Perhaps one of the greatest challenges family historians face, apart from breaking down brick walls, is writing a compelling story about an ancestor that our family members will read. As much as we genealogists like dates and all the minute details we uncover about our ancestors’ lives, that level of information often bores the average person.
Some of the best ways to learn how to produce fascinating stories is to write — and write often, ask friends for feedback, and read family stories written by others.
An example of an interesting family story is Inside the wild Canadian past of the Trump family, by Jason Markusoff that appears in the October 13 issue of Maclean’s magazine.
Gentlemen and prospectors standing at the White Pass & Yukon Railroad Station in Alaska, 1900. Downloaded from flickr.com.
While some information for the story has been taken from a book about the Trump family, much of the colour of the story comes from research into the history of the gold rush in the Yukon and Alaska.
In the summer of 1897, a ship of grubby and suddenly wealthy prospectors arrived with news of a big gold strike in Canada’s remote northern reaches, near Dawson in the Yukon territory.
Note in this story how dates are used and how a reference to the 1901 Canada census is made.
The 1901 Canadian census counted 27,000 Yukon residents, more than Vancouver had at the time. A decade later, the territorial population plunged by two-thirds.
Yes, there are several references in the article to the upcoming US election, which some may want to ignore. Remember Maclean’s is a current affairs magazine. Instead of ignoring the political references, however, look at how they are used to compare an ancestor’s traits to one of his descendants.
Great example of a compelling story based on genealogical research, Gail. Thanks.
I agree. Several good family history writing lessons in this article.