Benefits of Writing Your Family History



There are many good reasons to write your family history. Those stories can make it easier for you, and your relatives, to connect with ancestors. Writing down family history makes it more concrete, and less likely to be forgotten. In addition, there are some personal benefits of writing your family history.

The New York Public Library put together a handy list of quotes from a variety of sources that discuss the importance of writing down your family history. Some of these quotes point out the personal benefits of writing your family history.

“In writing your personal history, you put perspective and purpose in your life. You begin to understand yourself better than you ever have.” This quote is from Janice T. Dixon from her book “Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History”. It was published in 1997. There is something about taking the time to write, to carefully choose words and phrases, in order to craft a story, that forces a person to learn something about themselves.

The same author also pointed out: “The entire story of mankind has come to us from individual voices from the past.” In other words, the family history writing you do is important – because you are an important person. You have things to pass to your children, to your local history society, and to unknown future generations. It feels good to know that what you write can benefit other people.

Ancestry.com found that writing your family history can make you feel wiser. They did a Global Study of Users in 2014, and found the following:
* In 2014, 1/3 of online adults used the internet to learn more about their family history
* 67% said that knowing their family history has made them feel wiser as a person.
* 72% said it helped them be closer to older relatives.
* 52% said they discovered ancestors they had not know about.

Charley Kempthorne wrote a book titled “For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History”. It was published in 1996, and includes this quote: “I suggest that family history is more important that any other history simply because family is the fundamental, rock-bottom unit of society.” Writing your family history can help you build or solidify a sense of family. Your writing might result in a deeper, stronger, connection between who you are and who you are related to.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* Why You Should Write Your Family History

* Reasons Why Knowing Your Family History is Important

* Ways to Grow Your Family History

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