Professional genealogist Amy Johnson Crowe, wrote a great column on documenting the lives of our farming ancestors. I can identify with all of this, having had many ancestors who farmed the land. Following is a teaser. The rest of her article includes the good stuff.
How many times have you heard (or said), “My ancestors were plain ol’ farmers”? Or “My ancestors were pretty boring.” (I’ve said that one!) Plain, boring ancestors aren’t the result of their personality; it’s from our lack of building context for them. Most ancestors didn’t leave diaries for us to read, but there are still ways we can learn about the lives they led. Here are some sources to explore to build context for farming ancestors.
