Family heritage is of interest to most everyone, the young and the old, sooner or later. Most people, when they reach a certain age, begin to wonder who they are and where they came from.
My family moved from Kentucky to Indiana in 1950. My father’s older brother had moved to Indiana, and my father wanted to be near him. We came from a large family, several aunts and uncles and lots of cousins. I became interested in knowing my heritage when I was about 21 years old, just after the birth of our son.
When I say my “family heritage,” I am referring to finding out who my great-grandparents were and where they lived. I already knew I had wonderful grandparents. They were farmers, hard-working, go to meetin’ Christians who loved the Lord and the family. So, I decided I wanted to get to know my great-grandparents.
I began planning my list of questions to ask my grandparents the next time we went to visit back in Kentucky. My grandfather and grandmother were full of answers. They told us stories of where they had lived and little stories about various happenings. I came home with four generations of information from them.
For them, it seemed like they were having a visit with each family member they talked about. For me, it was a treasure I never could have imagined if not for the interviews with my grandparents and their willingness to bring up lots of precious memories.
We are having a Family Heritage Day open house, a free event, Saturday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the History Center, 90 E. Gould St. in Nashville. Family historians are invited to help find origins. There will be family displays, a help table, a research area, representatives from other historical organizations and books for sale.
If you would like to display your family genealogy at the Family Heritage Day open house, you may call 812-320-6237 or email [email protected] for more information. There is no charge and a table will be provided.
On Friday, the day before Family Heritage Day, the historical society archives will have special late-night research hours for genealogists. We will be open in the afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. and then from 5 to 8 p.m. The archives area is upstairs in the History Center. Please come in the east doors of the building, as the rest of the building will be closed off during the evening hours.
— Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society
