Why do people search for their Ancestors?

One of the questions you may ask about Family History is "Why do people do it?"  There are so many reasons why.  Some people want to find out if they are related to any famous people, some people want to connect to those who came before them, some people are interested in where their family lines originated from.  For me I started because someone told me as a member of my church I should do it.  Then I kept doing it because it was challenging.  It also helped me to understand families and all their crazy problems.  I do not come from a very stable family.  Mines one of those ripped apart and patched together type.  When I started I only had my parents and grandparents information.  I didn't think I'd get much further than that.  My mom was always being teased and told she was Irish.  It was fun when I finally found information about her family to be able to tell her she was not Irish, but Scottish.  There is healing in Family history.  My mom found out the reason why she never met her grandparents.  It wasn't that they didn't love her, but that they had died before she was born. 
One thing you should know is that most families have some secret, a black sheep, a problem that they wish to hide.  The Book I'm currently reading says it best " What I'm about to tell you is our family's big secret.  Every family's got one, you can be sure of that.  Some are just bigger than others..." Pg. 20 " The Forgotten Garden." By Kate Morton.  Another quote I like is " ....The things we take for granted are important. You know, family, blood, the past... They're the things that make us who we are...."  It is fun to uncover the secret in the closet.  But what I love most about researching family history is finding the "Love Stories." 
I'm  a big romantic at heart.  I love to read at least one romance novel a month.  I'm not reading them for the explicit scenes which I skip over.  I love to read about people falling in love, when they realize it, and that wonderful first kiss.  I also like the books that take place in the times of kings, queens, dukes and such.  It's a bit silly but still it's my escape from the world.

So here is the first of many love stories I've found along the way as I've researched my family tree.  Well this one is actually from my Husbands family tree.  But I love it.  It's love, and going against parents wishes and a skeleton in the closet all at once.  But who can deny a young couple when they are in love?

Here is Lewis Bowlby....He fell in love with Minnie Dineen...  English Presbyterian falls for Irish Catholic Lass.... Oh the troubles will abound...

Here is their story:
Just as John and Margaret Dineen where pillars of the Catholic Church, Peter Bowlby was a pillar of the Presbyterian church.  Their respective children, Minnie and Lewis were very much in love but could not reach an agreement as to what faith any children they might have would be brought up in.  So they ended their relationship.  They didn't "See" each other for over a year but did manage to keep tabs on each other through mutual friends.  They were both thoroughly miserable without each other.  So finally Lewis in order to be with Minnie went to her and her parents proposing marriage and promising that their children would be raised as Catholics.  And so Minnie and Lewis where married in a catholic wedding ceremony and all of their children were raised as Catholics.  Much to the dismay and consternation of Lewis' father peter as well as the rest of the Bowlby family.

After they were married awhile Lewis promised Minnie that he would convert to Catholicism, but only after his father had passed away.  Lewis was working in the rail yard of the central rail road of New Jersey in Jersey city when he was critically injured in an accident at the yards.  Realizing how serious his injuries were he asked that a priest be called to the scene.  When the Priest arrived he baptized Lewis shortly before he died.  And so Lewis Bowlby died a Catholic.  Unfortunately Peter Bowlby was still alive and this was almost too much for him, not only had his son died but he had died a Catholic!  He never really got over it and remained bitter up to the time of his death at age 96.

For years Minnie Bowlby had asked the nuns at St. Joseph's grammar school in Bound Brook (where the Bowlby Children attended school) to have the children pray for a special intention. (Namely that her husband would convert to Catholicism)  Only the principal of the school knew what the intention was.  The day after Lewis died Aunt Minnie was sent by her mother to school to tell the principal what had happened and explain that was why some of the Bowlby children would be missing school for awhile.  Aunt Minnie made sure to tell the principal that her father had died a Catholic.  So  the Principal went from classroom to classroom telling the children to pray for the soul of Lewis Bowlby and to offer a prayer of thanks also because their special intention had been answered.

I hope you enjoyed this love story.  I find it funny when my husband talks about his family being "Catholic" Or "Cult"   As the Bowlby's really were not Catholic until Lewis fell in love.
G.G.