Legacy

I know of no word that has undergone more transition in my lifetime than the word “legacy”. The book, the Bible, written by God, involves more about legacy or forebearers than anything else. The Bible is a true history book, a true genealogy book, a book for every purpose, an answer to every question. Prophet and poets were known by their ancestors; in speaking of a Biblical character, you always had a resume of genealogy.

The early power brokers of the world were involved in genealogy. Some of you just watched a royal wedding in England, where much legacy and genealogy were involved. We hear of American politicians speak of their legacy...Clinton, Bush, Carter, etc. We have one in the White House now without legacy, and with questionable forebearers. I have heard two experts in investigation say that nothing can be learned about the man, just much conjecture.

Many books have been written about genealogy, some spend a lot of time tracing their genealogy, and many find much pride in their genealogy (The Mayflower Society, etc.). One of my cousins spent much time and money establishing her son in the Sons of the American Revolution. The Daughters of the American Revolution is perhaps the world's best known genealogy group, next to the Mormon church.

A young man from Arizona applied for a job from me recently. He told me that his mother was in prison, and that she had been in prison for a long time for trafficking in drugs. I met a young lady who told me that she had adopted two children whose parents were in prison because of drugs. I have known young men who had never seen their father...knew nothing about their own genealogy. Think of the dismay of these individuals when they study their ancestry, it's no wonder so many young people think they come from pond scum.

As an antiquarian book collector, at auctions, buying boxes of books, you would be surprised how many family Bibles are just discarded, containing family genealogy records. At one time this was the chief source of family information, along with family graveyards. One of my cousins was interested in locating the burial place of our great great grandparents. I told him of the church cemetery where I had been told the graves were located. I said, “another cousin, investigating before you, told me the gravestones had been laying on the ground for a very long time, evidently knocked over by a storm.” She had gotten the information she wanted from the grave markers, and I told her I would help her pay the expenses of getting the tombstones set back up.

There is nothing as forgotten as the family graveyard...legacy, buried and forgotten. I have advised many churches, particularly rural churches, churches where family bloodlines were so important. that they should have a gallery in the church, walls covered with pictures, labeled, of long-dead, but important church and family members (church ball teams, choirs, pastors, etc.). I gave the money for this in one church where all the previous pastors' pictures were displayed. Those who gave so much should be appreciated more.

Along with books and other memorabilia that I have collected in buying antiquarian books, magazines, almanacs, and catalogs, there were often military documents. It bothers me to think of men who gave so much in the military having their photographs, orders, and decorations just thrown away. Even in my own family, old photographs of probably very important people, with nothing written on the back so no one could make a record. In olden times, photographs were very rare, very expensive. Even in my lifetime, photography was rare. Many grandchildren--and certainly great grandchildren--have no idea about their ancestry, their appearance, etc. On her death bed, my oldest aunt said to me, “you look just like grandpa.” Knowing now, knowing when he died, she was probably the only grandchild who remembered him. At the time, and for many years, I had a mustache. Finding a marked photograph of him, as was the case with many men of his time, he had a mustache; and everyone said, when comparing our pictures, very much the same.

I attended a municipal meeting in the boardroom of a large bank, it had been the headquarters of the founding bank. The walls were covered with portraits of past bankers of distinction, former banking board members whose easily recognized names almost gave a history of the city, the city's industry, department stores, etc. Most of the time, businesses, civic clubs, fraternal orders, even churches give little honor to past legacy.

Many of my relatives thought God was narrow-minded--that it was impertinent and excessive, even down-right unholy, to show pride or affection toward ancestry...that here and now is all the matters. I am very thankful for my legacy, my ancestry, my hard-working, God-fearing, attentive parents, grandparents, right on back, who passed the true values of life through the generations. I want my progeny to have the same values with which I was instilled, the fortress of Christian faith, the honor of hard work, the values of education, decency, personality, servitude to both God and man.

In my ancestry, the greatest values: God, family, and country. As far back as I can investigate, my family had four interests, the church house, the schoolhouse, their house and the houses of their neighbors. Their legacy, my ancestors built the local churches, built and supported the local schools, hard work, conservatism in their own farms, homes, businesses and professions. Loving and giving, not only to one another, but to neighbors. I could give many examples in my home; during the Great Depression, a large black family, the Bunn family, living on the land since the days of slavery. Mr. Ben Bunn came to my mother's door, “Ms. Sally, my children are starving. Do you have any food?” Many starved during the Great Depression. She gave me a large paper bag and said, “Thomas, go to the potato hill and fill this bag.” She went to the “smokehouse” (outside building where meats and other foods were stored) and got large bags of pork bones and hominy grits. That food kept his family alive.

Aunt Caddy, my great grandfather's sister, was a teacher at the two-room school. My father was chairman of the school board of the large, consolidated school. Today, 40 million Americans, 15 years or older, are illiterate. There is no excuse for this. 100 years ago, it was hard to find an illiterate person, black or white, in eastern North Carolina.

In 1953, DNA was discovered. I still believe this is the greatest discovery in the 20^th Century. Each of the billions of cells in your body gives thousands of pages of information about your genealogy...our looks, your health characteristics, your personality. Your greatest genealogical characteristic, you were designed and chosen by the very Hand of the Creator of the universe to be who you are at this time in history.