Who Are You People?

[Arwen]

Looking for other genealogy fans.

Do you know the crack that is Ancestry.com?

Do you drool over pictures sepia-toned and cracked?

Do you dream of times when you can pin your family members down for questions about what they remember?

Is a dead-end the most frustrating thing in your tree?

When you find a skeleton in your closet, do you want to take him or her out to share with the world?

Come on! I know you're out there.

So who are you people?

More importantly, who are your people?

SLynch61 on Ancestry.com

[Jet]

German speaking Russians
from a village called Sewald on the Volga River.
Came to the states just before the revolution.

[ravfem]

i've sometimes wondered about my ancestry, especially as i get older. But, i know nothing at all beyond my paternal father's last name and my maternal grandmother's maiden name & home town.

i'm no longer in contact with any of my bio-family so i can't ask anyone about it.

[Rockinonahigh]

Hellow Arwen,fancy u should bring this up.Once I ask my grandpa about our italian herritage and all he ever said for years that we were a bunch of rum runners and moonshiners.I never really belaeved that anyhow so over the years I have found out a fue things.1- His family really dose or did own a winery in italy called Lombard winery.2- He was the younger son but didnt want to deal with other nafarious things in italy nor did he want to wear the cloth.- There is some family connection in NY,Chicago and Cali wich so far I havent gotten hold of anyone from the addresses that are 40 or more years old.3-Most of his side of the family is in the resturant buisness or liquor makeing /sales in some way.Infact a fue of my cousins hear own the Blind Tiger and the Chaicago night club.
On my grams side is a bit sketchy..but I do know she is from gypsy linage in italy so in doing my best to find out more about that.I do know from one of my elder 2sd cousins thet she had several siblings.I have the idea that the family just wanted to stay hidden for lots of reasons...my nose is out of joint big time looking fro ansers.
When they came to the U.S.A. he came thrue the port of New Orleans and she came thrue Ellis island...still more work to do.

[Rockinonahigh]

I should add the I know even less about my bio fathers side of the family other than.His name and that his mother last name was Roderreigezz(sp?) and that she was from Missippie and has or had family from Smackover Ark.I have ask that side of the family for any info I could get but,no reply at all.

[Arwen]

i've sometimes wondered about my ancestry, especially as i get older. But, i know nothing at all beyond my paternal father's last name and my maternal grandmother's maiden name & home town.

i'm no longer in contact with any of my bio-family so i can't ask anyone about it.

You might want to do a trial membership on Ancestry.com You would be AMAZED at what you can find. Because you are not the only one searching, you see. So you might find your paternal father and his paternal father and be able to start from there.

[Arwen]

I should add the I know even less about my bio fathers side of the family other than.His name and that his mother last name was Roderreigezz(sp?) and that she was from Missippie and has or had family from Smackover Ark.I have ask that side of the family for any info I could get but,no reply at all.

L.W., that spelling is most likely Rodriguez but your dyslexia will be challenging since you do need the closest possible spelling when in doubt.

If you put in your bio father's name and what you think the DOB is (even just the year will work), you may find him on ancestry.com

[Rockinonahigh]

Arwen..I have no idea when the old fart was born,I have my birth certifiacate but all it has is my bio parents name but no age or dob..the thing is 63 yrs old gess they didnt need that info then.I often wonder who I look like,what they were like just so many things..sorta like im missing something and cant find it.But I will check on ancestry.com for more info.I also have there marriage licence but got no more info than what I had.

[Arwen]

Arwen..I have no idea when the old fart was born,I have my birth certifiacate but all it has is my bio parents name but no age or dob..the thing is 63 yrs old gess they didnt need that info then.I often wonder who I look like,what they were like just so many things..sorta like im missing something and cant find it.But I will check on ancestry.com for more info.I also have there marriage licence but got no more info than what I had.


You can take an educated guess though. Like...It was 19xx when I was born and my dad was probably in his 20's so he was born circa 19xx -20. :)

[Random]

I love genealogy..

I've lucked out as one of my mother cousins did a tree about ten yrs ago and keeps adding too it..

Lol.. I've also lucked out in the fact that my mother and father's families have been intermarring for a couple generations... (interesting note... the only ones with blood from both families are me and my younger brother ) so, I also have information on my paternal grandmothers family...

[PearlsNLace]

Cool Thread!

I have a lot of dead ends in my tree- a Great great grandmother who ran away from her tribe. Which one? We have no idea.

A Grandfather who was adopted. Sort of. No official information on his family of origin.

Oh, wait, and then there is the understanding that my grandmother is actually not my grandmother, but the woman forced to raise my mom- the baby my grandfather brought home after being birthed (and named after) his mistress. It took 40 years, but my grandmother treats my mom like a daughter now. But, then, who was my actual grandmother? What became of her?

My Dads line might be easier to trace, although my Great grandpa hired a company once to do that, and he got ripped off BIG time.

My paternal great grandma just rolls her eyes when I ask questions. She has never understood my want/ my need to KNOW who my ancestors are.

I dont have any understanding of how to begin.

[NJFemmie]

My parents were polish POWs who came to the US after WWII.
They met in a German DP (displaced persons) camp where they married and had my two oldest brothers. They came here in 1952, had a few more kids and the rest is "history".

[Toughy]

According to my paternal grandmother's 'Cattle Book' (yes it is a ledger book with 'cattle book' on the front cover...it was used to list livestock way back when, she used it for our family genealogy)........we used to read that thing all the time and ask her questions..........when she died....laughing......my sisters and I got that book and my dad's & uncles' box of marbles (from their childhood) out of her house before anyone else showed up.........funny what is important.........

She has traced us all the way back to the 1600's when my ancestors from England and Ireland (there was an O' in my last name when we were in Ireland....I've seen the documents) first came to this land. I am eligible to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.....I was a member as long as my grandmother paid the dues....I refuse to have anything to do with them.

My maternal sides goes back at last to the late 1700's early 1800's (and probably longer considering where they were) to what is now Illinois and Arkansas. My grandmother said her grandmother was 'black dutch' (whatever that means) and Cherokee (half and half).

My maternal grandfather was Scot and Irish.

Parts of my family have been in New Mexico for around 120 years.......both sides.

I have no relationship to being an immigrant.....no connection to Europe at all. My family has been on this land hundreds (and some thousands) of years.

[JustJo]

My grandmother said her grandmother was 'black dutch' (whatever that means) and Cherokee (half and half).



Hi Toughy,

I am also a quarter "black dutch"....and there are a few theories about what that means. Here's a site (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hornbeck/blkdutch.htm) that lays out the primary theories... happy researching... :rrose:

[Arwen]

My maternal sides goes back at last to the late 1700's early 1800's (and probably longer considering where they were) to what is now Illinois and Arkansas. My grandmother said her grandmother was 'black dutch' (whatever that means) and Cherokee (half and half).

My maternal grandfather was Scot and Irish.

Parts of my family have been in New Mexico for around 120 years.......both sides.

I have no relationship to being an immigrant.....no connection to Europe at all. My family has been on this land hundreds (and some thousands) of years.

Toughy, my great grandmother was referred to as Dutch or so we thought.

Turns out it was Deutsch or German. :| Kid you not. You might want to check that country instead of Holland.

And, um Toughy? If your maternal grandfather was Scot/Irish, you kind of do have a connection to Europe...through the British Isles as it were.

[Arwen]

My Dads line might be easier to trace, although my Great grandpa hired a company once to do that, and he got ripped off BIG time.

My paternal great grandma just rolls her eyes when I ask questions. She has never understood my want/ my need to KNOW who my ancestors are.

I dont have any understanding of how to begin.

Sounds like you have some sleuthing fun ahead of you. :)

I've run into the Irish black hole that is New York City. I can't get my Lynch line across the pond. LOL Still working on it!:detective:

[Arwen]

Hi Toughy,

I am also a quarter "black dutch"....and there are a few theories about what that means. Here's a site (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Ehornbeck/blkdutch.htm) that lays out the primary theories... happy researching... :rrose:

Very cool as I am Black Irish (which means somewhere waaay down the line I probably have a Moorish ancestor.)

[Cowboi]

I am Scots-Irish on my Dads side of Family. Spanish on my Moms side.

[Hack]

I'm half German and half Polish. Both sides emigrated to the US shortly after the US Civil War and homesteaded in Ohio and Michigan, eventually settling in northern Lower Michigan. My German ancestors are listed on a ship passenger log from a ship that left the northern part of Germany, which now is part of Poland (post-WW II). The log is on file at the Michigan Historical Center. My Polish ancestors came from the Poznan region of Poland.

Wickedly weird story. My parents got a call from a guy in NYC once who was doing family tree research. His wife's family had the same last name as my dad's family and traced back to the same area of Germany, but my dad didn't know of any relatives in NYC. He gave the gentleman my name and number, saying I had done some digging around in the state archives here, and may know more. The guy and I compared notes on the phone, and discovered that the ancestors did indeed trace back to the same area of Germany, but we couldn't find a connection. He asked if he could email me some old family photos, and I said sure. Later that night, I checked my email and opened up a photo the guy sent me. It was taken in the late 1800s, and was of the family who first came to NYC from Germany. The family was a mom, dad and a few kids. The dad looked JUST like my dad. I mean, the spitting image. It was freaky!! I emailed the guy back and told him this, and he replied with some more information...that the guy opened a cigar shop in NYC when he emigrated here. My dad is a big time cigar afficionado. To this day, that picture freaks me out.

Jake

[Diva]

This is a great thread!

I have a double whammy in that I am adopted.

My adoptive Dad's cousin did a major research project on his side of the family and it is in book form. It goes up to his great great grandparents and fortunately, I have it from there.

Unfortunately, I can't find that book!!!!

I have my Mom's side back to my great~great grandparents.

I know my birth mother's name and some of her relatives ~ I actually have pictures of my bio great grandparents (Arwen, you may have seen them on the wall in the Girl Room) who came across the pond from Ireland. I have my birth father's name only.

I would like to get started ~ if only for my daughter's benefit. And I'd also like to do her father's side, too, as I know he won't.

It's a fascinating subject to be sure! Thanks for this thread!

[Toughy]

Thanks Jo .....laughin.....I think the 'whatever that means' certainly holds true.........

Arwen........by connection I meant my family has been in the US for generations....I am 300+ years removed from Europe. It's hard to think of my family as immigrants to this country.....I am a US American.....hard to see any connection other than family members LEFT Europe. I've been to Berlin and Amsterdam and felt no connection to the land or people. My connection is to this land.....mostly to New Mexico and west/panhandle Texas.

Since I am mostly Scot-Irish, perhaps I might feel a connection to Ireland/Scotland if I ever go there.

[firie]

I grew up with the understanding that my grandfather's family (maternal) was "Black Irish." Interestingly, most of the people in his family were/are blonde and blue-eyed and "Black Irish" was always discussed as a condition of poverty, like so poor you were constantly dirty, and so blackened by dirt/soot, and my grandfather was quite ashamed of that because he grew up quite poor.

I have read a bit about it, because it has always intrigued me. No one, apparently, can quite pin down exactly where it started or why, and it is sometimes pejoratively linked to poverty and so a classist slur (association to the potato famine (black potatoes/black death)) or to shanty towns, or to the very poor immigrants coming into the US as a result of the famine, but also to phenotype (African, Native American, French, Jewish, Caribbean, and even Spanish), and with the exception of the "Spanish/Irish" phenotype, was generally thought to be a racist slur, and a product of the entrenched racial discrimination carried over from English sentiment to the US toward the Irish as "savages" along with Africans and Native Americans--some Irish were enslaved and shipped to parts of Africa by the English (there is some speculation that the name came from the Irish that actually stayed on the continent, but it also seems unlikely). Most of what I have read seems to suggest, however, that the actual usage of "Black Irish" is a purely American phenomenon, and that the Irish don't really use the reference, and that it might have connections to where the Irish found themselves in early African and Native American slave history in the US.

There are very romanticized stories that "Black Irish" came from a mix of Irish and elite Spanish blood, an attempt in folklore by the Irish to step up in the world a bit, and so perhaps they actually fabricated a very glorious event at one point in history, where a ship in the Spanish Armada wrecked into the coast of Eire and Irish ladies felt awful for the worn Spanish warriors, and so nursed them, and then had their children, and thus you have the link to darkened hair and eyes so associated with these mythical phenotypes of "Black Irish"; this, and other variations of the Spanish connection, to most scholars, is complete myth.

The whole topic is something I have been interested in for some time. Here is a neat look at some of the theories out there, link here (http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/blackirish.htm).

I am now going to read the links about "Black Dutch" because I have never heard of that before and must know if this phrase is as curious in history as "Black Irish."

[Rockinonahigh]

When I was growing up I found out that in my grandpa lineage was a story about the black italians in our family,many pictures of gramps show him as very dark.I ask once when I was a kid about that cause one of my play mates made comment about it,then I was told we had moorish line of decent from the 600's ad on his side of the family.

[Arwen]

Arwen........by connection I meant my family has been in the US for generations....I am 300+ years removed from Europe. It's hard to think of my family as immigrants to this country.....I am a US American.....hard to see any connection other than family members LEFT Europe. I've been to Berlin and Amsterdam and felt no connection to the land or people. My connection is to this land.....mostly to New Mexico and west/panhandle Texas.


Gotcha. :) I tell people I am hopelessly Euro-centric in my genetics. Nary a Native American aka Aboriginal in my background.

I can point to a Cole Younger in my tree but have no proof that he was the actual bandit.

My great-great-great grandfather helped found the Democratic party of Travis county (this is not something to be proud of if you know political history) and I am apparently a part of the Austin pioneer families. W00t.

Okay, so that does tickle me a bit because it's kinda cool to be able to drive somewhere and see the ruins of his home.

[pajama]

Great thread Arwen.

I'm not that into the geneology, but my Dad sure was. He traced our lineage back to the 1500s in England. Apparently Bartholemew S. came over as an indentured servant and is the only registered S. to come through Elis Island.

[Arwen]

Great thread Arwen.

I'm not that into the geneology, but my Dad sure was. He traced our lineage back to the 1500s in England. Apparently Bartholemew S. came over as an indentured servant and is the only registered S. to come through Elis Island.

That's awesome! I love hits like that. It's a rush when you are researching and you find someone else's tree.

The other cool missing link is that there are a bundh of Herman Conring men in my line. We might be related to THE Herman Conring who is considered the father of German law. Huh!

[JustJo]

Some of my friends in the kitchen thread were talking geneaology and looking for this thread, so I came in to give it a big BUMP! :)

[Arwen]

Currently HOOKED on "Who Do You Think You Were" (Friday nights on NBC) and still diving into Ancestry.com. I found a 4th great grandfather who died at the Battle of the Wilderness. He fought for the Union and had also fought in the Mexican-American war. He immigrated here from Germany.

[lipstixgal]

My family is greek on my father's side and italian on my mother's side but according to relatives in Greece my lineage goes back to Alexander the Great, I am a converted Jew by choice though!!

[Arwen]

My family is greek on my father's side and italian on my mother's side but according to relatives in Greece my lineage goes back to Alexander the Great, I am a converted Jew by choice though!!

I'm researching via ancestry.com and highly recommend it as a useful tool if you really want to get deep into it. Fascinating.

[Passionaria]

My family is Scandinavian. Swedish and Finnish. We are in contact with relatives in Finland, but not Sweden which is my Dads side. My Finish relatives live near Lapland. My cousin is doing the genealogy for the whole family on my Moms side. Our family goes back and forth visiting between Finland and the US. Now I know where my love of Coffee and Tango come from. lol. You would not believe it but the Tango is the most popular dance in Finland. We are know for being HOT BLODDED. There is also a huge Gypsy population in Finland. My Mom was raised speaking Finnish, but us kids never learned it. LOL, it was saved for secret conversations between my Mom and Grandma.

There you have it!

[Rockinonahigh]

Hi everyone,how ya been?Hear lately I have been geting some emails from my life .com...seem like a whole bunch of folks are looking for someone with my name..even my x.Bad vibes with that one.Anyone ever hear about mylife .com?
I havent till they poped up in my emails.

[Arwen]

Hi everyone,how ya been?Hear lately I have been geting some emails from my life .com...seem like a whole bunch of folks are looking for someone with my name..even my x.Bad vibes with that one.Anyone ever hear about mylife .com?
I havent till they poped up in my emails.

Never heard of it. Sounds fishy if they are sending you emails and you didn't sign up for it.

[Linus]

My family (both mother and father side) are Acadian. On my father's side they traced back to the first Acadian settlers in the 1600s in Grande Pre, Nova Scotia. And farther back to France. We've survived the Grande Deportation and I believe I have some distant cousins in Louisiana (Cajuns).

[Arwen]

My family (both mother and father side) are Acadian. On my father's side they traced back to the first Acadian settlers in the 1600s in Grande Pre, Nova Scotia. And farther back to France. We've survived the Grande Deportation and I believe I have some distant cousins in Louisiana (Cajuns).

That's very cool, Linus. Tracing backwards, to me, is fascinating.

[Rockinonahigh]

Never heard of it. Sounds fishy if they are sending you emails and you didn't sign up for it.

Nope I didnt sign up or ask for then to contact me,but on the first email it had on it my xhubby(nut case) was looking for me,this thing is comeing from yahoo.com.If the old fart really was looking for me all he has to do is go to the place my son works then sugest J get me to call...not that I would.

[Jess]

So, I've recently become aware of a couple of those "skeletons".

We are somehow related to ( maternal grandmother's side) the White's of West Virginia. ( re: The wild and wonderful white's of west va). I am also the great great neice of Devil Anse Hatfield ( yes of Hatfield/McCoy feud).

I joined ancestry.com for the free membership to see what else I could find, but will try to hook up with my Aunt who has been tracing at least my maternal grandparent's roots and see what all she has dug up. I know part of my grandmothers family are Melungeon, and part I may never know as her parents were killed for being a "mixed" couple. I will hopefully find more of my grand dad's family and then I will begin looking more on my Dad's side.

What I do know so far on my Dad's side, is his father is Scot with lines back to Robert the Bruce and his mother was Dane and Polish. It may take a few years to track them and I may never be able to find them all, but it should prove very interesting!

Cool thread idea!

Thanks! :) :bunchflowers:

[wolfbittenpoet]

When you want to try ancestry I recommend your local library. Most libraries also have geneaology groups that will help you get started. My father is a geneaology nut. To the point of our trip to London was spent in the reading room of the British Museum and a couple of private libraries. But then again my family was started by a minor noble getting a holding courtesy of William the Conqueror. Now we are delving into my mother's side which is full of skeletons and founding families. A good way to search family records is through the Latter Day Saints and if you transcribe census or draft cards you get unprecedented access to their extensive records for free.

[Martina]

I am also the great great neice of Devil Anse Hatfield ( yes of Hatfield/McCoy feud).

i am supposedly related to the Hatfields. My geneology is all appalachian all the way back on both sides. There is one family member who was an early settler of Perry Co, Kentucky. i love this story about him that i found on the internet. This is in the 1790's when he was scouting around to find a place to settle in Kentucky:

Hunting and Exploring expedition to Kentucky with Gideon Ison, on horseback. Camped at mouth of Beech Fork on Big Leatherwood. To explore, one headed up the stream and the other down. Gideon found an Indian camp of the previous night, returned to his camp. He decided that if William hadn't returned by the first star he would head home. When that time came, he mounted his horse and saw William approaching far off, carrying a deer. When William asked why he had been on his horse, he told him. William said he had seen an Indian peeking over a log and pretended not to see him until he passed him, then he bagan running and turned to see the Indian running in the other direction. They stayed up until first light, then headed home.


i love the brave explorers, one about to leave without his buddy and the other -- my ancestor -- running from the Indian he spotted. i just love it that this is the only story that survives about him.

[Jess]

Thanks Martina!

I love those stories also.

Thank you for sharing that!

[Corkey]

Who am I...a hot mess with mutt tendencies.

[Sparkle]

I spent quite a lot of time recording family history in the year before my grandmother died. I am so glad I did, it was really wonderful time she and I spent together.

This thread reminded me that I should really make the time to spend with my other grandmother, as well. Thanks!

Most of my lineage is from the United States going back until the late 1700/early 1800s. It is said that one line was among the passengers on the first Mayflower (I've not seen the evidence of that though).

I can trace about 7-generations on American soil; and it wasn't until my mother's generation that anyone moved away from the very small region in Upstate New York that they settled after immigrating.

I've have had some interesting stories arise from the research we did:

I have a great Aunt who was an ex-pat and spent the 'Belle Epoque' years in her apartment on the Left Bank in Paris. She was independently wealthy and never married, and there is a good chance (though it is unconfirmed) that she was a lesbian. I have a portrait of her, a book of her travel photos and a few pieces of the art she collected.

One of my great Grandmothers was a "mail-order bride" from Austria. She was "bought" by my great Grandfather after his first wife died and was brought over to the States - they had three children together.

A truly tragic (but fascinating) story came up. In the early 1920s my great Grandfather had a wife and four small children and one on the way, he also had a long term lover with whom he was unwilling to part. They ran away together deserting their respective families twice; both times their families tracked them down and dragged them back. The third time they ran away - they had made a murder/suicide pact. He shot her and then himself.

Which is horrific and tragic, and in the course of our research we found that there was an endemic of murder/suicides in that particular period of time. There was four other cases cited in local papers within a two year period.

[Apocalipstic]

I tried it, but I am adopted and muy birth parents were not marries and when I try to enter their information it tries to say they have to be married...I was so excited about it but I don't think I fit the Mormon profile. I kept hearing the word "Bastard" in my head as I tried to find out about my heritage.

I do think Geneology and History are so incredibly cool!

[wolfbittenpoet]

The mormon site is surprisingly friendly. Try entering parents names seperately and any general details you know. I've found it works better especially in cases of adoption.

[Apocalipstic]

The mormon site is surprisingly friendly. Try entering parents names seperately and any general details you know. I've found it works better especially in cases of adoption.

Like have two separate profiles for each one?

[wolfbittenpoet]

Not necessarily. Just research them as completely different branches kind of like if you were trying to trace different families. I also recommend using rootsweb for the first general searches.

[CherylNYC]

I've been having a good, long laugh about a possible wrinkle in my family history. She wasn't that successful in my case, but my mother took great pains to imbue pride in us that we were descended from proud Sephardic and Russian Jews on her side. I think she was less impressed with the combination of Romanian and Polish Jews on my father's side.

Well, it turns out that my father may have been the son of an Irishman! And a really famous one, at that. My cousins matter-of-factly mentioned this to my sister on a recent visit. My uncle was an impressive man whose word I trust. They had always known this story from him, and assumed we did, too. Nope. It was quite an amusing surprise.

My Romanian grandmother was an obscene old woman. I would tend to believe any, uhh, interesting story told about her. She and her sister Flossie were supposedly great beauties and rivals. Flossie was Joe Kennedy's mistress. (Yes, THAT Joe Kennedy.) My uncle used to go to the Kennedy office every Friday and pick up a brown envelope for his aunt. (Payday!?!) My grandmother let it be known that she thought Joe Kennedy was a fine man. One day she and her sister had a falling out and never spoke again. My uncle was small and pale like the rest of his family, and no one seemed to pay any attention to him on Fridays. That always changed whenever my uncle brought his tall, dark and handsome younger brother, (my father- who did NOT look like anyone else in his family), with him. Mr Kennedy would allegedly say to my father, "Come here, boy! Let me have a look at you. You're growing up nice and tall, I see." Yes, really. My uncle and everyone else in his family always assumed that Joe Kennedy had a lot to do with my father. Of course the part that twists my head a little is that, if it's true it would mean that he had something to do with me. Whoa.

Now I feel far less of a tourist about my interest in Irish spirituality.

[Random]

Gotcha. :) I tell people I am hopelessly Euro-centric in my genetics. Nary a Native American aka Aboriginal in my background.

I can point to a Cole Younger in my tree but have no proof that he was the actual bandit.

My great-great-great grandfather helped found the Democratic party of Travis county (this is not something to be proud of if you know political history) and I am apparently a part of the Austin pioneer families. W00t.

Okay, so that does tickle me a bit because it's kinda cool to be able to drive somewhere and see the ruins of his home.


HAH

If he was cole from the Younger gang then our great great somethings ran together... how funny...

[AtLast]

I finally learned how an entire segment of my family was erased from my history. Started with my Great-Great maternal Grandfather being left on a door step in Chile and ended (the passing on of this information among us) with racism, pure and simple.

Putting it all together has been an amazing journey- which I hope I am able to complete. I have found a couple of relatives.

:detective:

[Arwen]

HAH

If he was cole from the Younger gang then our great great somethings ran together... how funny...

From Neshua, MO. :) Hi ya. No wonder we can hang. LOL. Saddle em up!

[Luv]

On dads side we are Black Irish and Cherokee..I am 1/8 cherokee.my grandfather was a circuit preacher in the Tennessee Hills (Scott County).Moms side Spanish and Morrocan..many preachers on her side too.

[Arwen]

Recently I found a rather hard-to-find ancestor. I'm hoping it is the right one. For me, that's the worst part about Ancestry.com--sloppy research work. People just accept things. I found one of my ancestors b. 1794 with his father listed at b. 1825. HUH?

Obviously they'd switched the son and father's b'days, but still, you have to pay attention.

Did anyone watch the Lionel Ritchie "Who Do You Think You Are" episode?

[LadyRain]

I watched, "who do you think you are", last show. I had forgotten that I had a book on my family.I don't remember ever looking at it, I just put it on a shelf. Well that book is AMAZING...... all the work has already been done! The family can be traced back to Egbert (770-839) !! The first to come here (usa) was in 1635, on the Elizabeth&Ann. I am reading and fact checking as I go. I found their names on the ships registry, for May of 1635, into Boston harbor.The registry list was not in the book.This feels so good to see who I came from and what they have done.

[Gráinne]

I've been working on Ancestry since January, off and on. My mother had done a great deal pre-Internet-I am in awe.

I am descended from John of Gaunt's illegitimate line, the Beauforts, who became a very powerful and influencial family in the 1400's. One branch led to the Tudors; my branch led to the Scottish Royal Family. Mary, Queen of Scots was the only (legitimate) child from her father, but her illigitimate half-brother is in my family tree. She was kind of an airhead, but my all-time favorite queen :).

I'm also somewhat distantly related to Babington, the guy who ultimately got Mary killed.

I've discovered several colonists, Tory and Patriot, Confederate and Union in there. Several ancestors fought for the British in the Revolution. After that defeat, King George offered them tracts of farmland in Ontario. Many of them went up there and their descendants didn't come back down until the early 1900's. My mother was a descendant of Pocahontas.

When I first did my tree, I went back as fast as I could to find "cool" ancestors ;). I made a big mess, although I believe the relationships I found were right. I started over, this time collecting records and really being careful. It takes longer, but it's more organized.

[Rockinonahigh]

I was doing work looking for my linage,I swear ancestry got me so confused with double entrys on stuff I already knew.I hear mylife.com is better but I havent gone to the site yet.

[Glenn]

Both sets of my grandparents landed on Ellis Island in the nineteenth century from Italy, with love.

[Smiling]

Hi Everyone,

I have really enjoyed reading this thread. My subscription to Ancestry.com is currently inactive, but I have been laboring over a huge genealogical research project for the past two years. I even took a DNA test which has yielded 54 pages of distant relatives; in addition to providing my genetic makeup.

(The DNA is, of course, based on ancient migratory patterns so my more recent ethnic heritage looks somewhat different. However, it has provided a very good foundation).

Really basic background....

I have gotten as far as possible via records, etc. My father, as well as my entire paternal line has been completely estranged (under rather ugly circumstances) for 30+ years. My mother is polite and willing to answer some questions about this side of the family, but is uncooperative about and/or unable to answer others; particularly as pertains to my older half-brother; whom I have never met. He has no idea we exist.

I know where my father lives. I have his address as well as a telephone number; both publicly listed. He is 70 years old now. I have attempted to get in touch with other relatives who might be less "shocked?" at hearing from me; but to no avail. (Well, I have corresponded with some enthusiastic cousins, but they don't have any information as they, too, have been out of touch with this particular branch of the family for at least as many years).

My paternal uncle did respond (one year ago) and very politely told me that he feels he is just too old and therefore didn't want to deal with this at his age and abruptly cut off contact after he realized to whom he was talking via email. Luckily, he didn't recognize my name right away (though I was honest about my identity; I have many less than stellar qualities, but sneakiness isn't one of them) and he inadvertently provided some very helpful information about my grandparents.

So, the question is - do I send a letter to my father and ask if he would be willing to talk to me about some family history or do I just leave it alone? Am I being selfish to burst into someone's presumably peaceful life after all of these years? Is my request reasonable? For the record, I do not care if he wants to maintain contact or not; I barely remember him.

I invite everyone's opinions. I would like to hear any thoughts on this because I want to make sure that I have fully thought this through before I potentially just crash into someone's life.

I will ask also on the genealogy boards, but I need opinions; and I know you all have them, lol! (One of my favorite things about our community here).

Thanks in advance! :)

[Gemme]

I think you should try. If you don't, you'll regret it because you'll never know if he would have been able to help you or not. If you do, you have a fifty-fifty shot. Either he'll be helpful or not.

Talking about the past and family may be difficult, but if he's 70 years old, it certainly won't be the most difficult thing he's ever done in his life.

I think it's entirely reasonable to want to know where you came from. There's also a medical component to this as well.

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

As an adopted child of foreign birth, I have NO biological family of whom I am aware. No medical history, nada.

This is probably a unique if not a rare situation.

I rather am noncommittal about learning of my origin, however, the circumstances and facts of which I AM aware states I am probably better off not knowing.

[Smiling]

I've been going back and forth with this for the past 2 years. I've taken both of your thoughts into consideration (thank you, by the way!) and decided that I will pen a letter on Sunday to be sent via registered mail Monday.

One of my New Years resolutions was to reclaim my sense of fearlessness. This seems as good a place as any to start.

@Happy,
Do you mind if I ask how you might react if you suddenly heard from one of your biological relatives? I don't mean to pry, so please excuse me if I am being too personal; but I have in the back of my mind the situation with my half-brother and what may or may not be appropriate should I ever determine his whereabouts.

[Rockinonahigh]

L.W., that spelling is most likely Rodriguez but your dyslexia will be challenging since you do need the closest possible spelling when in doubt.

If you put in your bio father's name and what you think the DOB is (even just the year will work), you may find him on ancestry.com



I have done some checking out my bio fathers lineage,so far it go's from Smakover ark.to to Florida then Cuba(great great great grand pop was a coffee bean plantation owner) to Spain where he got the land grant for the property.I have a cousin who has some connections at one of the universite's so now I am waiting for information from them.Cousin P has dual citizenship in Italy so she is there now looking for more from our Italian family that she has gotten to know well...the search go's on.

[Deborah*]

I'm German Jewish on my moms side and Scotland Irish on my dads side. I haven't done much research on it. I'm thinking of doing a DNA test at some point in the future. It will be interesting I think what the results would say.

Deborah

[Logicaly]

I work on my tree from time to time, I mainly focus on my fathers side, but am also working on my mothers side too.

Currently I have my fathers side traced back to 1755, but seem to be stuck from there. I am pretty sure at that point they came to the US from some where else, but where that some where else is, I am not entirely sure and I don't want to pay more money at this time to have access to international records on ancestry.

On my mothers side, I am currently stopped at my great grandmother, unfortunately I don't have a lot of information about my mothers side of the family, nor can I really get the information easily.

[Gemme]

I did my DNA test last year and found out that I'm more Irish than Italian, which was a surprise since my father swears his side is full-blooded. I also have no link to Japan, as I suspected. Instead, I'm Portuguese, African, English and French (which I knew), Native American and Middle Eastern.

I am every woman!

[dark_crystal]

I started doing genealogy because i wanted to know our ethnicity, so i wanted to know where we sailed from in Europe

I was able to place my dad's family on the 1632 voyage of the ship Lyon from England to America (http://www.whipple.org/docs/lyon.html)

I haven't made anywhere near that kind of progress on any of the other lines

I did take the DNA test and find out i'm 43% Irish/38% English/11% Scandinavian/8% "other European"

I need to get to work on the other lines, but i figure i'll eventually serve a year as a DAR registrar, and i'll have such great access then that it is silly not to wait

[Chad]

I would like to take the DNA test. My birth mother was some help but I want facts. The only thing we have proof of is that there is Cherokee in our bloodline. The rest seems foggy at best.

[Orema]

85% African (80% West African, 3% Central and South African, 2% Sub-Saharan African).

12% European (British, Irish, and Finnish which was a surprise. We always thought my dad's dad was German—that's where my grandad was born and German was his native language. But now we're thinking he was born in German, but his ancestors were British, Irish, and Finnish).

2% American Indian

1% Southeast Asia

I've visited some of these areas, but not all of them. A goal on my Bucket List is to visit all the countries my DNA can be traced to. Maybe I'll meet this goal or maybe I won't.