My Family’s Ancient Past

National Blog Posting Month – June 2013 – Roots

Prompt – How many generations can you go back in your family?  What do you know about your oldest ancestors?

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It’s a funny thing really. I don’t feel like I know very much at all of my ancestry. I’m sure it would be easy to find out, at least some of it. Both of my parents were raised by devout Mormons, and the Mormons have a certain notoriety about genealogy.  I remember my grandmother (my dad’s mom) did a lot of genealogy. I could easily go to the Mormon records and start looking.

However, I’ve never really cared for genealogy nor the Mormon religion (despite being raised in it). These days, I can appreciate genealogy more. It is interesting to know our roots, and I often wish I knew better the origins of my family. (I still don’t care for the Mormon religion, but that’s another story!)

Things I do know are that some great-great (though I actually don’t know how many ‘greats’) grandfather on my dad’s side came over from England as an indentured servant. As I grew up, I was told that it was unclear if my family name of Higgins was the family name of this ancestor or the person he was indentured to. Since then, I’ve been assured that Higgins was his name.

I know that there was some relative that was a doctor during a dark time in Mormon history when a bunch of Native Americans were slaughtered by new immigrants into Utah. I don’t know the details. Maybe one day I’ll learn.

Truth is, both of my parents came from homes where they were treated poorly. The deaths of their parents seemed to be more of a relief than a hardship. Neither one of them have stellar relationships with their siblings. There’s always been tension there. Thus, our family – our ancestry – has never been important. It felt like our family’s history was something meant to be escaped. So I was never interested in it.

As I’ve gotten older, I find that I am a little interested in my family’s past. I know my great-great-something grandfather was a Higgins, but was that English Higgins or Irish Higgins? I’d be interested to know more about that elder Doctor Higgins (if he was a Higgins) and his role in the immigration of white man into Utah.

But my interest is truly academic. I want to know what coat of arms I should carry as a Higgins. I want to know what medicine was like in the 1800’s. That it involves my own history is merely interesting, not a necessity.

For others, understanding their origins is everything. Many like to know how many generations removed they are from the great princes of Europe, for example. I hope my indifference doesn’t offend them. I envy others who have healthy relationships with their extended families, and are interested in their family history. That’s good. I’m happy for them.

I do wish I cared more, but truthfully, my grandparents never treated me well either. My aunts and uncles are not always the friendliest toward my parents, and sometimes weren’t so great to me either. I’m not interested in learning more about them or their family histories. Is that bad?