The World of Grandpa Don  

There was an email from a gentleman who wanted to trade genealogy information. His wife is a Copeland. His second email included several files, the first of which showed the connection between his family and ours. There was a David Copeland with a son, also David, who had sons named James and Joseph. The email stated that Joseph was in our line of the family and James was in his. I checked our Copeland line and that grouping was there. The problem was that his was wrong as it showed us stemming from the southern line of the Copeland clan. We originate from the northern branch. It is believed that the two branches are connected in England but the actual connection is undocumented. The David's in his line lived in Virginia while ours in Massachusetts. Two families with names so familiar but so far apart.  I sent him the news and a little information. He has not responded.

Thursday after leaving Mikey at Touch of Class I proceeded to bible Study. I have read and heard the Passion story of Mathew many times bus it is amazing the different meanings that can be derived and the connections that can be made to our own lives. When Anne had picked the inscription for the family grave marker, "In dying ... we are born to eternal life" she had remarked that that is at the core of our beliefs. It dawned on me that that belief was the reason I could survive Anne's death many years later.

When the passage of the Gospel was read of Judas asking, "What will you give me for Jesus?" my mind immediately jumped to our former governor here in Illinois. Ex Gov Rod, still doesn't get it. He thinks it is normal to look for what is in it for him when he seeks to betray the trust put in his hands by the people. That alone was enough to merit his impeachment. At least Judas realized his mistake.

I put my family file up on Ancestry.com's on-line Family Tree. It is interesting and I wish I had done it sooner. As soon as I uploaded the file, Ancestry.com's software kicked in and started finding possible sources of information for individuals included on the tree. Now when I view the tree it tells me if there is possible information for various individuals by displaying a small icon at the names. I can look at it and either add it to the file or reject it.   It came up with information for my adopted mother which was partially incorrect but connected me to the tree of the person who had entered the incorrect info. I was able to leave a message for that person asking about it and what their connection to her was. The information found by Ancestry.com was the usual census, birth, marriage, death, military and such and other member's trees but it is all automatic and if new information is entered into the system it will be added as possible information, pending my approval.   I have made my files "private" so only those I invite can view them. Even then, when I invite a person they will have specific permissions given by me. This could be interesting. I can also give permission or withhold visitors from seeing information about living individuals in the tree. I have so far invited a few family members to view the tree. I intend to keep the list small, at least at the start. There are 1857 names in my family tree files. Some are not connected to the main tree since we have not established a positive connection. I have several unconnected branches of the Packard family since the parents of Shepard (b1818) are unknown. The program has allowed me to list that fact as an item of research so that if anyone has information they can contact me.

Long ago I was fascinated by family trees and pictured them as nice and neat with their entirety visible at a glance. Of course I was only looking at a few generations and a very simple family. I am now aware that there are a lot more generations and no family is simple. You can only look at a small part of a tree at a time and even then you must select your view with care. When you select to see the ancestors of a particular person, step brothers and sisters will not be shown nor will multiple marriages and adoptions. I am afraid that I am entering another period of genealogical curiosity. These periods wax and wane as do many of our interests, but as some interests diminish and disappear, this one resurges and tends to dominate. It is sometimes difficult to control and consumes much too much of my time. Oh well, ... as long as I am enjoying it and not abandoning the important things, it will be all right. And maybe, just maybe, one of my great-great-grandchildren will come across my research and be glad that I got involved in building these records.

The other concern with getting into our family ancestors is that it would detract from my spirituality but I find it to be having the opposite effect. I continue to be impressed with the working of God in my life and in our family and this awareness grows as I wonder of His greatness and wisdom in creating mankind. All this could not have been by accident. It was all started in motion, intended to be good. We (us and our ancestors) have progressed and have built a better world, making mistakes as we went along, stumbling sometimes, but recovering as well. There is no doubt that we now live in a better world than our predecessors especially in a technological sense and somewhat less in a moral sense. But even in the latter I believe we are making some progress. Maybe we need to reach a much advanced technological level so we can concentrate on advanced morals which, in turn, will awaken us to faith and belief in God and his beneficence. Maybe some day that will be the norm, not the exception.

Will there ever be a day when there won't be those who continually ask "What's in it for me? Can we look for everyone to ask instead, "How can I help?" It will never happen if we wait for the other guy to start. It has to start with me and you. It has to start now, today, this very minute. This is the only time that is real and ours to control. The past is gone and the future is a dream.