The Serendipity Factor

I used to be one of many who knew, but didn’t understand, why people became immersed in genealogy research. Preserving family history is laudable and can distinguish family lore from true facts. We need historians to remind us of what our ancestors went through in their lives.

But really? To spend hundreds of hours traveling to dusty basements in courthouses and libraries to look at musty papers—ugh! And the cost of printing document copies can run more than my entertainment allowance each month.

Then I began researching one branch of my lineage. My efforts were for fun to see what I could find. Then the Serendipity Factor hit and hooked me!

One dry fact led to another more interesting note. One tidbit of a life story emerged from an old newspaper article. Another family rumor was confirmed or refuted. A new line of research led to more rabbit holes, some of which became fascinating

Who knew that my grandparents had won prizes for flower arranging at local fairs? They never told me.

Who knew that a name on a gravestone didn’t always mean the person was buried there? Some soldier relatives were buried at the original Civil War battle sites, then dug up and interred at national military cemeteries in the 1960s. Their names are on the local gravestones, but their bodies are buried with their comrades in distant places.

How sad to find that two children in one family died of typhoid fever within twenty days of each other between Thanksgiving and Christmas one year. No family joy for the holidays that year.

Now I understand—and am addicted to—the Serendipity Factor of genealogy. I never know what tidbit I will discover. Whether funny or sad, notable or minor, each detail develops my ancestors’ lives into a rounded story of resilience, love, family, and survival. Without our ancestors’ trials and triumphs, neither you nor I would exist today.

This is why people continue to find the Serendipity Factor so fascinating. I hope you thank these genealogy sleuths for their efforts and appreciate the devotion they give to recording our family histories.