preview

Genealogy Background

Decent Essays
Open Document

Have you ever wondered where your ancestors came from? Where your family started? Through preservation of your genealogy, you can put those wonders to rest. Genealogy is the study of tracing the roots of your ancestors. People do not realize the importance of preserving their family history, because it never concerns them. Geretta Saunders understands this importance, because she wrote to Ancestory.com about her journey on finding her lost soldier. Her and her husband started their ancestral research in 1997, but they could not find the name of her husband's great-great-grandfather; all they knew was that he was a civil war soldier that never came home after the war. During their search, they found his name on a marriage certificate with his …show more content…

They finally got ahold of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond and asked if they had a James Zimriah Saunders in the cemetery. They said that they did not have one on record, but they had many unmarked graves. The Saunders couple traveled to Hollywood Cemetery and found a ledger of many Civil War soldiers and the exact location of their graves. They finally found their Lost Soldier and put a marker on his grave to indicate for future relatives to know that James Zimriah Saunders was in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia (Saunders). It would be more beneficial and easier for people to preserve their histories, so that they can gain more knowledge of their ancestors, the health problems within the family, learn how to reunite with lost or forgotten relatives, and how to save future family …show more content…

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women get mammograms every four years, but medical oncologists and the American Cancer Society recommend every year after age 40 (Lofton). In doing this, oncologists can see a tumor start to grow and prevent breast cancer. Dr. Barbara Craft, a breast cancer specialist and oncologist at University Medical Center, stresses the importance of women knowing their family history. “It’s not just about you mother or sister having breast cancer. You need to know about all the cancer in your family, including ovarian cancer and prostate cancer with your dad.” (Lofton). It is also found that 46% of “family history positives” did not know that their risk for breast cancer was increased by their family history (Drossaert). People have also found other illnesses other than just cancer to be helpful in preventing it to occur. Such others consist of heart disease, and historical killers, for example tuberculosis. In finding these other illnesses within the family history, you can notify a doctor on these diseases and they can help prevent these illnesses other than just various cancers. If these cancers and many other illnesses are in documentation, you may have just saved not only your life, but also the lives of future family

Get Access