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The Family History Can Be Literary, If You Try - Page 2

© Julia Buitrago

Josiah Springer worked coal mine most life, age six. He would crawl through small tunnels put support beams tunnels enlarged. For twelve to fourteen hours, dollar day. Eventually harsh conditions caught up. He died June 3, 1901 age 22 without wife or family.

The same general idea is there, but what a headache! You may be able to save yourself a dollar or two for your article, but would you really want your family history to sound like this?

A final suggestion for writing your family history. Check the spelling of people’s names. A good editor will be able to pick up on most common misspellings, but names can be quite tricky. As a rule of thumb, I never change the spelling of a name (after years of having my name miraculously morph from Julia to Julie). That means that if the name is misspelled when you send it in, it will probably be misspelled in print.

So take some time in the last few days of summer bliss and write your own family history. Doesn’t have to be long, just a little anecdotal story, and send it to your friends and family and see what they have to say. Who knows, you might get enough stories to publish your own family history book.

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