5. My family authorities

When I pick up a nonfiction book, first I go to the back of the book, to the bibliography.   Doing this I learn, who are this writer's authorities?  When did these authorities live and write?  Do I recognize any of them?   From the bibliography one can tell fairly reliably the scope of the book, how deep is its depth, and a sense of whether one is able to accept or respect this writer's facts and opinions.

In a blog, the reader doesn't have the privilege of judging its bibliography, since the middle and end have not been produced.    Thus, I begin writing the way I like to begin reading a book, by telling you some of my authorities.   You must understand, I didn't want merely one or two points of view;   I wanted the viewpoints of many resources in order to develop a well-rounded story.     

Whether or not you know this family, you will be interested in knowing my resources.   Mainly because, my resources are exciting stories in themselves.    The processes of discovering the people who helped me all along the way, are adventures.    But since the people were not altogether famous household names, instead of naming them, I will give you their classifications, categories or group to which they belonged.

I would love to have begun with interviewing my Swiss-born grandparents, but they were long dead.   I started with the next tier, their Swiss-Texan children.    My father is at the top of the list.   He didn't speak a whole lot -- he was frugal with words -- but he would answer questions.   In those early days I didn't know the questions to ask.   He didn't have the answers.   Next I went to my oldest aunt in West Texas and interviewed her as completely as possible, on September 8, 1977.    She was my supreme authority, as she was the oldest of eight children.   She showed me pictures in an album and talked about the people.   I took notes and assembled the points she made.   That list, together with notes from my father, provided a starting point.   I should say, it was a short list.     

Next my husband and I went to family reunions in Central Texas and I (shyly) let it be known I was interested in family history.   It took a few years to speak to my uncles, and this top-tier interview process was not completed before they had died.   

The next tier in line were my cousins who were a generation older than me.   A couple of them had worked in the small town family business and some even lived next door to my grandmother Ida.   Several cousins were very interested in helping me and telling their remembrances.    In the meantime, while I was working on this research for many years, some of my cousins died.

The next tier in the family were cousins my age.   We are of not much use in this history.   We have virtually no memory, only faint recollections of what the older people told us, and not much of that.    I had run out of authorities in my branch of the family.   

One cousin asked me, "when are we going to HEAR about your research?"   Sadly, she died before this research ripened.   Now you see why I am anxious to share what I have learned from my family.   Because I am getting to be of an age when people die.    I won't want to die until I finish writing my discoveries for an audience who may be listening.

But I couldn't stop with the "authorities" of my family.   There simply wasn't enough to talk about.
     

Krieg Family reunion of long ago, in the early 1970's
in Brady/ Eden, Texas.
Kriegs, left to right
Oscar, Ed, Will, Julius, Werner, Arnold and Anna Fuessel
Not pictured is Sigfrid Krieg, who died before this time