I was talking with a friend today about perspective. In the past few weeks I've had an opportunity to look at two very interesting stories from different perspectives. Both are very complicated and I've spent bits and pieces of two years researching them. Each still has some loose ends to be tied up, but "the rest of the story" about the Moon family, and the biography of Charles E. McPherren, Caddo's first mayor, will soon be ready for posting. Each story has one thing in common that was very noticeable: everyone involved had their own perspective on what really happened.
Our life is a series of experiences that become our "life story" and evolve a little with each telling. We may actually remember new details, or we may embellish a little here and there. We may gloss over ugly parts or change a tiny bit of information to protect someone. We never think of any of our changes as lies, and I suppose they really aren't, unless we admit that they are lies we tell ourselves. At any rate, some of these stories become "family stories" over time and are accepted by the next generation as fact. All well and good, unless... some snoopy researcher starts finding facts and puts two and two together...
In the course of my research I often find out things that might hurt someone's feelings. After all, there are people who don't want to find out their ancestors were liers, drunks, prostitutes, or horse thieves. We all want to think about our relatives as brave pioneers, and entrepreneurs, and civic minded citizens creating a new world. Well, it turns out that some of the drunks and liars were also brave pioneers and some of the entrepreneurs were horse thieves on the side. No one is perfect, even dead people. (Ever notice how the neighbors of serial killers always say "He seemed like such a nice guy"?)
I guess what I'm getting to is that you have to have a balanced perspective when you are digging up history. I try to rely on the newspapers, the census, court records, and factual accounts rather than just family stories, but I try to see the person as an individual, not as a label. And I try to weed through mistakes, lies, and misunderstandings. Not always possible from the perspective of 100+ years.
I want you to keep all of this in mind as you read the stories on my other three sites. I have some interesting things to tell over the next few weeks. And if something I post hurts your feelings or changes the way you think about someone else, don't shoot the messenger...
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