[a guest post from one of our podcast sponsors, Legacy Tree Genealogists]
At Legacy Tree Genealogists, we have a lot of experience
writing – not just on the part of our researchers, but also by our project
managers and editors, who look over each report and make sure it is ready for
publication. As you can imagine, the daily application of these skills has been
very educational. Here, then, are eleven do’s and don’ts of writing family
biographies using real examples from real biographies that we’ve really written…or
rewritten.
1. Do begin with an
interesting story or detail to engage the reader’s interest.
“With no way of knowing that a ceasefire would be signed
exactly one month later, James Ralph Wilson registered for the Great War draft
on 1 September 1918 in Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama. He was 33 years old. As
a salesman for the Shapleigh Hardware Company of St. Louis, Missouri, James
Ralph Wilson had no home of his own and gave an address at the Edwards Hotel in
Jackson, Mississippi. His nearest relative was his mother, Mrs. R.O. Wilson,
living 250 miles away in Irondale, Alabama.”
2. Don’t use overly
sentimental verbiage.
This is not a romance novel.
“devoted friends”
“tears could never compensate for the loss”
“mother’s arms and sweet lullabies”
“saddened the hearts”
3. Do use wider local
and national historical context to bring your ancestors’ world to life.
“As disastrous as the Civil War was, particularly for the
South, Jonathan was one of the fortunate ones who made it back home alive. This
was especially amazing in view of the fact that his regiment participated in
many of the most gruesome, storied battles of the whole conflict: John’s
baptism by fire occurred at Williamsburg as part of the Peninsula Campaign
shortly after his enlistment. He would also have been involved at the Battle of
Gettysburg in summer 1863, which had the highest death toll of the entire war.”
4. Don’t use clichéd
idioms (unless it is a specific one that plays an important role in your
family’s verbal culture).
“pillar of society”
“across the pond”
“needle in a haystack”
“kill two birds with one stone”
“barking up the wrong tree”
“went over it with a fine tooth comb”
5. Do look outside
typical genealogy sources to glean supplementary details.
“This invoice, for the cutting of cloth for a vest and coat,
suggests that Washington was embarking on some adventure which required a new
suit. Since we know that Washington married his wife, Nancy, in 1843, it is
possible that the new vest and coat were for courting purposes.”
6. Don’t paraphrase
existing biographies or histories. Beware of plagiarism!
Either include a direct quote, or rewrite the facts in a
completely different order in your own words. Footnotes with citations are
always helpful, too!
“‘John P. Osatiuk immigrated to Canada from the village of
Waskevche, Bukovina, in Ukraine and came to the Canora district. He spent the
winter in Canora, married Katie Boychuk of Buchanan. Her family was also from
the village of Waskevche and came to Canada in 1906. They moved to Preeceville
area in 1907 and took up a homestead, south of Lady Lake N.E. 10-35-5.’”[1]
John P. Osatiuk
came to Canada from the small town of Waskevche, Bukovina, Ukraine. He wintered
in Canora and then married Katie Boychuk of Buchanan. Her family also came from
the same village of Waskevche, arriving in 1906. John and Katie took up a
homestead in the Preeceville area in 1907.
7. Do use visuals to
add interest.
If you don’t have photos of your ancestors, consider using
screenshots from Google Maps of places they lived, historical maps, images of
historically-relevant artifacts, or illustrations of historical events.
8. Don’t data-dump.
Hint: If you cross out the names, dates, and places and
there are hardly any words left, you need to rewrite.
“⊠married
⊠
⊠in
⊠.The
couple had nine children, the first six born in ⊠: ⊠
was born ⊠, ⊠was born ⊠,
⊠was
born ⊠, ⊠was born ⊠,
⊠was
born ⊠, and ⊠was born ⊠.”
9. Do include the
hard parts.
It’s good for us to remember that our ancestors were people,
too.
“In 1850, Alden
Harrington was found living among approximately 175 prisoners of the
Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. Interestingly,
the census enumerator recorded the prisoner’s crime in the far right
column—Alden’s was listed as theft. In addition to this extra information, the
enumerator also listed a year next to the prisoner’s name. No notation could be
located in the census that explained this year, though it was likely the year
in which the prisoner entered the prison. Next to Alden’s name was recorded the
year 1850, suggesting that he was imprisoned the year the census was taken. The
crimes of his fellow convicts ranged from murder and rape to horse stealing and
adultery.”
10. Don’t pass
judgment on your ancestors.
Tell the facts and let the readers draw their own
conclusions.
“If Maude’s birthdate is correct (as several documents
will attest), she was only about 13 or 14 years old when she and Howard—who was
18 or 19—married, and she had her first child before the year was out. Although
average age at first marriage has fluctuated historically and often been lower
than we would consider normal in the 21st century, even this degree of youth
was unusual for the time. It appears likely that Maude had found herself pregnant,
and the wedding was hastened in order to legitimize the baby and guarantee
support. It seems that something more than young love must have acted as the
catalyst to the union.”
Change to:
“It is possible that Maude became pregnant, and the teenage
couple married in order to legitimize the baby and guarantee its support.
However, without their marriage record (and its exact date), we can’t know for
certain.”
11. Do ask for help!
Instead of procrastinating indefinitely, let Legacy Tree
Genealogists help you share your ancestors’ stories with the world!
Legacy Tree Genealogists provides full-service
genealogical research for clients worldwide, helping them discover their roots
and personal history through records, narratives, and DNA. Based near the
world's largest family history library in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, Legacy
Tree has developed a network of professional researchers and archives around
the globe. For additional information on services visit https://www.legacytree.com.
Exclusive Offer for Genealogy
Guys followers: Receive $100 off a 20-hour research project using code SAVE100.
The Eurovision Song Contest is a famous international song competition held annually since the 1950’s, primarily among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union. It is the world’s biggest live music event, a hugely popular television event that has been watched live by an average of close to 200 million people in the past 3 years. The contest is hosted by the previous year’s winning country — as Israel won the 2018 competition, Eurovision 2019 will be held in Tel Aviv.
