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Great Family History Talks |
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The excerpt below comes from a devotional address,
"The Hearts of the Children"
by Michael Otterson at Brigham Young University–Idaho on November 28, 2006.
"Let me illustrate with one last story. In the summer of 1842, the British Government produced a report on the appalling conditions for the children of very young ages who were working in the English coal mines of the Industrial Revolution. The report is an extremely weighty one, running to hundreds of pages. It includes interviews with many of the children who suffered unbelievable conditions as they worked in almost total darkness to help eke out a living for their families.
I want to read you an extract in the report, the testimony of one boy who began working in the mines at the age of 8. This is what he said in 1841 when he was questioned about his work. The language is in places obsolete and the occupational terms unfamiliar, but you’ll get the gist of it.
“I became a door keeper on the barrow-way four years ago. I got up at four o’clock, took breakfast, walked to the pit by half past four; began work at five. I had no candles allowed at all, except my father gave me any; he gave me four, which burnt about five hours, and I sat in darkness the rest of the time….I used to sleep; I could not keep my eyes open. The overman used to bray us with the yard wand; he used to leave the marks; I used to be afraid. The putters sometimes thumped me for being asleep….We loose at five and come home. I got my dinner, washed; I took off all my clothes, and then went to bed about eight. I did not go out to play; the more we play, the more we sleep in the pit.”
That testimony was given by 12-year-old John Otterson. The father he refers to and who gave him four candles each day, was my 3rd great grandfather, Nicholas Otterson. Not surprisingly, that 12 year old boy didn’t want the life of a miner. Instead, he joined the Royal Navy where he served on a man of war – not in itself an easy life either, by the way. His wife died young, but he remarried and moved to the great English naval port of Portsmouth. He was 81 when he died - from a fall down the stairs of his home. And everything I have just told you came from the Internet.
Now, Brothers and Sisters. There’s nothing unique in this. Thousands of people have awoken to the realities of how our electronic age can transform our knowledge of our forebears and help us discover what was previously almost impossible to find. Most of your parents either can’t do this because they don’t know, or they need encouragement. This is your world – the world of Windows Explorer and Firefox, of iPods and iMacs, of digital files, of multiple audio and video formats. I don’t believe the Lord intended these inventions just for entertainment or email or chat with friends.
One of the things I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we all matter. People living here and now and people who have gone before. The gospel is individual. Faith, repentance, how we live our lives, how we choose to respond to the priceless gift of the Atonement. Each person is as different as you and me. What will you do to help discover who they are, to preserve their memories...."
Read More....
FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITES
familyhistory.com
ancestry.com
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