Quarryville Man Takes Up Heritage Quest
"My story is closely intertwined with my mother's," said Jacob Farneth of Quarryville. Jacob took over the mission of his mother, Margo, to research their family history following her death in 2019. "I have been honored and blessed to take up that mantle and try to step into those shoes," said Jacob.
Jacob inherited all the research his mother had done on their family tree. Before she passed, the two discussed what she had completed, tracing some family members back to the early 1600s, and where he would pick up to move forward. While Jacob and his mother shared an interest in genealogy, he noted that their paths diverge in some areas. "There are different strategies to researching your tree," he said, noting that his mother wanted to see how far back she could trace her family, while he is more interested in the width of the tree and locating living family members. "We both cared very much about the tree, but we had different priorities," he explained.
He has spent time retracing his mother's steps in order to connect with her thought process. He specified that the decision on when to add an ancestor to a tree involves a personal philosophy. "The further you go back, there are a lot of assumptions," he shared, adding that many factors come into play. Often, he noted, the name will be misspelled. "Sometimes names were never written down because people couldn't write or read," he said.
Jacob is thankful to have found other family members who are also tracing their roots. "It seems there are one in 20 family members who are really interested, and if enough family members are interested in piecing the little trees together, eventually you can connect them," he said. While noting that internet technology is helpful in bringing together branches to form a larger picture, Jacob does not discount first-hand research. "If you meet a great-aunt at a reunion, ask questions and advance the tree a little further," he suggested. "Every day you wait, it gets harder to do this research. It's easier to go to a living relative and ask them questions. When they're gone, you lose that."
Jacob said he has used http://www.ancestry.com intermittently, but he practices social etiquette when approaching possible relatives via social media. "You have to ask permission to dig into family trees," he said. "You have to ask permission to add data (about someone else to your tree)." He noted that he has sent messages to possible family members asking politely to include them. "You have to be respectful. ... You don't want to bother them, but you want information," he stated, adding that although Farneth is not a common name, he sometimes comes across potential family members and tries to find a shared ancestor.
Jacob encourages others who are interested in finding their own beginnings to follow their curiosity and continue to work to put the puzzle pieces into place, even if the process moves slowly. Finding other family members who are also searching is a bonus. "If you look wide enough, you will probably find family members who will encourage and inspire you and make it a collaborative effort," he said.
Leave a Review