I grew up with genealogy and history.  My mother was our family historian, and as she conducted her research, I shared with her the thrill of discovering new ancestors — back in time through the Civil War, Revolutionary War, and colonial times.  My ancestors lived the history that I was learning about in school.  

In genealogy a “flat ancestor” is someone about whom only the most basic data are known.  Mom was very intentional about trying to add dimension to the people on our family tree.  I will note that this was all before the advent of the personal computer and Ancestry.com.  For the genealogists of those days, it was a slow, difficult slog through books, microfilm, documents, and communication by letter.  We were always excited whenever she received another letter in the mail : What new revelations were inside?  

Although I’m a professional librarian now, the lessons I learned from Mom and her fellow researchers are ones that have always guided me in my own research:  focus on the facts and don’t be distracted by shiny objects; take the time and make the effort to understand your ancestors as people; never underestimate the importance of making connections with other researchers; and never give up. 

I still get excited whenever I see a genealogy email appear in my inbox!