History vs. Legend

The interchange of ideas through online message boards and news groups has helped my journey into the history of my family immensely. I've been able to contact a cousin who shared a full family history interview with my grandmother's sister.  I've learned many ways to search, and places to go for help. And the exchange of ideas confirms what I have always felt about the search for family history - that it is as important to carry along the false ideas and misconceptions as well as the truth. Eventually, those tall tales may come to represent, as much as cold hard facts cannot, the personalities of those who passed them along. 

For those who've guided me, and chided me when I made mistakes, I owe a great debt. I look forward to completing the first section of our family history, and to editing and appending it as time goes on. 

One of the tales I enjoyed hearing was that of my fathers "Granny" - Bertha Ramsey O'Guin. She was a sturdy woman, and she raised my father and his sister after their mother died of tuberculosis.  Dad's sister, Madeline, whom I knew as "Aunt Bo" said granny was just mean to her, and treated Dad like a prince. After their baths at night, granny would line them up and give them a good swat or two on the butt, "for whatever you did that I didn't see."  Her understanding of Granny was that she was 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Indian [to be politically correct, I should say Native American]. However, she spoke german with my grandfather, so either she was quick to pick up languages, or there may have been something more in her background. Bo said they'd speak german when they didn't want the kids to understand what they were talking about.

Among the more recent misconceptions in family history may  relate to Bertha's ancestry. Dad always said she was Cherokee, and came down the Trail of Tears, but later he said she was of the Capaha.  His explanation to me was that this was a branch of the Cherokee tribe, but history says the Capaha [a name common in the Cape Girardeau area] were in the area when the first French and Spanish came along, and there are tales of the honor and dignity with which they met the newcomers. So, is she one, or the other... or perhaps a little of both. Since that would probably be the Ramsey side of the family, to find out more there is a group doing Ramsey family DNA testing I can contact. 

Another area in which Dad seemed to be in error was his belief that the german side of the family was from Heidelberg. I always had assumed he knew what he was talking about, especially after the 70s and the Baader-Meinhof group in that same city made news. However, once I began to look at information, I found Great Grandfather Matthais Bader was listed on as ship as being from 'Brumpelking' - which, as I delved deeper, turned out to be a erroneous transliteration. The family came from a small town called Dunstelkingen, and it is not far from Heidenheim. However, it is quite possible they went through Stuttgart or Heidelberg along the river to the northern seaports as they left Germany. 

I have discovered so much already, and my next big investment will be the Ancestry DNA testing. Expensive, but it will bring so much more to what I have been learning and will help with the narrowing of search areas in some parts of the history. 

Back to the search...