The Meaning of Family History
By Jeff Hackman
October 15, 2011
In the last several years, I’ve spent many hours researching in my family tree. Lately I’ve been sensing an answer to the “why” question: Why spend time and effort learning about people in the past?
There are a number of reflections that are part of the answer. Here are several.
In September, my son was baptized into the Mennonite Church, USA. My research has shown that he has joined a chain of Anabaptist believers in the Hackman family that goes back at least 14 generations. While bloodlines mean nothing in terms of salvation, it is compelling to realize that the link to a peculiar denomination can last so long. And of course it raises the question: will his children continue that heritage?
The research connects many living persons into a wider community. For 18 years, I lived in a town where I was the only Hackman in the phonebook. In a sense that was cool, but there’s also a special feeling since we’ve settled here in Pennsylvania and know the extended Hackman family is close at hand (as well as scattered). On October 1, 2011 the descendants of Joseph W. Hackman (my great-grandfather) got together. I’ve never been around so many Hackmans. It was curious to see how different we are. On the other hand, as cousins shared, it was remarked how certain characteristics were coming up over and over. One was an interest in Christian ministry—both locally and globally.
I have found connections between persons in my family tree and “famous” persons. These connections are usually quite remote, but fascinating nonetheless. Some connections I welcome, others, not so much. Bishop Herman Isaaks Opdengraf lived in Krefeld, Germany in the early 1600s. He signed the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632. This was one of the earliest Mennonite confessions published. If that wasn’t enough, His grandson Abraham was one of the 13 families to come on the Concord to Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683. He and his brother Dirk signed the first anti-slavery petition in the US, at the Germantown Meetinghouse in 1688! Is that where I got my passion for social justice?
The Opdengraf saga keeps going. There is a distant connection between Bishop Herman and William Penn. The identity of Herman’s father is somewhat in dispute, but one theory has his father as a famous nobleman who is descended from Holy Roman Emperors.
I am a history teacher (that is one part of why I’m interested). This fall I’ve asked my sophomores to do a family history project. They could do a family tree, research an immigration story or relate a family story that is handed down. One student interviewed her grandfather. A few weeks later, he died suddenly. She thanked me for a project that allowed her to connect with him before he went. We have stories to tell, wisdom to pass on. Let’s choose to communicate those treasures sooner rather than later.
Another effect has been an awareness of a “holy geography” to southeastern Pennsylvania. As I drive past the plot of land that the Hackman immigrant settled on, I wonder what it was like to be a pioneer. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being in the house that my great-grandparents raised a family in. I pray that that landmark will remain; that the name of the builder etched into the front door won’t be lost. Historic preservation of certain places must be a priority.
Perhaps the deepest meaning of family history is to challenge me about the legacy I am leaving to my descendents (both my biological and educational descendents). What stories will be told about me in 50 years? Or in 400 years? I pray that I will be faithful to my calling in Christ, the church, and my family.
