35 Cs 71 AZ INTRODUCTION. "He who careth not from whence he came careth little whither he goeth." GENEALOGY is a subject of peculiar interest to those only of whom it treats, and is too often neglected even by those of kindred blood. At first sight, nothing seems less attractive than a mere register of names and dates of past generations personally unknown to us. But if we reflect that each name here recorded is a memorial of a human heart that once lived and loved, that had its joys and sorrows, its cares and burdens, its hopes and fears, conflicts and achievements, opportunities of life improved or wasted, it will illumine those generations with the light of a living reality. How important each of those dates to some circle of loving and confiding human hearts! When human life approaches the boundary between the great world of the seen and the far greater world of the unseen, among the few aspirations which then cluster around the soul is a strong desire that something may remain, some simple memento that such an individual once lived. To the living representatives of each family circle is committed the sacred trust of perpetuating its memories. One of the best memorials of the " dear departed" is a genealogical history distributed among the families of the living, which thus inspires them with a deeper interest in bequeathing to future generations a connected and complete family history. |
