> : I want ancestors with names like Rudimentary Montagnard or Melchizenick > : von > : Steubenhoffmanschild or Spetznatz Giafortoni, not William Brown or > : John > : Taylor or Mary Smith. > : > : I want ancestors who could read and write, had their children baptised > : in > : recognised houses of worship, went to school, purchased land, left > : detailed wills, had their photographs taken once a year (subsequently > : putting > : said pictures in elaborate isinglass frames annotated with calligraphic > : inscriptions), and with informative inscriptions on their well-preserved > : > : headstones. > : > : I want family members who wrote memoirs, enlisted in the military as > : officers, or served as schoolteachers, councillors, or town historians. > : > : I want kin who were patriotic and clubby, joined every local society > : they > : could find, who kept diaries, had paintings made of their houses, and > : who put > : a date on every piece of paper they touched. > : > : But most of all, I want ancestors I can find!! > :