TIP #552 - THE PERFECT FAMILY I was working on my family tree the other night; worked quite late in fact and I was getting very sleepy. But I wanted to get my Perfect family entered into my genealogy files. I'd like to introduce you to some of that family if you don't mind, they were very interesting.. Their names were Paul and Petula Perfect. They lived in the 1800's with their typical family which included children Patience, Peter, Priscilla, Paddy, Pearl and Patrinka. Paul Perfect was a handsome young man; came of good parentage, excelled in the common schools and was a hard worker and good provider for his Perfect family. Although birth records were not kept at his birth in 1790, his mother wrote down a copy of his birth in the family Bible and passed the Bible on down to Paul when he married. Her handwriting was absolutely as perfect as could be; there could be no doubt as to the spelling of the name or the date of birth. She had even traced the family tree back to the 1400's along with a lot of notes along the way so there would be no question. When Paul and Petula married, Mama Perfect noted the occasion well in that old family Bible; she even wrote down the time and place of the wedding and the name of every one who attended the festive occasion and if they were relatives or friends. Petula, Paul's bride, was Petula Nearlyperfect., a charming and beautiful pioneer woman with a lot of intelligence herself. She loved Paul very much and wanted to make him happy, so she entered all of her family information on another page in the Perfect family Bible. As Patience, Peter, Priscilla, Paddy, Pearl and Patrinka were born, she dutifully made notes as to their names, dates and times of birth, the name of the doctor or midwife, and comments on who in the family they were named for. If the child had flaming red hair and looked like Uncle Puddington, this little note was included too. As Paul and Petula lived their daily lives, a journal was kept of every day's activities. They noted what church they went to, who was the pastor, the names of the other church members, baptismal dates, when they joined the church, when they changed their membership; no detail was too small to be omitted. Being good neighbors, Paul and Petula Perfect noted all their neighbors and friends; even listed their children. They gave directions to the friend's farms and mentioned barn raisings, births and deaths, storms, crop failures, when they bought or sold livestock. Paul and Petula Perfect were perfectionists. When Paul Perfect volunteered in the War of 1812, he kept a daily journal of the battle. He noted every battle he was engaged in, the names of his commanding officers, where they fought, the miles traveled and little incidents that were important to him. Back at home, Petula was handling raising the children on her own quite well, after all she was nearly perfect. She wrote down everything so she wouldn't forget to tell Paul when he came home. She told of how the crops fared, who came to visit, news of the county; everything that he might like to learn. When Paul Perfect returned from service, he became very involved in community affairs. He was always the first one to pay his taxes and assured that the County Clerk spelled his name right. When the census taker came by, Paul invited him in and verified that every bit of information requested was given correctly. He even decided to run for public office and his life there was an open book. He served on juries and there was seldom a day when something wasn't written about him. He even made a big proposition once that instead of using those great big books at the County Clerk's office that were so hard to handle, that a smaller book would be used - lightweight with removable pages so people could easily retrieve the data in case they needed it. Sadly, this proposal was never adopted. He also tried to invent ink that wouldn't fade out with time, but could find nothing that lasted any longer. When he made entries in the various books, he wrote neatly and insured that no coffee stain, cigar ash or tear would spoil a word - especially a name. Paul Perfect, always thinking, also decided that all documents were to be kept safe from fire, flood or other danger. He devised a plan of making backup copies of everything that were stored in a separate facility so that if the originals were lost or destroyed, he'd have a spare copy so that nothing would be lost. Petula was content to stay at home as was the custom of the day and tend to the children and the sewing. When she needed supplies, she would ride the family horse to the mercantile where she insisted that the clerk wrote down every item she purchased and its cost. Her family was always well dressed and well taught at home as well as at school. As time passed, each child grew up and married into good families, all of course noted in the family Bible. And when Paul and Petula reached their elderly years, they knew what they must do. Each wrote a will and kept a copy themselves as well as with the county clerk. Everything they owned was listed so there would be no question among the children. Names, relationships … all perfectly clear. A description of the land they owned and just how to find it. They wrote that the family Bible and all journals they had kept were never to be thrown aside, but it be kept by the oldest child in the family and passed down to future generations. It was perfectly done. The day came when Paul and Petula were "gathered until their ancestors" as the old Bible phrase went, but they had planned ahead well and their children knew exactly what to do. A beautiful obituary was written to be placed in the little 2-page newspaper and in the pages of the family Bible. A place on the home farm was chosen as the cemetery site and the local stone carver etched carefully their names, date of birth and death. The children fenced the cemetery and made certain that if they ever sold the farm, that the deed of sale would indicate that there was a cemetery here and that it was not to be sold with the farm and to be maintained for their family and friends to come visit for years to come. Every year the children made the trek back to the cemetery, cleaning it painstakingly of brush and seedlings and made a sign to note that this was the Perfect Cemetery. Paul and Petula Perfect along with their family are all gone but everything is still perfect. And then I woke up. © Copyright 4 August 2005, Sandra K. Gorin Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/