Home » Poems » L Milton Hankins » Researching Your Ancestry

Researching Your Ancestry

Digging through old ledgers seems a drudge But searching for long-lost ancestors is fun, The LDS Church can give you a helpful nudge For they have records on almost everyone. Dim documents in out-of-the-way courthouses Include dusty old ledgers of marriage licenses, You can discover names of parents and spouses If you can spare time traveling long distances. Good information comes from grandparents Who may possess a well-documented Bible, But, don’t underestimate your own parents Close families tend to be exceptionally tribal. It’s fun learning the exploits of your ancestors Relating them to your understanding of history, Far back you could be kin to some court jesters You never know what you’ll find in your ancestry. written March 9, 2022

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Indiana Shaw

Date: 3/10/2022 11:05:00 AM

Lord, I just love family research, a family Bible resolved a issue for my son's Irish family line, as many Irish records dating back to the 16 century were lost due to a fire in 1922 in Dublin, due to civil war, many Irish families had travelled to America with help from the church due to the Irish famine in the 1850's, taking their Bible with them and keeping a record for the rest of us, so I just love and relate to this poem, family history is both fun and shocking at times . . . : )

Gary Radice

Date: 3/10/2022 6:39:00 AM

I enjoyed this Milt. Your second verse, in particular, reminds me of my own attempts at searching my family history. We travelled from Liverpool UK to Solaro near Milan, Italy a couple of years back to where my great grandad was born and lived. Courtesy of two Italian genealogists I traced my family back to 1750. There were so many early deaths in the family it's an absolute miracle of good fortune that I'm here today typing this and praising your poem. :) Cheers - Gary

L Milton Hankins
Date: 3/10/2022 9:00:00 AM

Thanks for your response, Gary. I can certainly understand. I found myself traveling all over the eastern U.S. to track down family members. I enjoyed solving the difficult puzzles and putting together the pieces how great-grandparents, who were from different parts of the country, met and married. I found it fascinating.

I Am Anaya

Date: 3/9/2022 6:40:00 PM

My daughter did this through the "DNA Ancestry" official website, results were 60% this, 36% that, and 4% unknown! I used to tell everyone we were 4% Sasquatch! Laughing

L Milton Hankins
Date: 3/9/2022 7:38:00 PM

Well, I suppose you could be. Wouldn't it be fun to know for sure? Sasquatch????? Probably not!

Jeff Kyser

Date: 3/9/2022 5:42:00 PM

My mother was an avid genealogist and spent countless hours in court houses, interviewing older family members, and all the things you mention, plus doing rubbings of headstones, etc. When she passed away in 2017, we knew to not throw it away, but no one from the present generation, nor, so it appears, from the grandchildren, appears to have caught the bug. So I have like 15 boxes in my basement!

L Milton Hankins
Date: 3/9/2022 7:39:00 PM

Oh, my, whatever you do, make sure they are protected. I lost several boxes of basic records when my basement flooded. Luckily, I had already compiled the material and written the family book, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. You are so fortunate to have these records. If you got into it, I'll bet you'd find it exciting.