Little curious how my ancestors came to settle here (where I live).

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

Maybe someday, I'll get into that. I'm a little curious about that. Ancestry.com, wonder how that is for checking on past relatives.

Has anyone here gone into that? How far back did you trace your ancestry? I think it could be very interesting. Know where my dad's family came from in Poland. I'd like to see my mom's side and where they came from.

jackthebear · ‎03-11-2010

@qualitygal wrote:
Maybe someday, I'll get into that. I'm a little curious about that. Ancestry.com, wonder how that is for checking on past relatives.

Has anyone here gone into that? How far back did you trace your ancestry? I think it could be very interesting. Know where my dad's family came from in Poland. I'd like to see my mom's side and where they came from.

my daughter did, when she took a trip. I know all I need to, doesn't interest me that much

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

Definitely recommend Ancestry. I didn't know my father's relatives as he and my mother divorced when I was very young and he moved to another state.

From Ancestry, I discovered that - on his side - I had a direct relative who fought in the Revolutionary War. I have since applied to and been verified as a Daughter of the American Revolution. I had no idea prior to Ancestry.

Check in to it. Who knows what you will find.

software · ‎06-08-2016

My ancestors are most likely very nondescript, I may run into a dead end. So many records were destroyed during the Civil War. My dad's side go back a way in the South. An uncle who did some work told me the family fought on the side of the Union. Not everyone in the South was for the Confederacy.

But my mom's ancestors may turn out to be more interesting. She's French Canadian, she was first generation & the French Canadians have an interesting history, quite possibly originating in the South. But she has a very common French name, in fact both her parents have the same last name, but the 2 families spelled it differently. And they weren't related!

I've reached out to her side of the family and got the cold shoulder so I'd have to start from scratch. Without giving up too much detail, I know their family was quite colorful.

I have kept all her personal documents, the family is Catholic and her Baptismal certificate is in French, I have it framed in my home. Maybe the next generation will be more fruitful.

There are many local genealogy groups with a lot of information, including local libraries. Not sure I would go to ancestry.com first.

hayseed00 · ‎11-24-2011

One winter I signed up for Ancestry, and found quite alot of my dad's family tree from draft cards to ships log of passengers coming to US from Germany. I would look at the info for hours and really enjoyed it along with being informative. I went back as far as I could for dad's family. In the spring I cancelled because I just get to busy outside.

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

I am fortunate. My Great Grandfather did a wonderful thing if you are trying to do family genealogy. He and his brother married two sisters. So every year "the cousins" had a big reunion picnic.

Well, they decided to do a family genealogy. And so they pooled their ancestry resources and compiled a book of the genealogy. Then they published probably hundreds of the books, so everyone would have a book.

The book went into detail about the family in Wales. How the patriarch was a Doctor. And 3 of his sons came to the US. I felt like it was like the movie How Green Was My Valley.

I had no information regarding my husband's family. So I started doing the census records. I went to the Philadelphia Archives. And got as much information as I could. Then I went to Washington DC to the National Archives. There are floors and floors of information and I did not have enough information regarding the ship manifests. Then security tightened up and work and life took over and we never went back.

I have no idea about looking on line but I am happy with the information I got. It took many hours and days to gather my information. I bet now it can be done in a matter of hours.

cotton4me · ‎03-09-2010

I love genealogy. I find it fascinating. I think Ancestry is a good site. They help you with “hints” associated with your ancestor like census, birth, marriage, death records, etc. They also lead you to other people’s trees who have the same ancestor where you might learn additional information. I’ve traced my family way back, some lines back to BC.

When I first began genealogy there was no internet and it was very laborious. I remember going to the National Archives spending hours going through rolls of microfiche looking at census records. It’s so much easier now with everything online.

jeanlake · ‎03-10-2010

I hope you find a trail and enjoy the research.

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." Henry David Thoreau

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

You can only go so far with any of the free sites and then most times they lead you back to Ancestry where you can only see so much using the free version.

NicksmomESQ · ‎08-19-2014

For all those who enjoy the search I’m glad for you.I personally have no interest in going back to find long lost connections. Life is too short.I’m living in the present with my eye toward tomorrow .That‘s If I’m lucky enough to get to tomorrow!!