The whole experience was amazing. Matt was able to perform the baptisms on me for the names that I had. It was really busy that night, and they asked Matt if he could just stick around and perform baptisms for a whole bunch of people! It was the coolest thing EVER to see!! But there was also something extra special about it all. The people we were baptizing, were our ancestors. After being stopped by a very cute little temple worker and having a pretty cool chat with her, I decided it was time that I do my own family history and make sure that the work was done for my own ancestors.
So, I set out to learn the ropes of genealogy. Right now I am taking some Independent Study classes on it through BYU, and at first, I will admit, finding my roots seemed like a daunting task.
I would have to force myself every morning, to just add one more person. I knew it wasn't much, but entering in one person a day was really all I could handle. Until...
Meet Wilford Woodruff Beard. He is my great grandfather. He was born in England and came across the ocean to America where he met his wife Sarah Ann Bradfield and got married. They had 7 children (that I know of).
Rae Ann showed me how to find more than just their information.
It is so much different when you have faces to the names of people you are finding. I also have pictures of his headstone, his death certificate and even his draft registration cards. He has a story. This is now more than a name on a pedigree chart. He is a person. I won't lie to you, I cried when I found this picture. I don't really know why. I guess it's because down the line, I haven't really heard many stories of my ancestors. I thought we had come to America way longer than just 3 generations ago!! It makes you feel differently about yourself and your family when the meaning of heritage finally "clicks", and that someday down the line, one of my children's children might search for information about me! It makes you realize that you want to live in a way that your posterity can be proud to be your descendants!
Anyways, I just thought I'd share, and encourage people to search out your history. It is so rewarding and puts everything more into perspective. :)
3 comments:
Wilford Woodruff Beard holds a bit of fascination for me as well. I took a genealogy class when I was at BYU, and he was a good person to focus on since we actually know a little bit about him. Like that he came over from England a year before the rest of his family. When he was 5.
Also, I would love to know why he's named Wilford Woodruff Beard. Wilford Woodruff the apostle actually had a lot of success in England around the time WWB was born. Did WWB's parents join the church because of WW? I'm not 100% sure on that because the Beard family lived on the opposite side of the country from where WW was preaching. But still!
Another cool moment? Look at the Ellis Island records. The Beard family's names are in there!
Sorry to ramble on so much. Thanks for sharing the picture. It reminds me that I really do need to look into genealogy again. The Beard side may look done-ish, but it's actually pretty messy.
Thank you SO much for sharing!! I didn't even know that he came over alone! And at 5 years old?!?! LOL I would so love to get together with your family sometime and learn what you guys know. My mom mentioned that your dad has TONS of cool information.
I'm making sure that I can prove any information that I find with documentation or pictures of headstones with the dates listed, and I found an obituary for Alice Janiece Sudweeks. (She was Wilford and Sarah's granddaughter) I guess she was a genealogist and published several volumes about her family history!! So, it would be interesting to see what she has found! But it's cool to see how we're related to so many super cool people who did amazing things in the church! Although it's also very humbling at the same time. :)
But you are right, the Beard side is still pretty messy. I have found on new.familysearch.org that Wilford and Sarah's son, Wilford WoodroW is listed to Sarah as a spouse as well as Mable, Wilford's sister, is listed as Wilford WoodruFF's daughter. LOL! Anyways, it sounds like you're a million times more experienced than I am. So if you get the itching to get into it, maybe we can share info that we find with each other. I'd feel much better working with someone. :) My email address is alimower@hotmail.com. Send me your email address and I'll send you all the pictures and documents that I find if you'd like.
Sorry, that's really from me (Alicia), not Matthew.. I must be signed in under his name. LOL
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