Epilogue

This book tells the stories of four families – the Ross family, the Lewis family, the Shannon family, and the Blenkin family. These are the family names of the grandparents of Eila Ross Lawson and Bruce Ross.

As a result, it will be the descendants of Eila Ross Lawson and Bruce Ross who are most interested in reading these stories. They are my target audience, and I have tried to write the stories with this in mind. Of course, I hope others may have some interest in these stories as well.

My primary objective is to preserve the work that has been done so far, by putting the stories, and some of the key information, in book format. I believe this format is more permanent than the alternatives. Collections of papers, booklets, magnetic tapes, and computer files will not likely last as long. Even though Bruce Ross copied the original taped interview with his father onto a cassette tape in 1978, we almost lost it when both copies broke last year.

My secondary objective is to encourage future generations to continue doing family history research. Younger family members have not shown much interest to date, but this is not unusual. It is a hobby more suited to people of a certain age. Like almost every other genealogist, I wish I had started sooner and asked more questions when my grandparents were still alive.

There are many more stories to be told, and perhaps more books to be written. The four family names in this book represent 4 of my 8 great grandparents. What about the other four? If my daughter starts doing family history, she will find that these are 4 of her 16 great great grandparents. The same arithmetic applies to the Lawson family. There is lots of scope for future generations.

Bob Ross
June, 2008