Writing down the past preserves history for the next generation

By Susan Doak

SW Nebraska Genealogy Society

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Lately, I have been reviewing family histories that others have shared with me, some have become parts of articles I have done. Each one holds keys to not only that particular family, but often to their neighbors and friends.

As I was reviewing one that pertains to my family, and mourning the loss of a favorite uncle whose life story it contains, it occurred to me that we are now the generation that needs to be writing information down.

Wanting to "make his fortune" and see the world from somewhere else than Dalton, Nebraska, my uncle, Ernest Davison, had joined the Navy prior to World War Two and was in Pearl Harbor on the USS California, combing his hair and enjoying a beautiful morning prior to a flag raising ceremony on Dec. 7.

His daughter Connie captured his description of those moments: "He heard planes coming and went over to the portside toward Ford Island to look. At first, he thought the planes were USA planes practicing bombing with flour sacks. When the third bomb hit, blowing up a hanger, he ran for his battle station, yelling to his shipmates that they were under attack."

My uncle was a diesel engineer but held watch in one of the four shaft alleys. It was to return to their watch of the alleys; he and three other shipmates ran. As the first of two torpedoes and a bomb slammed into the ship's starboard side, Ernest, as well as his shipmates, was sealed into a burning ship as it slowly began sinking into the bay. "....at first it was not certain how to get the men out. (After "abandon ship" was ordered, men returned to the California to fight the fires only after it was determined that the ship was not going to turn over.)

The rescuers rejected using a torch to cut their trapped shipmates out of the shaft alley because of the strong oil fumes....but finally, one of the sailors remembered a steel inspection plate bolted to the engine room bulkhead that opened up into the shaft alley. Luckily, all the men were skinny because the resulting hole was only 12 x 14 inches."

My uncle survived the war, returning to the USS California when it was refitted for duty. He remained with the ship until it was decommissioned in 1946.

While that story is quite historical, the stories of your childhood, your parents, grandparents and surrounding family are historical also. What concerts did you attend as a young person, where did you go for dances, how did you meet your mate?

How many places did you live growing up, did you spend time with your grandparents or aunts and uncles during summers or vacations? How did where they lived differ from where you grew up? Once you get started, the stories will pour out!

When I took some of my grandchildren through the ARCH in Kearney, I had family stories to attach to several of the exhibits, thereby bringing the whole idea of settling the west to life for them. Your stories will do the same for your grandchildren and the generations to come.....if you take the time to write them down!

If you have recorded family stories pertaining to SW Nebraska settlers, SWNGS would love to have copies for their library. Contact us at 110 West C Street, Suite M-3.