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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,970
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

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

A cousin on my mother's side of the family had researched the family back before ancestry.com.  He was able to trace the family back to late 1500s in nothern Ireland through other records and family documents.  Our ancestors from that side came over to America in the late 1600s.  

 

We didn't know as much about my father's family, so I signed up for ancestry.com a number of years ago.  Loved it.  I was able to successfully trace his family back to England & I am still working on trying to trace it back further.   Those ancestors also came to America in the late 1600s.  And along the way, I discovered a 4 times great grandfather that fought in the War for Independence.  What regimen he was in and so forth.  Also discovered some really interesting information about other ancestors along the way.  

 

The really interesting thing to me is that both my mother and father's ancestors came into the same place in Virginia within 5 years of each other, established their residence in Virginia for a number of years,  and then somehow both ended up in Kentucky also within just a few years of each other.  However, no one between the 2 families knew anything about the other family until Mom and Dad married.  Makes me wonder what the "rumor mill" was in Virginia at that time that lured people to leave Virginia for Kentucky.  lol  

 

It can be time consuming and looking at old records can be frustrating.  For example, I have a great grandfather that was named Shelby.  Since most of the early census records were hand written, the electronic version interpreted by ancestory.com reads it as "Shelly".  But I know it is Shelby with all the other stuff noted on the entry of the census that identifies his age, birthplace, acres of land, etc. that match up to other records I have.  I find it very interesting and have learned quite a bit. 


* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,819
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

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

One of the reasons I find genealogy so fascinating is that I’m always learning new things.  For instance, today I came across this ancestor but had no idea what “Keeper of the Privy-Seal” is.  

 

Nicholas Carew, Keeper of the Privy-Seal

1332–1390

BIRTH 1332 • Buckinghamshire, England

DEATH 17 AUGUST 1390 • Buckinghamshire, England

 

Per Wikipedia:   The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain.

 

Whether it’s geographical areas, tribes, wars, titles or castles there’s always something interesting.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,253
Registered: ‎10-04-2010

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


@lbwshop wrote:

My dad always said, "This is where the ox died," whenever such a question came up in our family.


I LOVE that!!!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 39,893
Registered: ‎08-23-2010

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


@Isobel Archer wrote:

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.


 

@Isobel Archer

 

Just curious, what does this do ....  benefits? 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,202
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

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

My mothers family came from Russia to Canada in the early1900 and then to Minnesota. He had a grocery store in Canada--around Winnepeg The brothers and sisters scattered so I don't know some. My fathers I don't know much about but know his sisters. I saw a picture of my dad in a army uniform--1st ww .

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

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

[ Edited ]

My husband’s uncle just published a book about their family coming to America from the Netherlands and about two generations prior to that...fascinating. Now if I can get mine figured out!  The Ellis Island website has a wealth of info including the manifests of ships with name, country of origin, etc. it’s free to use and a good place to start if you aren’t wanting to pay a fee and just want to look around.

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 102
Registered: ‎07-15-2010

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

[ Edited ]

For those of you wondering about the Daughters of the American Revolution, it is a women's service organization whose membership is based on lineal descent from a patriot who contributed to securing American Independence.  That patriot could be a man or a women, who fought in the army or militia, provided goods and services, paid special taxes, provided some civil service, etc. 

 

You join because you want to support the missions of DAR, which are patriotism, education and historic preservation.  There is something to interest everyone.  Those who are passionate about genealogy help prospective members work on proving their lineage for their application papers, or they help members prove other patriots in their lineage, which adds to the DAR patriot database.

 

DAR supports veterans, active military personnel, and several DAR supported schools that help underserved students.  They address environmental issues, restore and support historical sites, and maintain an incredible genealogy library that is open to the public. That is just a small part of what members do.

 

And you can meet and make friendships with fantastic women all across the country who are passionate about those same causes. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,819
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

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

@Hetty  Thank you for that information.  My ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. I appreciate knowing more about the DAR.  

 

On a side note, my high school graduation was held at DAR Constitution Hall.  That was a long time ago.  I don't know if they still do that.      

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,664
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

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

Part of my family came in with the British back in the earliest years, and proceeded to move west every 50 or hundred years until they were too poor to go farther. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,960
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

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


@Hetty wrote:

For those of you wondering about the Daughters of the American Revolution, it is a women's service organization whose membership is based on lineal descent from a patriot who contributed to securing American Independence.  That patriot could be a man or a women, who fought in the army or militia, provided goods and services, paid special taxes, provided some civil service, etc. 

 

You join because you want to support the missions of DAR, which are patriotism, education and historic preservation.  There is something to interest everyone.  Those who are passionate about genealogy help prospective members work on proving their lineage for their application papers, or they help members prove other patriots in their lineage, which adds to the DAR patriot database.

 

DAR supports veterans, active military personnel, and several DAR supported schools that help underserved students.  They address environmental issues, restore and support historical sites, and maintain an incredible genealogy library that is open to the public. That is just a small part of what members do.

 

And you can meet and make friendships with fantastic women all across the country who are passionate about those same causes. 


@Tinkrbl44

 

So glad you asked!  I had no idea about this.

 

I'm sure I have ties on my mother's side (both her maternal and paternal).  May look into this myself.

 

(Can't believe there's a poster named *STINKERBELL*!)

 

Woman LOL