John Winn
Lt. Colonel
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2014
- Location
- State of Jefferson
Interesting read, this thread.
Unlike many southerners, there was no talk in my family about genealogy or the Civil War or much of anything other than current events. My grandparents were all dead before I came along and I was a single child. We didn't live physically close to my aunts and uncles and weren't really close to most of them in a family sense either (I've got first cousins I've never met). My parents were intellectual academics and they equated genealogy with people who wanted to join the DAR and with whom they had major differences politically and otherwise. For reasons that are now only partially clear to me neither parent talked much about their childhoods or parents except maybe the odd comment. I didn't even know my grandparents' names. I think my parents - both of whom grew up in the early twentieth century in the deep south - were somewhat embarrassed by the history of the south and so didn't want to talk about it. I think they were different in their liberalism than their brothers and sisters but - here's a southern thing - on the few times we visited their siblings they just didn't talk about things they knew they were in disagreement about. Race was certainly one of those things (my parents having been early equal rights activists; actually met M.L. King). So, while I was born and raised in the south and do identify with that my experience was very different than many.
I honor, and am proud of, my ancestors and recognize the many challenges in their lives but it's not because they were Confederates so I don't share that sort of "heritage" notion. I do differ from some here, though, in that I can separate my respect from disagreement about the Confederacy and, say, slave ownership (many can't; that all slave owners and Confederates were immoral and thus not honorable is a common feeling). I think we have to judge people by the standards of their time, not ours.
When my mother died in 2000 (dad was long gone) I decided I'd look into the family just to sort out who was who and, maybe, go back to the great grandparents. Well, I soon began to discover some really interesting things and that ended up being a ten-year project researching both sides as far back as I could. I had always had an interest in the Civil War, also, but life got in the way of any real study. My genealogy work, though, heightened my interest in American history and when I retired in 2007 I decided to do some reading. Once again that turned into a long-term (and ongoing) passion. I think my parents knew a lot more family history than they ever revealed to me but, also, didn't know much beyond maybe a little about their grandparents. Had they known even some of what I discovered I'm sure they'd have at least mentioned it (e.g. mom's folks' close connections with Thomas Jefferson). They of course did know the general history of the Civil War and Reconstruction but, oddly, never really conveyed any of that even though they knew I had an interest.
These days I'm the odd guy out among friends; nobody I know cares a whit about the history of anything before their lifetimes and most aren't much different than I am in that they hardly know who their grandparents were (if they do it's usually just because they actually knew them or at least remember them a bit from childhood). Nobody I know understands my interest in genealogy or in the cemetery work that I do (including my extensive research of those buried there; all our CW veterans among others).
Thus, I came to this site to try and find some like-minded folk with whom to exchange some digits. I've come to see that even here we're all very different in many ways even if we share some roots.
Unlike many southerners, there was no talk in my family about genealogy or the Civil War or much of anything other than current events. My grandparents were all dead before I came along and I was a single child. We didn't live physically close to my aunts and uncles and weren't really close to most of them in a family sense either (I've got first cousins I've never met). My parents were intellectual academics and they equated genealogy with people who wanted to join the DAR and with whom they had major differences politically and otherwise. For reasons that are now only partially clear to me neither parent talked much about their childhoods or parents except maybe the odd comment. I didn't even know my grandparents' names. I think my parents - both of whom grew up in the early twentieth century in the deep south - were somewhat embarrassed by the history of the south and so didn't want to talk about it. I think they were different in their liberalism than their brothers and sisters but - here's a southern thing - on the few times we visited their siblings they just didn't talk about things they knew they were in disagreement about. Race was certainly one of those things (my parents having been early equal rights activists; actually met M.L. King). So, while I was born and raised in the south and do identify with that my experience was very different than many.
I honor, and am proud of, my ancestors and recognize the many challenges in their lives but it's not because they were Confederates so I don't share that sort of "heritage" notion. I do differ from some here, though, in that I can separate my respect from disagreement about the Confederacy and, say, slave ownership (many can't; that all slave owners and Confederates were immoral and thus not honorable is a common feeling). I think we have to judge people by the standards of their time, not ours.
When my mother died in 2000 (dad was long gone) I decided I'd look into the family just to sort out who was who and, maybe, go back to the great grandparents. Well, I soon began to discover some really interesting things and that ended up being a ten-year project researching both sides as far back as I could. I had always had an interest in the Civil War, also, but life got in the way of any real study. My genealogy work, though, heightened my interest in American history and when I retired in 2007 I decided to do some reading. Once again that turned into a long-term (and ongoing) passion. I think my parents knew a lot more family history than they ever revealed to me but, also, didn't know much beyond maybe a little about their grandparents. Had they known even some of what I discovered I'm sure they'd have at least mentioned it (e.g. mom's folks' close connections with Thomas Jefferson). They of course did know the general history of the Civil War and Reconstruction but, oddly, never really conveyed any of that even though they knew I had an interest.
These days I'm the odd guy out among friends; nobody I know cares a whit about the history of anything before their lifetimes and most aren't much different than I am in that they hardly know who their grandparents were (if they do it's usually just because they actually knew them or at least remember them a bit from childhood). Nobody I know understands my interest in genealogy or in the cemetery work that I do (including my extensive research of those buried there; all our CW veterans among others).
Thus, I came to this site to try and find some like-minded folk with whom to exchange some digits. I've come to see that even here we're all very different in many ways even if we share some roots.
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