Everyone has a role to play in preserving our history

As yesterday becomes last week and last month becomes last year and last year becomes ‘when I was a child’, we can find ourselves reflecting on our past and our history and often the question of what should I do about my family history and those special artifacts and documents Grandma cherished and passed on which are now with me. Sometimes we despair because either we have inherited a huge task representing a ‘to-do’ list which brings us well into our 90s, or we are organized but look around and see that no one is really interested.

Some decisions to keep old letters can be purely personal. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, I remember my father writing to his brother in Minnesota every week. It was his quiet time, and I knew to approach his desk with only the most urgent of issues, like where had he put my sled or when could we go down to the pond to skate. I did ask these questions more quietly than usual. When my uncle died about 45 years later, I asked for these letters as I was curious to know what my father shared with his brother while struggling to raise four girls and to make a living on a small farm in Peru. His brother was the only other sibling at the time who understood the passion my father felt for our family farm and who might have come home in a heartbeat to take over should anything have put the farm at risk. And I knew the letters would have been saved as everyone in our family saved letters. Those letters, as it turned out, were destroyed when my uncle died, and his house was cleaned out. Now the existence of these letters and the moments of their creation only remain in my memory and that portion of my Dad’s life they reflected is gone from our family’s history.

Often people come into the County Museum with documents and photos and the question – do you want these? Certainly, we never refuse to consider those bits and pieces of County history which can help to complete the whole of our local history. Ledgers, diaries, and scrapbooks are respected bits that are just sitting in our collection waiting for the right historian to put the picture together. Our CCHA collection contains many letters from our County’s Civil War veterans. The letters tell of the horror of the war mixed with the deep concern soldiers felt for the welfare of their families at home. Children grew up and some died while their fathers were away. Mothers were keeping the farms productive and feeding their families all the while wondering whether this letter they received would be the last. One series of letters at CCHA is from Francis Prairie. Francis faithfully wrote to his wife throughout his Civil War service. The addresses on the top of his letters show the progress of his travels with the 96th New York Infantry. From these nearly 100 letters, donated by one of his descendants, we have a picture of the war, his love for his wife, his concern for his home and even the time he spent in the hospital. We gratefully received this donation along with his uniform button, a lock of hair and his photograph. We have letters too from WWI and WWII veterans which are powerful reminders of the sacrifices the men and women of Clinton County made to keep us whole and safe.

When you approach your new year, after the hustle of the holidays is over, think about the family stories you own and how you will preserve them. Will you write a story like Kristina Parker’s 'You’re Mine', 'Walker and All', or preserve some old photos entrusted to your care like mine of the old farm, or volunteer to transcribe letters found in your favorite museum like Vickie’s Evans did as seen in the publication of 'My Duty is Here'. And too, as an aside, we need to mention that the ability to read cursive is a disappearing skill, and your local Museum will definitely welcome volunteers who have that skill. We would also remind you to put names, dates and places on all your photos.

-This month’s Heritage Corner column was written by Clinton County Historical Association Director Helen Nerska

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