The strength of a tree lies in its roots – not its branches
(Dutch proverb from Twente)
Sometimes trees cannot withstand harsh conditions because they never developed deep roots.
This is also true with families.
Families need to have the deep roots nurtured with faith and love.
Children develop faith in their childhood when they learn to pray and learn to recognize answers to prayers. Children thrive in families where there is love and support for one another.
One aspect of family life which develops deep roots comes with our family heritage. Family reunions, stories, photographs, and genealogical records strengthen the roots of all family members.
When our family relationships are weakened through death, divorce, or other hardships, the subsequent generations suffer. Sometimes the results are harsh and obvious in the lives of family members. Sometimes the consequences show up in subtle ways but they are there nonetheless.
This is similar to a tree struggling through droughts or storms.
My maternal grandfather, Frederick Marcus Osterhaus, died in 1920. He was only 30 years old when he drown in Galveston Bay. He had been working as a dredger for just two or three weeks. A storm on the Bay caused a boating accident and Grandpa Fred and another man died.
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| Beatrice, Wessel and Barbara |
Helene and the children struggled a great deal over the years. Life was difficult enough for them in the 1920s but later, when the Great Depression came, their lives were almost unbearable.
My mother, Barbara, sometimes mentioned how difficult her childhood was but never explained in much detail because it was too painful.
When I first wanted to learn about our family history in 1977, I asked my mother for information. She didn't know a lot about her heritage but did have contact with some elderly relatives.
My mom talked with her Aunt Lu (Lutitia Pemelia Osterhaus Samuelson) who was born in 1888. Aunt Lu was the older sister of my grandfather and the oldest surviving relative on our Osterhaus side of the family.
Since Fred never had a birth certificate recorded in Chicago, it was Aunt Lu who supplied his complete birthdate. (The date was confirmed many years later by the World War I Draft Registration card filed by Grandpa Fred.)
Additionally, Aunt Lu gave me information about her siblings, including twin sisters and a brother who died as babies.
Aunt Lu also provided me with the information necessary to research my grandfather's heritage in earnest. I am grateful to Aunt Lu for taking time to help me learn about our family.
One of the first and best rules for researching family history is to start talking to the oldest members in the family. These elderly relatives establish the living link for the living generations and those generations which have passed away.
The oldest family members are invaluable for successful research so take time to contact them. They may have the details which can add generations to a family tree. The relationship developed with these relatives will also enrich a family heritage in other ways as well.
Most of all, these relationships nurture and strengthen the root systems on our family trees.
