Week of April 3, 2000
Great genealogy and family
history quotations, poems, jokes, puns,
songs, taglines, epitaphs, and other miscellaneous genealogy humor.
April 3, 2000
High Society
"My family's ancestry is very old," said one club member trying to impress the group. "We can be traced back to the early kings of Europe." Then, turning to a lady sitting nearby, she asked, "And how old is your family, my dear?" "I don't really know," replied the lady with a sweet smile. "All our family records were lost in the great flood."
April 4, 2000
Genealogy is like potato salad -
When you share it with others, it's a picnic!
April 5, 2000
There's Been a Change in Grandma
There's been a change in Grandma, we've noticed as of late.
She's always reading history, or jotting down some date.
She's tracing back the family, we'll all have pedigrees,
Grandma's got a hobby, she's Climbing Family Trees...
Poor Grandpa does the cooking, and now, or so he states,
he even has to wash the cups and dinner plates.
Well, Grandma can't be bothered, she's busy as a bee,
Compiling genealogy for the Family Tree.
She has not time to baby-sit, the curtains are a fright.
No buttons left on Grandpašs shirts, the flower bed's a sight.
She's given up her club work, the serials on TV,
The only thing she does nowadays is climb that Family Tree.
The mail is all for Grandma, it comes from near and far.
Last week she got the proof she needs to join the DAR.
A monumental project - to that we all agree,
A worthwhile avocation - to climb the Family Tree.
She wanders through the graveyard in search of dates and name,
The rich, the poor, the in-between, all sleeping there the same.
She pauses now and then to rest, fanned by a gentle breeze,
That blows above the Fathers of all our Family Trees.
Now some folks came from Scotland, some from Galway Bay,
Some were French as pastry, some German all the way.
Some went on West to stake their claims, some stayed there by the sea,
Grandma hopes to find them all as she climbs the Family Tree.
There were pioneers and patriots mixed with our kith and kin,
Who blazed the paths of wilderness and fought through thick and thin.
But none more staunch than Grandma, whose eyes light up with glee,
Each time she finds a missing branch for the Family Tree.
Their skills were wide and varied from carpenter to cook,
And one, alas, the records show was hopelessly a crook.
Blacksmith, farmer, weaver, judge, some tutored for a fee,
One lost in time, now all recorded on the Family Tree.
To some it's just a hobby, to Grandma it's much more.
She learns the joys and heartaches of those who went before.
They loved, they lost, they laughed, they wept - and now for you and me,
They live again in spirit around the Family Tree.
At last she's nearly finished, and we are each exposed.
Life will be the same again, this we all suppose.
Grandma will cook and sew, serve crullers with our tea.
We'll have her back, just as before that wretched Family Tree.
Sad to relate, the Preacher called and visited for a spell.
We talked about the Gospel and other things as well.
The heathen folk, the poor, and then It was fate, it had to be
Somehow the conversation turned to Grandma and the Family Tree.
We tried to change the subject, we talked of everything,
But then in Grandmašs voice we heard that old familiar ring.
She told him all about the past, and soon It was plain to see,
The Preacher, too, was neatly snared by Grandma and the Family Tree.
-- Virginia Day McDonald, Macon, GA
April 6, 2000
Epitaph for a Dentist
Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity.
John Brown is filling his last cavity.
April 7, 2000
The Genealogist's Psalm
Genealogy is my pastime, I shall not stray;
It maketh me to lie down and examine half-buried tombstones.
It leadeth me into still Court Houses,
it restoreth my ancestral knowledge.
It leadeth me in paths of census records and ships'
passenger lists
for my surname's sake.Yea, though I walk through the shadows of research
libraries and microfilm readers,
I shall fear no discouragement;
for a strong urge is within me;
the curiosity and motivation
they comfort me.It demandeth preparation of storage space for the
acquisition of countless documents;
it anointest my head with burning midnight oil,
my family group sheets runneth over.
Surely birth, marriage, and death dates shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of a family-history seeker
for ever.--Wildamae Brestal
