It is of the greatest interest to preserve any genealogy records of family life. The migration of the various families con­nected by blood into new settlements of colonial times; the methods of transportation; the conditions of living; the experiences of pioneering; any and everything which reflects the life and character of those families who were ancestors should be carefully preserved in the record.

Legal Documents

It is always illuminating to read the preambles of land transfers between father and children where "for the great love which I bear toward my son James etc." a father divides the ancestral lands among his children.

The preambles of wills where with life drawing to its close a forefather recites in the opening sentences of his will that simplest of religious belief in the following phrases: "Being of perfect memory and, through the blessing of God, though aged, yet in good health, and knowing assuredly that all men are mortall & yt young men may die suddenly, & yt old men must die, and how suddain my own time may be in these desolating times wherein ye enemie seeks the destruction of our New England. Being through Grace and the merrits of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in good hope of my eternal being in Happynesse; to whom I committ my soule, do hereby as followest settle my outward estate which God in mercy hath hitherunto lent me." And then in tenderest terms makes provision for wife and children naming them and with minute care dividing the worldly goods which God hath "lent" him. How much can be learned, not only of the size of the family and their names and many times the mar­riages of their children, but how much of the character of the testator shines out of those old wills. How interesting they are to the generations which follow.

All such items are genealogy records that should be copied into the history for they reveal what sort of men they were who sired the present generation.

Inventories of estates have their story to add to the his­tory in that from them can be seen the home life of the early days. In these inventories can be found a description of the furniture in the various rooms of the house, the "bedstead and cord," "the Trundle bed," the "chest of drawers," the "warming pan," the musket and the saddle which hung in the kitchen, the pewter porringers—how clearly can be seen the old house. There is also the description of the clothing of olden time, the foodstuff found in pantry and cellar—the corn meal, the salted pork and beef in their respective barrels, the tallow candles for light. The books they had, the condi­tions of labor and the tools and implements which func­tioned in the various occupations—the broad axe and the adz which bring to mind the great hewn timbers still to be seen in some of the old houses. The surroundings and condi­tions amid which the youth were reared and the aged ap­proached the end of their days.

All these items are of great value in building the genealogy records of the ancestral history. They are the flesh upon the skeleton of vital statis­tics which change the record from a recitation of bare statements to a story as fascinating as any that pen can write.

This will become the means by which the genealogist grows from the mere recorder of facts in statistical fashion to the editor and the storyteller. While he is never at liberty to let the story lead him astray from fact, he will have ample opportunity to exercise his talent of creative composition.

Old Letters

Not infrequently may be found old letters which have escaped the destruction of time. These are excellent genealogy records. Letters from soldiers in the civil war in which are recounted the experiences of those days; letters from members of the family who pioneered re­counting the progress into new country, the building of the first home, the rearing of the family; letters telling of a death, describing a wedding; letters full of counsel from an old father or mother to a child who has gone into the wicked world away from the tender watchfulness of parentage; letters from a son or daughter to those back home reciting new experiences and new life amid conditions foreign to the old home life; letters that for one reason or another have been treasured and kept.

If they can be attached to blank sheets of biography paper without mutilation or concealing any of their contents, that should be the method of treating them. If that cannot be done they should be copied into the biography.

Sometimes present-day letters of reminiscence may be secured recounting incidents of childhood, or signal events of early family life may be secured from members of the family who have lived long amid kindred connections and who have memories worth contributing to the family history. All such letters are good.

Illustrations

Not unlike any other story, the charm and the interest of the ancestral history are tremendously enhanced by the in­clusion of illustrations in genealogy records judiciously selected and properly placed. Fortunate is the genealogist who is adept in the use of the camera and carries it with him on his ancestral pil­grimages using it freely as opportunity presents worth-while subjects.

It is not always easy to find photographs of people who lived in the earlier generations, and many times when they are found they cannot be incorporated into the history. The old style tintype may be discovered but it is hardly suitable for a book illustration. However it is not difficult to secure photographs of old houses which at some time have been ancestral residences. It may be possible to find old rooms which have not undergone very material changes since the time of a birth or death or a marriage in the family. Not only the house and room in which the family have lived but photographs of their last resting place may be included. These all form a valuable contribution to the history and serve to make real the story of the ancestors who spent their years and reared their families in the houses and rooms pictured or who sleep peacefully under the gravestones photo­graphed.

Coats of Arms

While heraldry and its accompanying coats of arms has no real part in the make-up of American family standing as it is now constituted, still it is a source of interest in ancestral research to know who in the lines of the forefathers of the various families connected by blood were honored with the right in the old homeland to bear heraldry and to display coats of arms. Hence the coat of arms make grand genealogy records.

The present generation is giving extensive consideration to this subject and the work of search and artistic skill have become an important branch of the genealogical profession.

In the compilation of a family history it will be found interesting to have photostats at least of the various coats of arms to which ancestors were entitled, and if the compiler has artistic ability, or wishes to employ it, these various coats of arms may be drawn showing the proper lines and tinctures which represent the various colors. These will serve as one means of illustrating the ancestral history.

Signatures

Signatures of ancestors may be found in the printed his­tories and genealogies consulted and if they are not found there it will be possible sometimes to find them on old wills and legal documents in court records and papers. These when traced form good genealogy records for illustration.

Thus it will be seen that the compilation of an ancestral history may become an extensive and a fascinating project— one that will lead far into most interesting fields. As a branch of the professional genealogist's work it will not have as large a part as the more formal production of charts, but as an avocation for any person who wishes to delve into the inti­mate lives of his own forebears, there is nothing that can excel it.

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