of your message, EuGene, made me chuckle, because I too have held my breath, finally with the death certificate in my hand, ready to discover the next generation, when appears that horrible word "Unknown"!

It is a wonder that all genealogists have not snatched themselves bald already:)

But - we persevere, which is what makes us, 'genealogists'.

Answer 8

It may be a hobby,but not fill in the blanks. Also, it is a career for some people.

Comments

Yes Howard, and we truly appreciate the professionals who have joined with us at WikiTree and lend us their expertise.

Of course, my question was a bit tongue-in-cheek. For me, genealogy is more of a passion than a hobby:)

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I won't call myself a professional, but I am very good at finding lost people when I have enough information.

Answer 9

It’s like a Giant Sudoku!   If you get one wrong it throws off the whole line.

Answer 10

I did not have an experienced genealogist to start me off.  As far as I know, I am the first in our family to take an interest.  And yet... and yet... I wonder sometimes if one of those names I find, some great great great great aunt somewhere (with no spouse and no children, so plenty of time), took a quill and patiently wrote down what she knew from her relatives? It's an enchanting picture, but where is the parchment? Makes me so grateful to be living in times where I can put all the information I have uncovered online for future generations. Love her for her efforts, though!