She Was Only Thirteen— a genealogy story I couldn’t forget

There are some ancestors we research and move on from.

And then there are the ones who stay with us.

For me, one of those people is Christine Shannon.

Christine was only thirteen when her life took a turn that would eventually leave its traces in records created more than a century ago. When I discovered her story through my genealogy research, I couldn’t stop thinking about the young girl behind those records.

So I decided to tell her story in a different way.

I created a song called “She Was Only Thirteen.”

It isn’t just a song. It’s about what we do as genealogists—finding people who have been reduced to names, dates and documents and remembering that each one of them lived a life.

One of the lines in the song says:

“Some stories disappear.
Some are waiting to be found…”

Isn’t that exactly what we do?

We find them.

And sometimes, we get to speak their names again.

🎵 Watch “She Was Only Thirteen” on YouTube:

And if you’d like to know the genealogy research behind the song, I previously told Christine’s story here:

🎥 Watch Christine Shannon’s story:

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to meet Christine.

And when you’ve watched, I’d love for you to leave a comment and tell me:

Is there someone in your family tree whose story you feel deserves to be remembered?

Ellen
The Family History Hound

Helping you discover, understand, and preserve your family’s story. Happy Hunting.