I have been doing genealogy work for many years
now and when I came across this poem I just had
to share it. There is more truth to it
than you may realize and I have come across
it time and time again, to my frustration. Please
take care that the records you find are the
true facts and not just fiction.


FACTS OR FANCY
Woe is me, such misery and pain-
For 200 years my hopes were in vain.
Until one of my kin just happened to hear
Of the Gospel restored and the truth was quite clear.
"You must save your dead to have eternal life",
But finding the right ones has caused toil and strife.
I've been taught here in Heaven and I, too, see the light,
If only my kin folk would seal things up right.

Marie Braun is the name to which I was born,
But the name Mary Brown my records adorn.
I've wept and I've wailed and gnashed all my teeth
In vain; to inform those offspring beneath
To be sealed to my man has long been my dream,
But they've joined me to one I've not even seen.

Six children I bore with both joy and tears
And waited with longing for them through the years,
But, sadly to say, there have been only three
That those relatives yet have had sealed to me.
To make matters worse, they discovered four others
And blandly proclaimed that I was their mother.
Now, if that's not enough to, in patience, withstand-
They say I'm 50 years older than I really am.

So I earnestly beg and implore and beseech
To stress accurate care with the people you teach
In recording the name, the dates, and the places;
For fear of adjoining wrong names and wrong faces.
Genealogy work that is not rightly spelled
May consign "Old Joe" to a place that's---Oh well,

Just remember to copy each record with care.
Get your facts straight and clear and always beware
Of errors in time and, above all, in name,
For another man's wife is never the same,
As the one whose tongue is sharpened on you,
So be sure that your temple records are true.

Evelyn Meadows and Carma Lowe


Background courtesy of The Background Boutique.