Opinions Wanted!

Photo taken from "The Shipleys of Maryland 2002"

I haven't yet decided on the style in which I wish to produce my Family History book intended as a gift to my children and siblings, but yesterday I began writing.

There is a lot I have to work with, including (in most cases) names, birth and death dates, census data such as occupation, marriage information, and photos. In more recent family history I have some interesting stories and anecdotes.

I began writing with my early Shipley family, and it looked much like this:

"In my two year family search, the earliest of our documented Shipley family is Adam Shipley, born about 1650 in Yorkshire, England.

Adam was transported to America, along with nine other young men, by John Pawson (also of Yorke, England) in 1668. These men were to serve an apprenticeship for a period of time before receiving their fifty acres of land, which Adam earned by 1675."

Although historically correct, this reads much like the oh so boring history books which were required reading in school, where one was going to be tested on names and dates rather than content.

Now I could go off the deep end, and write something like this:

"Young Adam, with icy saltwater sheeting down his face finally espied the new land, the new life for which he'd been searching- America!"

I'm now toying with the idea of using snippets of family lore, told to me by my mother and linking these tales to the information I've found:

"... when my mother told me about an ancestor who sold himself into slavery. She explained he likely couldn't afford the passage to America, and had contracted his services for a period of time becoming an indentured servant.

This man was Adam Shipley of Yorkeshire, England, who arrived in America in 1668..."

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about a published book here, just a family memento.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. You're such a creative group, I'd love to get your feedback.

Update! I'm now looking at Cafepress. The upside is a 100 page book (with a choice of bindings) can be printed for about $10.00 per book. The downside is that there is a whole world of publishing formatting I need to study before I begin. To think I thought writing this would be the difficult part!