Sucking Story out of Statistics

 

The trouble with researching these formerly nameless Polish ancestors from generations past in my father's history is that they come to me devoid of any family stories. Sure, these are people who had names which went with the routine BMD dates we genealogists tend to harvest, but who were they, really?

In contrast, when I research my maternal lines, a great many of them came not only with statistical data but with stories—those precious stories passed down from generation to generation which, when it was my turn to hear them, convinced me to take my place in that long line of family historians who shared.

Sharing story was perhaps not part of the Polish tradition—not, at least, for those poverty-stricken immigrants fleeing the harsh living conditions of their homeland. I remember when I first started delving into genealogy online—in those early days of "listservs" and forums—I ran across a discussion on why those researching their Polish roots couldn't find story. The consensus, back then, was that the Polish were so desperate just to keep themselves alive that they didn't have the luxury of time to regale each other with stories of those who had gone on before them. Hard work can suck the life out of even the living.

So now I—and those countless others descended from Polish immigrants—have been left with not much more than copies of the church and government documents meant to keep count of the souls and taxpaying bodies of their charges. It is quite impossible to accurately extrapolate sparks of life from those dull, dry numbers. And, truth be told, those numbers often represented lifespans which were painfully brief, telling a story of its own, full of sickness, suffering, and sorrow.

What were these people like? I'm tempted, much like Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has done, to harness Artificial Intelligence to research the backstory of the time frames and territories where my Wojtaś and Zegarski ancestors once existed. While that might lend me some understanding of just how bad life might have been for my ancestors, I doubt it could confirm details about individual personality quirks or, say, escapades of my ancestors in their youth. But it might be worth the try. Whatever such an experiment might yield, it would certainly offer some background with which to understand these people and their choices which led them here to a life in a new land.