Documents can tell you when your ancestors were born, where they lived, what they did for a living and when they died. But family stories tell you so much more. Stories turn those names on a piece of paper into real people, with real personalities and real lives.
My paternal great-grandfather Wilhelm Jokela, or William after he immigrated to America in June 1901, came to Cloquet to get settled, find work and a place to live. His wife Anna followed 14 months later in August 1902. According to my grandma:
“My father went to meet my mother at the train when she came in. He was
wearing a straw hat, riding a bicycle and chewing gum. And my mother thought,
‘Oh my God, is that how much America has changed him?’ She said she would
have gone back to Finland right then and there if she had the money, but she
didn't.”
This very short family story, which I used in my historical fiction book on the Cloquet/Moose Lake Fire, “The Memory Quilt,” tells me a lot about both of my great-grandparents, but also leaves me with a lot of questions. Obviously my great-grandfather wanted to impress his wife and show her how American he had become. And my great-grandmother, after months of separation, was wondering if this was the same man she had married on December 2, 1900. Apparently it all worked out (they had seven children together), but I still have questions:
1) Why did he come to pick her up on a bicycle?
2) How did he think he was going to get my great-grandmother home on a bike?
Was she supposed to sit on the bike seat and have him peddle her home, or
was she supposed to walk along-side the bike?
3) Didn’t she have a satchel or trunk with her belongings? How would that
work with a bike?
Unfortunately, I didn’t start questioning this story until after my grandma had passed, so I had no one to ask.
Does your family have stories that have been passed down? Have you passed them down to your children or grandchildren?
" One of the Family History Research services I provide is scanning your family photos, keying in family stories and laying them out in a scrapbook format on a CD.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history,
origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”1
Marcus Garvey
wearing a straw hat, riding a bicycle and chewing gum. And my mother thought,
‘Oh my God, is that how much America has changed him?’ She said she would
have gone back to Finland right then and there if she had the money, but she
didn't.”
This very short family story, which I used in my historical fiction book on the Cloquet/Moose Lake Fire, “The Memory Quilt,” tells me a lot about both of my great-grandparents, but also leaves me with a lot of questions. Obviously my great-grandfather wanted to impress his wife and show her how American he had become. And my great-grandmother, after months of separation, was wondering if this was the same man she had married on December 2, 1900. Apparently it all worked out (they had seven children together), but I still have questions:
1) Why did he come to pick her up on a bicycle?
2) How did he think he was going to get my great-grandmother home on a bike?
Was she supposed to sit on the bike seat and have him peddle her home, or
was she supposed to walk along-side the bike?
3) Didn’t she have a satchel or trunk with her belongings? How would that
work with a bike?
Unfortunately, I didn’t start questioning this story until after my grandma had passed, so I had no one to ask.
Does your family have stories that have been passed down? Have you passed them down to your children or grandchildren?
" One of the Family History Research services I provide is scanning your family photos, keying in family stories and laying them out in a scrapbook format on a CD.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history,
origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”1
Marcus Garvey
Discover your roots and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com
For more information on my Family History Research services, visit TheMemoryQuilt.com and click on Family History Research.
1http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marcus_garvey.html
1http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marcus_garvey.html
No comments:
Post a Comment