By Margaret Ann Gethers Scott, Ph.D.

Margaret is her family’s historian, and author of two books on family history. This post is the second of a two-part series; last week, Margaret memorialized her deceased brother.

Bits and pieces of knowledge about our ancestors can combine to create a family history worthy of sharing and preserving. My maternal family has little knowledge of its ancestral history. My family can trace its lineage only as far back as the last-generation slaves, Charles and Rebecca Ford. I refer to Charles and Rebecca as “last-generation” because they were among those freed at the end of the Civil War.

Charles and Rebecca had seven children whose names, in the order of their birth, were LUCY, ROBERT, FORTUNE, DIANNA, ADAM, BINA, and TOM. In 1996 when I became the first Ford Family Historian, I decided to capitalize the names of Charles and Rebecca’s children. I did so for two reasons: 1) To distinguish them from others who would later bear some of the same names and 2) To underscore their importance in the genesis of the Ford Family. I also dubbed the children, “The Big Seven.”

The Big Seven gifted Charles and Rebecca with 63 grandchildren. My mother, Nettie Mariah Ford Gethers, was one of only two remaining grandchildren when she died in 2015 at age 90. The last and youngest of the 63 grandchildren, her brother Lawrence Alexander Ford, died five years later at age 92. Whenever I write about members of the seven descendant families, those individuals are referenced by their relationship to one of the Big Seven ancestors: “Daughter of ____” or “Great-Grandson of ____”, etc. As for me, one of the lines in my email signature reads “Granddaughter of TOM” because TOM, youngest of the Big Seven, was my grandfather.

As a family historian my focus is stories. For the most part, I have avoided genealogy research. Instead, I have trusted the oral history my grandfather TOM (Papa) shared with Mama, Frances Rebecca Grimkey Ford, his second wife who, like his first wife, bore him seven children. TOM thus fathered fourteen of Charles and Rebecca’s 63 grandchildren. Along with a litany of names — those of his formerly enslaved parents, his six siblings, and his siblings’ children — Papa’s oral history also included stories both real and imagined. Mama, my orphaned grandmother, embraced Papa’s legacy with griot-like tenacity and after his death in 1940, often told the stories and recited the names. Sadly, Papa never mentioned grandparents or aunts and uncles. Reaching back into his ancestral past, TOM (Papa) was able to glean and bequeath only one fact: His father Charles had been a slave driver.

In my role as Ford Family Historian, I have used information-gathering tools such as interviews, essays, questionnaires, and family news solicitation letters to update our origin story.  Between 1997 and 2019, the ongoing family narrative was captured and inexpensively preserved in eight photocopied and spiral-bound volumes titled, “From Whence We Came: The Ford Family of Walterboro (Colleton County), South Carolina.”  The books are not pretty, but they are beautiful in content and can be easily and endlessly reproduced for future generations.

Family history work is profoundly rewarding, but it can also be frustrating. For one thing, family members do not always observe deadlines. One night, in the early days of the “From Whence We Came…” family history book project, my sister Jell (Priester) was typing what we thought was the final copy. But more family news kept spewing forth from the fax machine. Every time we thought the typing was back on track, the machine started up again. We were happy to receive the information, we just wished it had come in a timelier fashion. We laugh about it now, but it was not funny that night.

Another frustration is not getting as much information as you know exists. In 2021 while working on my first book, I sent a letter inviting family members to submit stories about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their lives. When only one COVID story had been received by the deadline, I took a more creative and “in your face” approach. In a follow-up letter I wrote:  

Poor Charles & Rebecca (and The Big Seven)! They are rolling around and turning over in their graves in disbelief. They cannot believe it. They refuse to believe it.

A global pandemic has been going on for more than a year. All over the world people are talking and writing about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected them and their loved ones. But the descendants of Charles and Rebecca Ford remain silent.

Your silence is what has shaken Charles & Rebecca (and The Big Seven) from their eternal rest. Future generations of the Ford Family will have no eyewitness accounts from family members about what our family experienced during this once-in-a-lifetime global historic event. Why not? Because you did not tell your COVID-19 story.

But wait! It’s not too late. Email your story to me by July 1st. I promise to include your story and your name in the book I am writing. I look forward to reading your COVID-19 story.

My strong-arm tactic worked! The Ford Family pandemic stories can be found in Appendix 8 of my book, I Come from Bowman Lane: A Family History Memoir.

The success of a family history project ultimately depends upon the person capturing the information — the family historian. While the project may be the family historian’s primary focus, other concerns may command the attention of family members: Illness, pressures at work, carpooling & children’s sports, relationship difficulties, previously planned events or trips, etc. When family members fail to respond, family historians must not take it personally. It is not about them. It is about life issues family members may be facing at the time. Or, as in the case of the late-night faxes, it may simply be procrastination rearing its ugly head.

Whatever the reason, family historians must not allow projects to falter or fade when participation is less than expected. The stories family historians gather, no matter how few, will be a gift to future generations. For both practicing and potential family historians I end with this thought: Keep your eyes on the family history prize. Some stories are better than no stories!

© 2024 Margaret Scott

Margaret Ann Gethers Scott, Ph.D. is a retired school librarian, family historian, and author of two books on family history. Her workshops, classes, and lectures help everyday ordinary people tell their family story. To learn more visit  https://www.familyhistoryplace.com