Old stories!! Who is going to know them in the future!

I enjoy telling and hearing stories about people. I grew up in an era that you did not have electronic entertainment. I can remember going to my Grand Parent's house every Sunday night. The adults would set around and tell stories about family and friends. Us kids would be playing on the floor listening to these stories.

I know stories about people that are long gone. I have them on my Great Grand parents, my parents and friends that lived on the farms around us. These days you can't get families together like that very often and then you are busy catching up on their lives to be able to reminisce about time gone by.

I have tried to record them but it is just not the same as setting there with people around you listening about those long gone by. I often wonder what we are losing with all of the fancy stuff we have today. Are we really better off??? I know medically we are but the family/community is not.

I guess many of them will die with me. None of my kids is a good story teller. I am not claiming to be either but I maybe the last in the family.

Best way is to write a book, i love reading and wish I could put my thoughts, memory's and knowledge on paper. So far I haven't got to far!

Some people like to research their family history and family tree. They come up with names and dates. I don't see anything very exciting about a list of names, but knowing their life stories would be much better as I see it.

I took my grandmother, my father, and my mother on seperate trips, to places where they lived, worked, ect and video recorded them telling there stories. A lot of wisdom passed down to future generations. They are all gone now but the stories will live on.

My Mama could tell family history like a scholar and I regret to this day not having a hidden tape recorder there to catch it all. She wouldn't have talked as well if she knew she was being taped. Her daddy had 11 siblings and I'm living in the 1885 house that her uncle built on the farm. My Daddy was a former truck driver/mechanic and he could tell some tales too! Old Jerry Clower was my favorite celebrity comic/storyteller!

Had an old neighbor died at home at 94. I use to sit with him and he would tell stories that when on around here for hours. Stories about people back in the 30's and 40's. Horses he used for farming etc. Working from daylight to after dark. I miss that, but I'll carry them on as long as I'am around. He would always start a story off by (Back in the good old days).

That's one of the most tragic parts of loosing my dad back in 2010. All the stories that I'd heard a million times-I'd love to hear one more time!!

Ironic that in an age of computers with almost unlimited memory that many very important things are being lost forever.My grandmother lived with us and lived to be 95 she told me many great old stories and I've remembered most of them.I can tell you details about the Civil War and my Great
Great Grandfather that served in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia,no one cares about them anymore.

I had an aunt that spent over 25 years compiling our family history. She took it back to my 12GGF and 3 generations in England....even wrote a book about it...and I am the youngest (at 66 yo.) of my generation.

What Aunt Pearl did NOT do was tell us "where" these folk were buried. I'm having quite a time trying to determine that information. I've got benefit of a computer...she did NOT.

You are so correct about wanting to "know their life's stories"...start today, even if the story doesn't seem like much. Often when you repeat to Uncle George what Cousin Sam said about Aunt Sadie, you'll get another story "even better".

I collected a few stories several years ago to present a "program" at our family reunion...all purportedly TRUE stories. One of my favorites was about one of Dad's cousins talking of his milk production...he was "getting a quart, pint, and a little bit".

Happy FAMILY hunting....

Rick

After my Grandpa died in 2000, we found his diary. It was mostly stuff that happened on the farm that week. Some weeks he wrote nothing. I found it fascinating! I hope my Dad has a copy of that-I think so!

JAY...Read my reply above. I want to do an addendum to my Aunt's book with just some general information about locations and pictures of grave markers, cemeteries, old churchs/cathedrals, etc.

I would not want to try "adding/updating" her book...somebody would get left out, etc. and I just don't want that sort of drama.

Please do yourself and YOUR FAMILY a real service and start compiling the information statistics and stories.

Rick

You bet , Jerry Clower was great. The first time I heard him , my Dad and brother were plowing snow with the pickup and I was plowing with the 4WD loader and the pickup quit plowing. After a few minutes I went over to check on them
and they were there just laughing there a**es off.I think the best one I ever heard was the
" Banana Train" Haven't heard him in years , I need to find some of my old records and cassetes.

Write them down...your Great Grand children may come to appreciate the effort.

Rick

Yes, computers have great memories and can store very large amounts of text and data. But you had better print it on paper if you want it to last. In a few years from now most home computers won't be able to read the files created today. Look at what happened to 3-1/2" floppy drives.

I remember as a kid going over to my grandparents house in South Bend, IN. one Saturday with my father. That was long before color TVs, and black and whites were not so old. Dad and I went in through the kitchen and talked to Grandma, before I went searching for Grandpa and found him sitting on the livingroom sofa with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. He was a huge Cubs fan and the game was on his radio. "Whatcha doing Grandpa", I asked him. He never opened his eyes and said "Just watching the game". As a little kid with the TV over to the side and off, and the radio playing, I didn't understand what he meant. But now that I'm older, I've sat back with my eyes closed and a smile across my face and been at more Blackhawk hockey games through the radio than I can begin to count. "...fights his way to the crease, he shoots, he scores, HAWKS WIN! HAWKS WIN! HAWKS WIN!". Aint no sport in the world like cold steel on ice.

Thanks Grandpa. RIP.

Mark

Shoot up amongkus one of us needs some relief.

My dad died 15 years ago, but he and my uncle Larry used to go to a reunion twice a year of their old Army oufit from WWII. I now go to a ship's reunion from Vietnam years, but it's nothing like Pop's. They quit holding them about 3 years ago, and we still went with Mom. We started recording some of the stories. Most funny, some tragic, others quite frightening. Many of the vets were just starting to open up about their interupted lives after 1942. And quite candidly, at that. Pop and Uncle Larry said it really did them good, but they couldn't talk about it for years. It frightened them, and haunted them. But it also made them the "Greatest Generation".

If you are lucky enough to be able to listen to them, do so. It's well worth it.

Not to hijack the thread I volunteer at the county nursing home and am fascinated by some of the stories and information these people have just for the asking.

Most are working folk and have lots of stories. I always feel uplifted when I leave.

Brad

My home county museum has a living history library. Actual recordings of oldtimers telling about their families. Kinda fun to go there and listen to my uncle/godfather and my aunt. They and all the other siblings have been gone for decades.

Vic - I think that word was "amungstus", which kinda means, loosely interpreted, of course, anywhere in the general area of us. Used in the context that Jerry used it, it means: hopefully hitting either the lynx or the guy with the stick, 'cause, "One of us gots to have some relief!".

I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard that story. It was a dark night about 10 PM, on my way home from welding class, probably 1975. I had to pull over because I was laughing too hard to see the road through the tears.

Paul

Here is a story of the early life of my dad's family and life on the prairie of ND. Grandma was a real pioneer woman.

Hope this link works.

http://www.museumoftheperson.org/?p=21
Untitled URL Link

Seems like the ones who did the most say the least.

My wife's oldest brother was awarded the Silver Star in Korea, and the rest of us didn't even find out until after he passed away several years ago.

I am working with my Dad now. At 91 his mind is still sharp, and has writen down many stories about the area and people here.
We have 100s of them. Each is anywhere fron a 1/2 page to 2 pages long that I have on the computer and hard copies. Some day it will be a book.
3 years ago we put up a Hay stack on the salt marsh here as a family program.
We had 5 generations working on it.
All are the oldest Son of their generation, and all have the same last name.

My Mom was a walking family history book, and my next older brother Danny was always fascinated by her stories. The rest of us (5 brothers) didn't bother to pay attention, because whatever we wanted to know, we knew that Danny would remember. Mom died in 1984, and Danny died suddenly of a massive heart attack in 1990. Dang. I wish I'd paid more attention to her stories. . .

One of my good old neighbors was in the nursing home. Once around Veteran's Day I happened to be visiting him and noticed a little hand written sign that said, "I'm A Vet!", put there by the N.H. staff. I said, "Russ, I didn't know you were a Vet - were you in WWII?" "Yep" "What theatre?" "Europe" "What was your duty?" "Gunner on a tank". From there he had me spellbound for hours that afternoon, telling about the worst situations he'd been in - how the tank operated, what kind of engine, how and why to latch the carbines down, flipping hand grenades back out of the hatch net as they passed through the little villages, outrunning their supplies and then getting trapped and nearly running out of fuel and ammo, the little "Maytag?" engine that ran a generator to keep the batts charged so they could swing the turret and show that they were still a threat. He had me on the edge of my seat. At his wake, I mentioned to his son how I had enjoyed his stories that day. Son said, "He never said a word to us about his war experience."

what a great read . My dad and grandfather tell stories of homesteading in North dakota . Thank you.

JD, I have been concerned about the way things such as you mention are going for some time. I think one reason families and neighbors don't get together and pass the time like they used to is because they don't build front porches on houses anymore. At least not around here. And the old country service station is gone so there is no place for the local men to goss, er, discuss the world situation. Maybe in some states it hasn't changed that much, but it sure has around here. When I was young I would hang out at a friends gas station and listen to the older men tell their tales. I kinda miss that.

As a little boy, I remember my Dad telling about his being washed overboard, in the middle of fierce winter storm, Jan. 1918. It was about 9:00 PM (war time black-out rules applied) He said his ship looked to be about ten miles away, then he was flying toward it! He said he grabbed hold of the railing, and climbed back aboard, and never told anyone about the event. I always thought of it as one of his "war stories" and never thought about it again. UNTIL one night with nothing but time to spend I checked his"war story" out I was shocked to my core, it was all true. I've taken too much of your time already...Bob
God Bless

I very much agree that everyone should start writing family information down, beginning now. I started writing things down about 15 years ago, but by then my mother was the only old-timer left. I did tape record several conversations with her.

I have very little information about my dad’s family. For one thing, my grandfather was an only child, and was just a baby when his father died (more about that in a moment.) My grandmother was an orphan raised by relatives. It appears that both of Dad’s parents were illiterate (my grandmother signed legal documents with an “X”), so any history we have is oral.

I began wanting to learn more about my great-grandfather a number of years ago when an old family “treasure” was passed along to my custody and care. It was the shirt my GGF was wearing the day he was shot dead in the street of his (and my) hometown. The oral history said that GGF had gone into town on some errand when he got into a run-in with a belligerent drunk inside or outside a saloon. GGF was trying to quietly ride out of town when the drunk came out of the saloon and shot him in the back with a load of buck. This happened sometime in the late 1870s because my grandfather, who was only a toddler at the time, was born in 1876. The shirt, which I still have, clearly shows a tight pattern in the center of the back, and the bloodstains which would not rinse out. GGF was buried in the little cemetery back of the town, and when the Sabine River flooded in later years it reportedly washed his grave away.

I didn’t even know his name until I found him in the official Confederate enlistment records. He joined the 19th Louisiana Infantry Regiment in December, 1862 and was paroled out in May, 1865. During that time he and his regiment were at Shiloh (the Hornet’s Nest); Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta (and several battles on the way to Atlanta), Franklin and Nashville. He was wounded (slightly, apparently) the second day at Chickamauga. He spent the last few months of the war as a POW. I know all this by researching his records and his regiment’s records.

I consider it very ironic that he went through all that with little damage, only to return and be shot at home. I still don’t know who shot him, or what became of that guy .

I understand what your saying 100 % I have a great time when I go to pa and sit at my neighbors grandmothers kitcken table, I feel honored to be invited into her little house and she often cooks lunch or supper for me,while she tells me of history in the area,or teaches me how to plant potatoes or turnips,tells me the best time to do it too. She is in great shape ,except her knees hurt and she has a little trouble getting around,that does not stop her from riding her wheelhorse lawntractor. Last season I planted a row of early potatoes and some vegetables up in her meadow which is next to our property, she rode up there with her wheelhorse and cart and harvested each day what she needed, She cooks potatoes and meat everyday for her grandson,who farms our land and several other farms in the area and his grandmothers farm,. I know this became a long winded story,but just wanted to explain how much I enjoy being part of an older persons life,and how interesting it can be.

The untitled link in "Loren in Mn" links to a great story about what old farmers in North Dakota went thru and those who still do that live in rural upper midwest. I would suggest that the time to read is well spent! Thanks LOREN for posting it

I'm 24, any time I can set down with my granddad and listen to stories I do it. I usually hear several of them when we are working on equipment. I wonder the same thing to. I wosh I could remember all the stories he has told me.