new history

  I have a copy of the book East Hampton History and Genealogies by Jeanette Edwards Rattray. The copyright on this book is 1953 the year I was born. I inherited this book from my mother who had purchased it as a first edition. In the foreword Mrs. Edwards recognizes Judge Henry P. Hedges who had published a history of East Hampton in 1897. She says she was inspired to write this new history. I read that this morning with a mixture of a smile and a sadness. A new history written 70 years ago. Much has changed over that time and perhaps it is time once again for a new history. I have no intention of attempting that. 

 In her history she did include the genealogies of early families. My grandfather, Horace Bennett, was descended from the earliest settlers in the area. My roots, my family tree stretches all the way back to the very beginning. A Bennett, although the spelling was different, was with Lion Gardner when he purchased his island. I can't prove it without a doubt, but I believe it was a Bennett that was killed by Indians during Philips war and his widow moved to East Hampton. I know for a fact that my 2nd great grandmother worked for Judge Hedges. My family lines can be traced in her book. It's a fact that my great grandmother, Lucy Terry Lester, worked with Mrs. Rattray in compiling those genealogies. 

 I have read that book numerous times and always learn something new or notice a detail I had missed. My mother made notations in the margins correcting some of the genealogy. Those corrections concern her immediate family, and she had first-hand knowledge. All in all, it is a remarkable piece of work when you consider the time in which it was compiled. In 1953 there were no computer programs to record and organize that information. Everything had to be assembled either from paper resources or personal interviews. Yes, there are mistakes in there, and as I said, my mom corrected what she knew. 

 My sister and I are not mentioned in that genealogy. My mother at first married Donald DeCristofaro and had my brothers Harold and Daniel. There is no mention that she divorced him and married my dad, Austin B Reichart. A piece of history unrecorded in what Mrs. Rattray called a new history. There was much left unrecorded I'm certain of that. 

 I have compiled quite a family tree over the years. I make no claims to the accuracy of that information but have tried my best. It is the unrecorded information that fascinates me, however. I have uncovered secrets, bits of information not mentioned in conventional histories. I have also found they aren't always welcomed and so do not spread that information around. Is it gossip if it is the truth? Well, that depends upon who you are talking to and if they have any connection to the one being discussed. That sort of information can be upsetting. It can change the way we view someone. At other times it provides an explanation. 

 In my copy of the book, I highlighted family members. I know it devalues the book, but I'm not concerned with any monetary value it may hold. I still have a remanent of the paper jacket that went with that book but that's all it is, a remanent. That book would have a rather niche interest anyway. I'm thinking I'll write something inside to let my grandkids know what that book is and why they should save it. It's been around for seventy years already! Now my grandmother had ten children and so documenting all the cousins is quite a challenge in itself. I admit I do not know who all of them are. I have discovered some in my research but I'm certain many are missing as well. As to what children and grandchildren they have I haven't even started to look. 

 A new history. I have written a good deal of that new history through these blogs of mine although I haven't concentrated on family. But I guess that history is more my opinion of history, my viewpoint than it is actual fact. There is so much more to tell of a person beyond their name and two dates. More than what they did for a living. Is it simply history? I can't speak for others but I'm hoping I won't be just history. I'm hoping to be that "living" history you hear about. The question being, do you want others to write that history, or do you want to do it yourself? The goal should be to write that history as you go along and not have to do a rewrite or have any omissions.