Your Family History/Tree

[Forge3]

I wonder if anyone here has delved deep into their family tree. Or knows a lot about their family history. Recently I have become more interested in it. In part I think a lot of things are passed down not only in genetics but in character traits and such. I already know there is at least one quite famous and very wealthy person in my family line. My great great Uncle who was a prospector, struck it rich and is in the miner's hall of fame. In fact there was more than one prospector in my family history.

What is really interesting is that as a little kid I never knew all this but I used to prospect in my own way. In the ditch and stream in our back yard I used to look for gold and treasure. I used to walk through the woods in search of gold and collected the largest amount of fools gold in my town. I just had a knack for finding it. Even in the rain I would go out looking for it on the roads because the rain washed the dust off the pyrite. And I had a fascination for caves. I don't know how that instict or impulse could be passed on but it makes me wonder.

This Christmas I met with my great Aunt (95 years old) whom I haven't seen in over twenty years. She showed me some old pictures from the late 19th century of family members. And the house she lives in with her daughter is about two hundred years old. Now I'm more interested in learning about my roots. My grandparents used to comment on how they saw traits of various uncles or family members in me. And when I learn about them, their lifestyle, skills and personality traits it is almost like looking in the mirror at myself 100 years ago.


So I'm interested in hearing about other people's experiences. Have you explored your family tree, received insights about yourself through touching the past? Any really intersting things come out of it etc?

[Athena]

The property back in Greece has been in our family for hundreds of years. I will never forget walking the grounds with my father and placing my hand on olive trees that, we figured, were probably close to 1,000 years old. No exagerration there. Standing in the home where my grandfather and his father were born, looking at the outdoor stone oven that my greatgrandmother used, opening the same gates that my grandfather opened as a boy...I sometimes get emotional just thinking about it.

[mom24boys]

one of my many hobbies is Geneology..I have traced my mothers side back to the 1600's and oh so many things that were buried for a reason LOL be careful it is a very addictive and time consuming hobby.

[Tyrbolift]

My mother's brother has researched their family name all the way back to the mid 1500's in Lancashire, England, and has constructed a family tree. They came to the United States in the mid 1800's.

My mother's grandmother was a Cherokee native american with the surname of "Roundtree."

My Dad's grandfather came to the US in the latter 1800's from Norway...we have the family shield.

His grandmother's family came from Germany.

So I'm pretty much an anglo-european white boy, except with 1/8 american indian thrown in.

[dbx]

My uncle (mother's brother) actually traveled to Ireland several times to research his geneology, and he finally published a hardcover book, complete with pictures, birth certificates, stories etc.. It was very cool.

Now, here's a story for you: Back around 92', my parents put my grandmother in a nursing home in NH, that was close by a third home that they initially retired to. Upon visiting her one day, my father saw a resident's room that had out last name on the door (we have a somewhat unusual Irish, last name). Out of curiosity, he approached the woman who was in her 90's. He produced his drivers license to assure her of his reason to ask some questions.

This woman turned out to be a relative (an aunt...one of his father's brother's wife) my father had never known. His father never kept up with his brothers whereabouts, as the family was splintered at his "time on the family tree". Not only did she know my grandfather's name, she named all the family members that actually came here on a ship from Ireland! She knew the first names of all, including spouses. Needless to say, my father was stunned. This 90 something year old woman was as sharp as a tack.

Walk into a nursing home that's practically in the middle of nowhere, and meet a relative who fills in all the blanks on the extended family and who was on the friggin' boat over here? What are the freakin' odds of that happening?

The fact that my grandfather didn't keep up with his brothers may seem odd to some of you, but he was the quintessential "walked 5miles to school in the snow...barefoot" kinda guy. He was shoveling coal for a living at age 14

[BurritoMan]

I know that 8 of my 16 great-great grandparents were Irish and by an interesting coincidence I have historically liked to drink a lot of beer. Probably just sheer coincidence but interesting all the same. Broke away from this habit about 5 years ago. I'm from England, mixed blood from the northwest: Lancashire, and South East Saxon, mixed about half with Irish immigrant blood.

Both of my parents were good athletes. My Dad was a very good footballer (what you would call soccer player here in the US) and my Mum was very good at track and field, esp the long jump and the high jump.

[Odin1970]

My uncle (mother's brother) actually traveled to Ireland several times to research his geneology, and he finally published a hardcover book, complete with pictures, birth certificates, stories etc.. It was very cool.

Like DBX a family member of mine traced my family back on my fathers mother side. He published it in 1968, before I was born but my brother and sister are in there. It really is indepth, pictures, birth certificates letters...

This guy did an exclusive american family tree for my family and he tracked it back to "the wiliam johnson line" He came to charlestown ma from england in 1633. I was pretty proud when I read it the first time, to have a linage back to an original (or close to original) settler is unique.

My father claimed his father (my grandfather, my grandmother is the family line done) family was originally from denmark. And there in lies the downside the family tree's if you dont track back a mother and father its hard to get a complete picture of potential genetic behaviors.

[GREENFEATHER]

My lineage isn't too exciting other than being a descendant of many Medicinepeople. My great great great grandmother was Margret Running Crane.

M's side is a tad more colourful, she's directly related to Edward Teach also known as Blackbeard. Damned Welsh Pirates, ARGGGH!!

[lukamar]

My second cousin did the geneology thing on my grandfather's side and went back a few hundred years. Scotland keeps good records and the family up to my father were all Masons (so is my 2nd cousin) so he got some info from them. Only thing of historical significance was the Battle of Culloden (1746) where a bunch of them got slaughtered. Other than that they were butchers...LOL

[dbx]

This guy did an exclusive american family tree for my family and he tracked it back to

Glad you mentioned this. I'm sure the guy ^ was thorough and stayed true to his search. However.......there are a million asses out there who will charge you good money to do this, and they will tell you what they want after a certain point. In other words, because of a lack of birth records/written documentation that exists for MOST of us when you go back to a certain point, these whores will make stuff up. I call them whores because it's really a terrible scam many of them pull on families. Some of you have probably been e-mailed, written to or approached somehow, to have one of these companies/persons do this. Hell, they can't even get your family Coat of Arms right. They are also more than happy to inform you that you're related to royalty or someone famous back in history.

Trust me, for this to be done right, you can't just gleam records at courthouses across the country. And before records were kept at courthouses? Pleeeeze! You have to do real research, which is going to take traveling across the globe. Do you think for the $39.99 you gave them, that they're going to leave the comfort of their office?

Okay, I'm done.

[Bob 1]

Glad you mentioned this. I'm sure the guy ^ was thorough and stayed true to his search. However.......there are a million asses out there who will charge you good money to do this, and they will tell you what they want after a certain point. In other words, because of a lack of birth records/written documentation that exists for MOST of us when you go back to a certain point, these whores will make stuff up. I call them whores because it's really a terrible scam many of them pull on families. Some of you have probably been e-mailed, written to or approached somehow, to have one of these companies/persons do this. Hell, they can't even get your family Coat of Arms right. They are also more than happy to inform you that you're related to royalty or someone famous back in history.

Trust me, for this to be done right, you can't just gleam records at courthouses across the country. And before records were kept at courthouses? Pleeeeze! You have to do real research, which is going to take traveling across the globe. Do you think for the $39.99 you gave them, that they're going to leave the comfort of their office?

Okay, I'm done.

You are so right on this, and sorry for any typos on this my eyes are shot for the day, my wife's genealogy was done by someone that had people in it that were named Cinderella who all hanged themselves and women with babies that were eaten by eagles. Not kidding. you get what you pay for.

[jwdjrs]

This is something that I think I would be very interested in. I never knew any of my great grandparents, Hardly didn't even get to know either of my Grandads. I do know That my grandad on my mom's side, In WWII, Was on a ship that got hit and sunk, Because when my Mom was little, she remembered grandad telling her about how much water he had swallowed, Before being saved. We also have pictures of him on Stage in Italy Singing.

[V-240]

We did some poking around in old family records a while back. Turns out we're mostly Norwegian and German. Could explain why I'm such an extremely huge, extremely white dude, 6'1", over 300 lbs. Well, that and the giant cheeseburgers I used to gulp down! Still sitting at high BF% with lean mass of about 210 lbs.

Also have some Italian blood. A family reunion on the island of Ustica is planned for sometime in the next couple years.

Scott

"My wife did my family tree. I found out I'm the sap!" R.I.P., Rodney Dangerfield.

[Forge3]

My uncle (mother's brother) actually traveled to Ireland several times to research his geneology, and he finally published a hardcover book, complete with pictures, birth certificates, stories etc.. It was very cool.

Now, here's a story for you: Back around 92', my parents put my grandmother in a nursing home in NH, that was close by a third home that they initially retired to. Upon visiting her one day, my father saw a resident's room that had out last name on the door (we have a somewhat unusual Irish, last name). Out of curiosity, he approached the woman who was in her 90's. He produced his drivers license to assure her of his reason to ask some questions.

This woman turned out to be a relative (an aunt...one of his father's brother's wife) my father had never known. His father never kept up with his brothers whereabouts, as the family was splintered at his "time on the family tree". Not only did she know my grandfather's name, she named all the family members that actually came here on a ship from Ireland! She knew the first names of all, including spouses. Needless to say, my father was stunned. This 90 something year old woman was as sharp as a tack.

Walk into a nursing home that's practically in the middle of nowhere, and meet a relative who fills in all the blanks on the extended family and who was on the friggin' boat over here? What are the freakin' odds of that happening?

The fact that my grandfather didn't keep up with his brothers may seem odd to some of you, but he was the quintessential "walked 5miles to school in the snow...barefoot" kinda guy. He was shoveling coal for a living at age 14

My great and great great uncles were also a hardier stock then many people today including myself. The life of a prospector in Northern Canada and abroad isn't the lifestyle a lot of people could stomach. Today we have all kinds of vitamins, supplements and gyms handy with all the modern equipment. Somehow, our ancestors lived off the land by plow and the sweat of their brow and were a more rugged/tough lot. And I don't think they washed their hands a half dozen times a day or more concerned about bacteria.

[dmr11]

I have done this for my family, both sides. I can trace one line back to Germany, 1516, and others to the late 1600s. Some are easy to trace while others are very hard. I have found the graves of two great-great grandparents. I have also held in my hands the estate settlement package for one great-great-great-great grandfather, he died in 1808. For those of us who are historians, these are very real links for us back to these very real people.

As a footnote, I have proven two ancesters who fought for our independence and four who fought against "dishonest Abe" and his illegal war, and none of the four were slave owners. But, I do know of one ancester who was a drunk. You have to take you family, warts and all.

[resurrected]

Lets see.... My ancestors held he throne in England in a little town called Kent.
My direct descendant came over on the Mayflower her first name was Susan.
That is really all I have at this time. I do plan on however delving into the history as far back as I can. My family has a long history on both sides.
Odd thing is My mothers family came from america. They were part of the algonquin tribe along the eastern seaboard. My grandmother was from ireland and I think they were someone there that was in control somewhat. I don't really know except for bits and peices. I need to learn how to really go deep into this thing.

[Most Muscular]

I looked back into our family tree and found I was the sap...

Seriously, my brother has done some digging and in fact hired someone back in the old county (Finland) to do some investigation into our family history. I am of 100% Finnish heritage, which is unusual for a third generation person but I grew up in a mainly Finnish community so it wasn't that uncommon there.

Anyway... what makes Finnish heritage somewhat hard to track is back in the old country you took the last name of the house you lived in. For instance, if the house you lived in was called Maki (hill) your last name became Maki. That house was always called the Maki house.

I think it was my great grandfather whose original name was Nordstrom worked as a farm hand at the "Leppala" farm and married one of the maids there. They then took the name of the Leppala farm. At times this meant that a family of seven brothers could all end up having different last names! Try tracing that family history back!

Fortunately all births, baptisms, weddings, and funerals are recored in books at the look churches. It is just a matter of reading through many of these old books to try and trace your heritage.

Now Nordstrom is a Swedish name but perhaps some of my ancestors lived at a Swedish home at one time.

It's sooooo confusing....

nuff said...

[empresscat]

Glad you mentioned this. I'm sure the guy ^ was thorough and stayed true to his search. However.......there are a million asses out there who will charge you good money to do this, and they will tell you what they want after a certain point. In other words, because of a lack of birth records/written documentation that exists for MOST of us when you go back to a certain point, these whores will make stuff up. I call them whores because it's really a terrible scam many of them pull on families. Some of you have probably been e-mailed, written to or approached somehow, to have one of these companies/persons do this. Hell, they can't even get your family Coat of Arms right. They are also more than happy to inform you that you're related to royalty or someone famous back in history.

Trust me, for this to be done right, you can't just gleam records at courthouses across the country. And before records were kept at courthouses? Pleeeeze! You have to do real research, which is going to take traveling across the globe. Do you think for the $39.99 you gave them, that they're going to leave the comfort of their office?

Okay, I'm done.

Yeah, my family is Irish... my grandfather (bless him) has had a geneology done twice... both times with similar results, and the claim that we had some connection to a castle in Ireland. Not the same castle, mind you. One claimed we had lineage back to a man who was King Richard the Lionheart's Master at Arms.

Thing is, the family name is O'Dwyer. Which is a bastardization of Du Ire, or "of Ireland"... it's kinda like Smith. Many Irish were given this name just because they were Irish... so using the last name as a reference point really doesn't work.


On the other hand, on my dad's side, one of his cousins was mormon. The mormons do excellent geneologies - and we traced the family name to my great great grandfather (unfortunately nicknamed as "Big Chief"), a native american in West Virginia (we have guesses as to which tribe, but only guesses, based on location - because that was a time when, as many, people were abandoning their native american heritage)... He married a german woman, and they had 8 kids, including two sets of twins. The next generation was also prolific - so interestingly, "Deerfield" - which is a common enough place name, turns out to be an uncommon last name... at the time (1993) there were 88 of us in the entire US. (I do a national white pages search and get 30-40 results.) Considering the size of those families, I expect we're mostly related.

[dbx]

Yeah, my family is Irish... my grandfather (bless him) has had a geneology done twice... both times with similar results, and the claim that we had some connection to a castle in Ireland. Not the same castle, mind you. One claimed we had lineage back to a man who was King Richard the Lionheart's Master at Arms.

Yep. You'll notice that I didn't mention the fact that I was once told I was a descendant of a king of Ireland . I mean hey, it's possible, but...ya.


And yes, the mormons did keep good records. In fact, it was a big deal when several years ago, they completed years of work, compiling Ellis Island documentation on the immigrants who arrived there. There is some web site you can go to, to search yourself (I think?...been years since I heard about it).

[Minotaur]

My paternal ancestors were probably goatherds and lemon farmers from Sicily. I know almost nothing about my maternal ancestors in Italy. I heard that my paternal grandfather got into a fight with another man over a dog and stabbed the man, and had to flee Sicily. He always claimed he had no brothers, but strangely there were others in the same village with the same last name. And there are people in the eastern US who resemble my family, with the same name. My theory is that they ARE our cousins. Sicilians have a habit of disinheriting each other: "you're-a dead-a to me! I don't-a know you no more!"

Someone back in the line changed the spelling of the name to make it sound more Spanish, for some reason. And my father was proud of telling a story that an uncle of his almost married a European princess but married a barmaid instead. Very weird family.

[GREENFEATHER]

If y'all are feeling brave, there is a geneology news group over on Google. Have a thick skin as they are a brutal lot there. The Irish are in a constant state of turmoil there, lol!! When I'm feeling like getting rid of some anger I go there and stir the pot. There is a lot of good info there, but it does come with a price at times, especially if you're English or Irish.

[Mark1T]

My Mother's side we have some American Indian. I think it is Cherokee, or it may be Apache. My Mom's Mother had a prominent Indian nose and profile. The other part is Italian.

My Father's side is 100% pure Scottish. Our name has been traced back hundreds of years, but not that organized from what I have heard - yet. I do know that prior to 1900, many of my ancestors were in wars. Seems like that was just part of life back then.

But, of all of the blood that is in me, I have always focussed on Italian home cooking. The passion is in my blood.

[GREENFEATHER]

My Mother's side we have some American Indian. I think it is Cherokee, or it may be Apache.

There's quite a bit of difference in those 2 nations. 160 years ago, the mistake of calling a Cherokee an Apache would get your hair lifted. Oh yea, thanks for NOT using that politically correct term, it pisses me off.

[jmc53]

(we have a somewhat unusual Irish, last name)

That explains a lot

The men in my family through the 1800's were missionaries in Africa. My paternal grandfather married a Mauritian native woman and moved to Australia to found a church ministering to underprivileged Australian Aboriginals.
They begat my father, a loveable soundrel, who begat me (about as un-religious a fellow as exists) and there endeth the family tradition!

[dmr11]

The changing of names was not always the problem within the family. The censis takers did not always know how to spell the name. Also many families changed the names from the "home country" spelling to an english spelling. In one line for me it went from Richter to Rector. That always makes things interesting.

[Lilac66]

Geneology is very fascinating and very time consuming. Since I'm in nursing school, I live vicariously through my step-mom's searches (she's a regent for the Daughter's of the American Revolution). I was able to find some info she didn't have just poking around on the internet, though.

So far, we've learned that part of my family was Norman, and arrived in Sussex with William the Conqueror. There is a church in Sussex where many of my ancestors are buried. The original family coat of arms is on the wall of the church (it has been modified over the centuries as new families have married in). A very distant relation still owns the original estate.I've seen a photo tour of the church on the internet. It's really a different feeling to see your ancestral name on a church wall across the big pond! I hope to travel there some day.

The brothers who didn't inherit the estate moved to America. My ancestor supplied soldiers in the Revolutionary war with food and other goods. I also have another ancestor who was a soldier, but attempts to find records on him have reached a frustrating dead end for the moment (in order to authenticate ancestry for DAR, you have to have certified copies of certain records).

Lol, one ancestor evidentally lived with a woman he wasn't married to. Her grave marker gives only her first name, and says "consort of" my ancestor. Another ancestor married, "gasp," an Indian woman (being sarcastic, folks-I personally think its neat). Then there is the mystery of an ancestress who disappeared off the face of the map. No one seemed to want to talk much about her in their letters, and from mention of her in one letter, it seems there was some kind of controversy surrounding her.

I found out one ancestress was a nurse until her seventies. I hope my career is that long!

The best thing I found out is that my step-mom, whom I adore, is actually a distant relative of mine (not through the Norman side, but through a Scots-Irish ancestor)! I've always told my dad if he divorces her, I'm going to divorce him and adopt her, lol. Now I don't have to, because we are related waaaayyyy back.

[Lilac66]

The changing of names was not always the problem within the family. The censis takers did not always know how to spell the name. Also many families changed the names from the "home country" spelling to an english spelling. In one line for me it went from Richter to Rector. That always makes things interesting.

Another thing that can be problematic is that many families use the same name through several generations. There can be a number of "Mary Smiths," and you have to figure out which one is your direct ancestress! Sometimes, if one child died, they would use the same name for another baby born to them, also.

[Athena]

The changing of names was not always the problem within the family. The censis takers did not always know how to spell the name. Also many families changed the names from the "home country" spelling to an english spelling. In one line for me it went from Richter to Rector. That always makes things interesting.

My great-grandfather had to shorten his name at Ellis Island -- I always get such a kick out of scammers who send postcards that read, "Athena Smyth! We've traced your ancestry back to blah blah blah!" Dumbasses...Smyth is just shortened for Smythopoulos.

After the divorce a few weeks ago, I did something I'd wanted to do since college: Instead of changing my name back to my maiden name (the shortened version), I changed it to the full family name. I'm the only one with the full family name on my side of the clan (we're a BIG clan, all tolled). My father nearly wept when he found out what I was doing.

As for geneology -- not much to trace for me since it's all written down already. But there's so much fascinating history still. My mother's cousin (still in Greece on the family property) and his sister were part of the resistance during WWII, against the German occupation. He won't talk, though. Not even my cousin (his son) knows anything about it. He's gonna go his grave with the details, unfortunately. Lots of history with my grandmothers, grandfathers, and greats all around. For the most part, though, we were busy fighting off invaders.

[Forge3]

My great great uncle:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Henry_Horne

http://www.smu.ca/administration/arc...l30_horne.html

[Lilac66]

My great great uncle:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Henry_Horne

http://www.smu.ca/administration/arc...l30_horne.html

That's pretty cool, Forge. Any guy who encourages literacy is a hero in my book!