WANDERINGS FROM YOUR PRESIDENT
BY GAYLE STUART
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain
What a Holiday Season this has been!! Many church services were canceled and families were unable to get together. Some of us were without power for a long time. Times like these make us really thankful for all the things we take for granted: lights, heat, water and telephone. Going without makes us realize what our ancestors’ everyday living was like. We think it is a hardship when we have to wait for roads to be opened, streets plowed and lots of snow moved in order to go buy groceries.
Many of you who were at the meeting in November will remember that I asked all members to write some family history stories. This is not to be a joint venture (husband and wife in same story), because we all grew up differently. This does not mean your complete family history, it could be about attending country school, where you lived, if you moved a number of times because your parents rented a farm and March 1st was moving day, church attendance, remembering the clothes you wore and many other things from your past. We have some suggestions available, “Life History: Beginning to End,” in our room at the library. If you did not get a copy, please ask. I am asking for these stories to be put on file, and, with your permission, we would like to use them in our newsletter. I would like them to start coming in during February and March. We will talk more about this in March, if you need some help.
Found on the Internet:
Languaging IS important . . . . . . . it all depends on how you look at some things. . .
Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California was doing some personal work on her family tree. She discovered that Congressman Harry Reid’s great-great-uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.
The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. He was caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.
So, Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about their great-great-uncle, Remus Reid. Believe it or not, Harry Reid’s staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:
“Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”
NOW THAT’S how it’s done.
I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can but I won’t. Mark Twain
You can see that it depends upon how you write your story to make it more interesting. The facts can be put in however you would like them to read. Good Luck with telling your tales.
GbS