Genealogy

[Tisket]

I've just started the process of getting my family records together and doing some looking online. Seems pretty confusing though so I might end up paying one of those genealogy websites to do it. But I'm not sure how good they are.

My husband's family has some really interesting history although some of it I think might be more family myth than reality but it's still fun to hear about family connections to historical events. I do admit that I am kind of worried that my side of the family will end up being mostly horse thieves and other shady characters. Still want to know.

So have any of you done any research into your own family histories and if so have you found anything particularly interesting? And do any of you know your family genealogy further back than a few generations?

[Valthissa]

My father's mother came in by steamer and was processed at Ellis Island. They put their records online ( http://www.ellisisland.org/ ) a while back and we were able to see the ships manifest, who met her at the boat, the reasons she gave for coming to the US, pictures of the boat, and a lot of other interesting details.

On my mom's side her mother was very much into family history and we have a seven generation tree that is fairly well filled in. I've been given custody of the family bible from just after the civil war that has my great great grandfathers marriage certificate inside.

I don't know anything about genealogy research, but I've been the recipient of others research and it has been a lot of fun to learn about some of my ancestors.

C/Valth

[Drunken Durfin]

So have any of you done any research into your own family histories and if so have you found anything particularly interesting? And do any of you know your family genealogy further back than a few generations?

If you have a Mormon library in the area, that is seriously one of the best resources that I have ever used. Plus, the little old ladies that usually staff the place usually have home-baked cookies on hand.

[Khariz]

If you have a Mormon library in the area, that is seriously one of the best resources that I have ever used. Plus, the little old ladies that usually staff the place usually have home-baked cookies on hand.

QFT. Mormons keep some damn good track of this stuff.

[thefarmer]

My dads a huge geneology buff. He's spent countless hours searching through archives in various states looking at census information, deeds, newspaper obits/articles, etc. I've even gone on some of his fact finding trips, and while it's alot of tedium, it can be fun when you see an article about someone related to you. He can go back to colonial America, then it gets murky-ish.

On the Mormon archives, I'll agree that it's some of the best records around.

My mom's side is yellow, so she has something like 100 generations at the tip of her fingertips. I'm sure there's more that we could find, but my dad's too lazy to fly overseas.

Fun fact: I'm related to Benedict Arnold thru my dad.

[Gelston]

Traitor.

[Tisket]

As far as some of my husband's family history...if a nuclear war were to decimate all of europe, most of Canada, and half the US then he would be the new King of England. You may commence bowing and groveling.

[Sean of the Thread]

I'm interested in this shit as well but my mother and grandmother have done the digging over the years.

I do know Churchill is in my tree. Explains where I got my alcoholic republican slut gene.

[War Angel]

My mom and my aunt went on a genealogy kick about 10 years ago. They were forever in the Mormon achives getting information. The outcome was that they traced back ancestors on the Dawes rolls, and we all ended up with our Indian Cards.

[Sean of the Thread]

My stepmother is part Seminole Indian. I keep telling that bitch to get her shit together and get in on the money train.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

My family history is well fleshed out except for on my paternal grandfather's side.

On my paternal grandmother's side we can trace our heritage back through a hundred or so generations through Georgia and then into Mongolia-- they kept very good records I guess to prevent inbreeding because the villages were so small and it was something that my family maintained even after they immigrated. They didn't come through Ellis Island though -- rather they illegally crossed the border from Canada.

On my maternal side it's harder to trace back and it gets lost about 6 generations in, but my great-grandmother is full-blooded Cherokee Indian and at a couple points I have Norwegian ancestors. Not sure how that exactly happened since the rest of the family is Russian (near Estonia).

Anyway, my family lines arrived in America at points past 1900 so there's nothing too terribly interesting relationship wise. Though Shirley Temple married in to my family via a distant relative and apparently my paternal grandfather knew her (we have a few pictures of them together). Other than that I come from a long line of peasants.

[Back]

My father’s name has been traced back to Wales. I recently met someone with the same last name and he told me the same thing. My aunt goes there every year to volunteer. I should go.

I would never say “we are Welsh”. Apperantly my family came over in the initial wave. Mom’s side as well. We have a full blooded Cherokee woman in the family and records also point to an African-American man in the 1800s.

The only person I can think of that is noteworthy, besides my father with a storied life-long career as a saxophonist, is a famous WWII aviator.

[Back]

Oh! To add for Tisket’s benefit...

My aunt has been doing a lot of leg work for years. She has contacted every family member she is aware of and collected information from them all. She has visited countless locations from the information she has gathered and visited courthouses and clerks or whatever you call the town record keepers to verify and obtain further information. Even to the extent of visiting grave sites and getting graphite impressions from the gravestones. She really is focused. Then again, she does not work and all her children have left the house long ago.

[Some Rogue]

My mother's side was a bit tough. It's been traced back to just before the Civil War but there was very little detail.

I was able to find out quite a bit more about my dad's side. The earliest record on this side of the ocean was a marriage record from 1740 in Philadelphia. The man, who was my g-g-g-g-g grandfather (might be missing one generation there, I can't remember), was born in a small village in Northern Ireland around 1720.

[Some Rogue]

As for the Mormon stuff, you can use their website for free too. I found a lot of info right there. www.familysearch.org

[Back]

My mother's side was a bit tough. It's been traced back to just before the Civil War but there was very little detail.

The Civil War messed up a lot of records as my Aunt tells me. No surprise there.

[Drew]

My many times great grandmother is Pocahontas. That's pretty much my genealogical claim to fame.

[Sean of the Thread]

I've got tons of tree in the civil war. Most of the records are from prison camp records. Andersonville/sumter in particular.

My paternal surname is unique and thus makes it much easier to tie us all together. Basically if you've got the surname you're in the tree.

[Back]

We actually had a captain in the Confederate Army.

What Sean2 said. Surnames are key. European tradition makes it somewhat easier to go back.

PS. Correction. He was a Confederate Army major general and general during the Mexican-American war. Wikipedia.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

I have an extremely common surname, so that doesn't help me when searching at all.

[Some Rogue]

Mine is a fairly common variation of an Irish surname. So yeah, it sucks.
Because it was spelled differently (intentionally and otherwise)over the years so many times, you never know who is related.

[Asile]

About 15 years ago we had something of a family reunion, and my paternal grandfather's cousin had all kinds of information on that side of the family going back to when my great-great-great-however-many-times grandfather and his brother came to the US from the Hungarian side of Budapest in 1858, and then settled almost immediately around the Chicago area.

Most of the knowledge of my mom's side of the family comes from stories passed through the generations...though there's not much said about what happened before the arrival in America.

I'm kinda glad to hear all this information on doing genealogical research, 'cause I'd love to look into my husband's family. With his last name, we have to assume there's a strong tie to Ireland; it would just be nice to confirm it.

[Stanley Burrell]

My family history is just ridiculous. Fucking insane.

It's too much of a task to take up and trace. All the cool stories I've heard and bothered to follow are on my dad's side and span back to some of the first Jewish settlers in this country. Beyond that is unbelievably insanely difficult to follow; and my mom's side of the family moved around the globe for the last 3,000 years so much that I'd rather spend my time playing Xbox 360. Which my ancestors were deprived of.

[Amber]

My dad's side of the family can't be traced back past his parents. Long story, but it appears that both of his parents were living under an assumed identity. My mom's family through her paternal side can be traced back to the Mayflower and we've ancestors on the Dawes registry as well. I've always wished I could trace my dad's side of the family back though.