An older couple stopped in to our Library one night when my father, Paul, one of our founding members, and his wife, Jan, one of our expert librarians, were working. The wife was very enthusiastic about her search, excited about each new nugget of information. But her husband was less than enthused: we was bored and counting the seconds until she said they could go home.
Seeing this kind of attitude before, my dad asked the man if he knew anything about his own ancestors. He replied quickly that, yes, he did, and that his ancestry was Scottish as they had come from New Scotland (Nova Scotia). The man was taken aback when my dad asked him if he wanted to see where they were from and he took him to a map of Nova Scotia.
Time passed, and the wife decided it was time to leave after a successful night of research. But where was her husband? There he was, with my father, peeling over maps and books, and looking a little perplexed.
When the couple left, the woman was delighted but the man was grumbling. “I came in a Scotsman,” he said in a huff. “I left a damn French-Canadian.”
Sometimes, you’re more than what you think you are. With resources and experts in French-Canadian, English, German, English, and yes, Scottish ancestry, we’re more than happy to help you find that out.
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This story of discovery comes from Lynn Johnson, our director of marketing. If you have a story to share about your experience with genealogy, share it with us on Facebook!
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