Dear Reader,

Ancestral stories fascinate me. I love the television series Roots, with Alex Haley, and another genealogy show – Who Do You Think You Are? Both shows follow famous people as they trace their family history. They unveil stories of strength and heartache when the producers of the show help guide celebrities through hundreds of years of files, old records, oral history and many other ways of finding ancient relatives. For example, actress Sarah Jessica Parker’s tenth great grandma was one of the unfortunate women who lived in the irrationally frenzied time in history of the Salem Witch Trials. She was accused and arrested of witchcraft.  Of course the facts were not true, but instead, were the rantings of a hysterical 17-year-old. This past grandma of Sarah’s was not convicted because, a day before her trial, the prosecution of witchcraft was abolished in Salem.  Do you have an interesting story from your family history, Reader?

The stories remind all of us that we have history. Alex Haley, author and host of the show Roots, says – “In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage – to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness.” 

Some of us have been fortunate to trace our family lines. Others many not have any idea where to start in our thirst for information about our past. Gail Lewis and her friends at the Longmont Genealogy Society have been on a path to find their own history and to share the how-to knowledge of that search with others. 

Gail, now 71, grew up in Iowa. Gail’s dad loved animals and they raised English Pointer dogs. They also owned horses, pheasant, quail, cats, and some unusual pets such as foxes, squirrels and coyotes. One of the delightful stories in Gail’s history –being the hopeless romantic that I am – was her romance to her husband, Bernie. It started when Gail was in 7^th grade and Bernie was in 8^th grade. Bernie still remembers the yellow dress Gail wore the first time he saw her. From that first meeting, they liked each other and by high school they were going steady. Gail never dated anyone else.

1965 was an important year for the couple. Gail graduated from high school, and the next day, she and her family moved to Denver, Colorado. Bernie joined the Navy. Right before he left for boot camp, he asked Gail to marry him. She said yes! They saw each other when Bernie returned from boot camp. Then, for the next two years they had to live miles from each other because Bernie was stationed in Spain and served in Vietnam. 

Finally, in 1967, Bernie and Gail married.  “I sold my car to pay for the wedding – a 57 Chevy,” Gail said. The car sold for five hundred dollars, and Gail and Bernie flew home to Iowa for their wedding and a lake-front honeymoon. Then they drove to Florida – where they lived during Bernie’s last year of military service. While in the Navy, Bernie had learned to fly and while in Florida he got his private pilot’s license. 

By 1968, they moved back to Denver and Bernie started college. “He got a four-year degree in three years and all his flight ratings at the same time,” Gail said. Bernie has a degree in Aerospace Technology with a minor in Marketing. During their second year of marriage they, with a college buddy, bought their first airplane.  

Now married 52 years, Gail is retired as an assistant to a Wells Fargo bank manager in Longmont. She was also a Colorado realtor. Bernie is a retired chief pilot of an aviation department. They live in a home that twenty-three years ago, they designed and built. It is their dream home in Erie, ten miles south-east from Longmont. That first airplane, in 1968, was only one of 16 planes they have since owned.  They spend their winters in Arizona in a 55+ community and they travel often. 

In fact, Bernie and Gail have flown as far north as Alaska, and they’ve been to several different places in Mexico. They’ve also flown as far west as the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington and cross country to the East Coast. “We’ve flown to probably 47 states,” Gail reminisces. 

Bernie taught Gail to fly in 1985. After she received her license, they would share flying duties. Gail says, “Bernie thinks about, dreams about, and talks about flying. That is his interest”.  Now that they are both retired, Bernie flies and Gail navigates and they still take between four to six trips a year. Gail said they’ve seen Niagara Falls, whales, dolphins, the Grand Canyon, cloud formations, inside of storms, glaciers and volcanoes. “We saw Mt. St. Helen right after it blew – the sulfur smell was so strong.” Gail said about these birds’ eye view of nature – “God created beauty. It is awesome.”

Gail had a hunger to know about her family history. Both her great-great grandmother and her great- grandmother on her father’s side of the family were married several times. Because of the numerous marriages, Gail said, “I had all these family members, but I didn’t know how everyone was related to me.’” So in 1972, starting on her Dad’s side of the family with a four inch thick 3-ring binder, Gail started to trace her ancestry. That’s all it took. “I got the bug!” she said. Then she started on her mom’s side of the family to track those relatives too. Many years and eight notebooks later, she had a good grasp of her predecessors. In 1976, she entered all the information from those notebooks into a software program called Family Tree Maker.

As they sought their family heritage, Bernie and Gail went to visitor centers, cemeteries, libraries, court houses and knocked on doors to visit possible relatives all around the country. As well, Gail has become the unofficial family historian of her large family, and it is not uncommon, as family members die, for relatives to send Gail their family photo albums and historical notes. 

Twice they visited Salt Lake City’s Latter Day Saints library. Gail told me it is the one of the most comprehensive libraries of ancestry information. She explained that they are the agency that provides information for the Ancestry.com and Family Search.org websites. Gail and Bernie also traveled to Europe many times and on one of their trips they went to Blumenstein, Switzerland to visit a home where relatives of Gail’s mother have lived for over 220 years. Is your ancestry important to you Reader?

In Arizona, where Gail and Bernie winter, there was a need in their community for someone to teach activities. So in 2007, Gail volunteered to oversee many different art classes and genealogy. “I tried to make teaching genealogy fun”, she said. For example, Gail brings chocolate kisses, and if participants ask a good question or answer a question correctly, she “throws them a kiss”.

If you drew your family tree on a piece of paper, it would be names on a page. Gail wants her students to think about the lives of those relatives listed on the family tree. She asks questions such as – Where did they go to school? Did they have a school? What was the home like? Did they live in a log cabin? When the census takers knocked on relatives’ doors who was home and answered the questions? Were the parents in the fields? Were their children in the house answering the census questions? Did the family member know the right dates and full names and spellings of his or her relatives? What was the context in history? 

By 2017, Gail joined the Longmont Genealogy Society and began teaching classes there too. She introduced different workshop topics such as “finding graves”, “familysearch.org”, “how can we get from beginner to intermediate”, and “ancestry.com”. 

Last year she stopped teaching everything except gourd decorating and genealogy classes. She created a genealogy class at the Longmont Public Library and fellow Longmont Genealogy Society members come along as volunteers.  Visitors of the class often have questions such as how to get started in their genealogy search. Others are working on a specific area of family research and want to know how to get more information. She has also developed field-trips. For example, participants go to the Denver Public Library to learn how to use that library for research. It is on Gail’s to-do list to plan a trip to the National Archives and Records – a records storage facility on Highway 7 in Broomfield, Colorado.

When asked about some family tidbits from her own family ancestry, Gail said, “I’m proud of the military service of my family.” One fact I found delightfully interesting, is that the second president of our country – John Adams – is Gail’s seventh-great uncle.  Reader, do you have a famous relative in your family tree?

I don’t completely agree with Alex Haley that I am “lost” without knowing my family tree – but I speak from one who has that ancestral knowledge. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.” I hope, as my granddaughter and grandson gets to know me, they will see the depth and strength of my roots in my faith and the character of who I am today. 

In January, I will share some of my more poignant family stories with the Longmont Genealogy Society. In preparation for this speaking event, I have gone back in time to old pictures, stories and records. I’ve discovered facts I did not know. I found heart-warming stories of generosity – as well as people who made difficult choices in their path for freedom. I was quite surprised to find my DNA history. One of my expectations with the Genealogy Society will be to learn from their experiences as I continue this path of ancient knowledge. 

Last month’s blog included many stories of our Colorado history. We learned how past famous characters such as Jesse James, Bob Ford, and Kit Carson intersected their lives with local Longmont resident Dr. Al Carr’s ancestors. Many times over, readers responded with either their knowledge of Dr. Carr as a well-respected doctor for their family or the fascination and interest in all of the history shared. Thank you to Lydia, Nettie, Hena, David, Ann, Sharron, Terry, Beth, Linda, Sheble, Debe, Barb, Hazel, Maria, Mark, Jane and Diana. Readers, feedback is always one of my most favorite aspects of the blog. I like hearing your connection and sometimes emotional response to the writings. For example, Susana, a local resident said she wants to learn more about Longmont now that she has been teased by this history thus far. Reader Jan, from the East Coast said about the Carr tales: “This is a real live “Centennial” by James Michener… Loved reading Al’s family history. Who we are is who we were!”

Until next month, peace be at your side, 

Debbie Noel

We have several ways to interact with Debbie!

• Email her at DroppingInWithDebbie@gmail.com

• Register at the blog site (very bottom of the page) to have your comments viewed online

• Send your letters to:

Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501

 

Gail’s gourds are for sale. If you would like to buy one, please contact her at gslewis222@gmail.com 

Debbie Noel will be speaking at the Longmont Genealogy Society meeting on January 8, 2020 at 1 pm. Longmont Genealogy Society meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, 1 to 3 pm at First Lutheran Church located at 803 3rd Avenue in Longmont. The meetings in July and December include a pot luck luncheon and begin at Noon. Meetings are open to anyone and participants meet in the “Friendship Center” room which is on the street level. It is accessed by the west door that faces 3rd Avenue.   There are two parking places, one on 3^rd avenue and parking is also available on the West side of the building with a stairway leading to the upper level. No registration is required. There are no fees. For more information, go to the Longmont Genealogy Society website at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~colgs/ 

The Genealogy Class at the Longmont Public Library is open to anyone – whether you are new to genealogy research or an expert. The class meets on the 4th Saturday of every month from 10 am to noon on the 2nd floor behind the librarian’s desk. There is no registration and no fees.

Photo of President John Adams courtesy of the Library of Congress: John Adams, second president of the United States of America 1 print : lithograph. Date: 1814