Family History Secrets & Lost Stories Found

Transcript:

Host (Heather Haunert):
Hi everyone, and welcome to The Family Treehouse, a podcast series brought to you by Storied, where I chat with people that have a passion for genealogy, storytelling, or both. I’m your host, Heather Haunert, and today I am very excited to get to chat with our guest, Ellen Thompson-Jennings. She is The Family History Hound.

I love in Ellen’s bio it says: “My life revolves around three main passions — genealogy, genetic genealogy, and preserving my family history.”

I feel like it absorbs our whole life, doesn’t it? Ellen, welcome to the show.

Guest (Ellen Thompson-Jennings):
Thank you. Thanks, Heather, for having me — super excited. Really, that’s what it’s all about. I always say, if I’m awake, I’m doing genealogy. So yeah, all aspects.

Host:
Well, and that’s what I love about it. It’s a hobby that never ends — you can just keep going and going and going.

Guest:
Yeah, exactly. It’s fun.

Host:
Well, Ellen, why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about your background — how you got started in family history and storytelling.

Guest:
I got started in genealogy when I was about 20 years old, which was quite a while ago. [laughs] I watched Roots like many people did, and I read some books about genealogy.

So I interviewed my great-grandmother and asked her a bunch of questions I found in a book, and I wrote those answers down. I actually have a box where I put them, because I did genealogy then — but you know, it was snail mail and all that stuff.

Then I had children, got too busy, and put it aside. But when my children were grown, I decided I had the time.

As far as storytelling — my brothers and I were raised on stories around the kitchen table at dinner. We heard all the stories about the family.

Host:
I love that you thought to interview your great-grandmother. That is such a treasure to have those questions answered.

I always encourage people to interview that oldest person. My problem is that I interviewed my great-grandmother on my dad’s side, but it was my grandmother on my mother’s side who knew answers to one of the mysteries I deal with in my genealogy.

If I would have asked her, I wouldn’t have had the struggle I have now trying to figure out things.

Guest:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think we’re all in that boat.

Host:
Why do you think storytelling is such an important aspect of family history? We talk about dates, we talk about names — but why is storytelling such an important piece?

Guest:
I think it helps you feel connected to your people. My parents talked about their grandparents and their parents and growing up. I think that if you tell your stories, then your children are going to feel the same, and they’ll know the stories.

In fact, when my dad was still alive, I actually bugged him to record the stories he always told. He recorded them, and I have them on a site so that other people can listen.

I’ve even made books with QR codes so you can scan and listen to him telling the stories.

Host:
I love having that double aspect. Some of my team members at Storied do the same — they have the written version and the audio file. It’s so powerful to have that.

Host:
Do you have a certain formula or way you go about writing a story? A process, or do you just wing it?

Guest:
I just wing it. I’m kind of a “fly by the seat of my pants” person. If I think of a story, I write it down right away, because ideas come when you’re driving or doing something else, and you want to get back to them later. I keep a log of the stories I want to write and then I just… write.

Host:
I find that when I write something down, it makes me think of other related stories. That’s important to capture, so you can come back later.

And I love asking other people to add their memories — sometimes they remember completely different details.

Guest:
Yes, when I talked to my dad and his brother, they remembered different things, depending on what was important to them.

Host:
Do you have any resources or tools you recommend, especially for people who are brand new to family history?

Guest:
When I started my blog Hound on the Hunt, one of the tools I found really useful was Grammarly — just to help with spelling and grammar. I had a teacher comment on my blog about errors, so I started using it and still do.

Now with AI, I think it’s a huge help. You can use it to rephrase your words or for background information. For example, if you’re telling a story about an ancestor in Kingston, Ontario in 1880, you can ask AI what it would have been like there at that time.

Sites like Ancestry and MyHeritage even have their own AI tools.

Host:
At Storied, we have StoryAssist, where people put in details and it generates a first draft. I think of it as a framework that you can edit to match your style.

Guest:
Exactly. And sometimes, I even keep misspellings in my stories if they were in the original document — to keep the integrity of the story.

Host:
This is my favorite part. Do you have a favorite family history story you like to share?

Guest:
I have two!

First — my dad always talked about walking to school, and we’d tease him about the “five miles uphill both ways.” Years ago, I organized a family event called “Walk the Talk.” We went to the family farm and walked to the old school site. It’s gone now, but there’s a sign.

When my dad passed away during COVID, we held a memorial walk called “Hoofin’ It for Harve,” and did the same walk again.

Second — I found a story no one in the family knew. I was at the archives looking through the “Returning Soldiers” file and saw my great-grandmother’s name. It turned out she had written to request her husband return from WWI because they had been in a horrific train accident called The Moonlight Express. Several people died.

One of my great-aunts got $464 from the train company years later — she had been just a little girl when it happened.

Host:
That’s incredible. I love how you tied in newspapers to rediscover that story. It’s such a powerful way to bring forgotten people back to life.

Guest:
Exactly. And I love helping with other people’s stories too.

For example, I met a lady at a farmers’ market who had no photos of her father. Within a week, I found pictures of him, her grandparents, and great-grandparents — and discovered she had three half-siblings, one of whom knew about her.

The sisters reconnected and even visited the farmers’ market to meet me. That kind of connection is just the best.

Host:
That might be my favorite story you’ve shared! As we wrap up, do you have any tips or advice for our audience?

Guest:
Be genuine and tell the story from your heart. If you don’t feel like writing, record it on your phone — audio or video.

If you’re telling your own life story, your grandchildren will appreciate it. I even have a product called The Story of You that uses writing prompts to help you share your story.

Host:
That’s such great advice. And I love your idea of pairing photographs with a QR code that links to audio recordings — that’s a brilliant way to appeal to younger generations.

Guest:
Exactly.

Host:
Ellen, thank you so much for your expertise and passion. It’s been a real pleasure talking with you.

Guest:
Thank you, I really appreciate you asking me. I enjoyed it.

Host:
Well, until next time friends — embrace the power of your family’s untold tales and embark on a journey of discovery. Let the ink flow and the words dance as you weave together the threads of your ancestors’ lives.

Start writing your family stories today and let their voices echo through the generations to come at Storied.com. Have a great day, everyone.