ANCESTOR ADVICE

Author Tammy Tipler-Priolo BASc, PLCGS copyright 5 January 2011

If you could meet one or two of your ancestors, what advice might they give you?  If you read between the lines of those ancestor documents, you just might find some hidden advice.  Like to pay your mortgage on time, land records can reveal if a mortgage has lapsed.  A will can tell you that you had better be nice to your elders, especially if one child was left out of that ancestor’s will.  Now don’t be fooled if you can’t find the eldest son in a will as he usually is given land before the father dies, thus it is assumed he already received his share of the inheritance earlier.  A marriage record for a shotgun wedding would supply advice all young people should heed.

My ancestors have been full of advice in life and death.  My paternal grandfather would always say, “Eat a little of everything, but not too much of one thing.”  My paternal grandmother advised me when I was little how to butter toast the proper way and what to do if I ever got a stomach ache.  My maternal grandfather gave us advice all the time.  Of course, he lived until he was 93 so he must have known what he was talking about.  His biggest piece of advice was to listen to the stories of your elders.  My maternal grandmother died when I was two years old, but she instilled the importance of going to school through my mother.  My father’s favourite piece of advice is to give way, however whenever he was missing something he would tell us to cleanup until we found it.  Mom on the other hand just wanted us to keep things tidy all the time. 

My husband’s grandmother gave advice that dealt with money.  While my husbands’ grandfather showed him how to have fun as you only live once.  His other grandparents showed that family always came first.  His mother believes that one should stay in contact with family members, even distant relatives.  His father believes that there should always be enough food in the house to feed everyone.  My advice to my daughter is to be respectful, compassionate and to be true to herself.  My husband shows her how to be in his own quiet way.  Often the advice we get from our parents, has come from generations before.  Sometimes the advice is from the experiences we have gone through ourselves. 

Ask any genealogist and they will advise you to listen to your elders stories, to write the stories down, to collect and take pictures of your ancestors and other family members, as well as to start your own family history collection.  I hear it so often from people that they wished they had interviewed their parents or grandparents.  I did listen to my maternal grandfather and interviewed my paternal grandfather and sought the truth about my grandmothers’ family histories.  My family is glad I took my own advice and I am too, for you see I now know where I come from and who I resemble.  I can take pride in my heritage and all its wonderful and colourful nationalities.  Good luck to you in finding out what advice your ancestors may have in store for you.

Happy Hunting!!

“MAY ALL YOUR GENEALOGICAL DREAMS COME TRUE!!!”

Tammy Tipler-Priolo BASc, PLCGS

The Ancestor Investigator is also the Ancestor Whisperer!