I'm new at this stuff, but I've worked on my family genealogy and it helped me write my book and I've discovered some interesting stories. It might help you all as well.
When I was trying to come up with names for my characters, I already had a big list to choose from - picking from the first or last names, or even their locations.
Their stories were fascinating - the movie JAWS hits more personally when you discover a distant cousin was on the. USS Indianapolis.
There's one story in particular that needs to be told. It's not something that I could do, but maybe someone here could handle it. It includes racial injustice, a grisly double murder, a lynching, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.
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What a great idea. My dad is a geneologist too and I LOVE listening to the family stories he uncovers!
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Great idea, Eddie Lawhorn! I remember hearing stories from my family growing up. Thanks for the idea!
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Hey Eddie, I too am very passionate about my genealogy. You hit on a notion I hold that our most immediate connection to history is through those for whom it isn't. Even for an event centuries in the past, knowing you have direct lineage to it gives the event a personal connection and can help you see the event from a personal, human perspective.
I too often draw from my family tree when picking character names, although I usually do it deliberately for my surrogate character and any characters related to said character.