Do You Know Who Your Ancestors Are?

American Quilter | May 14, 2010 | American Quilter

[American Quilter]

Now that so many ancestry records have been digitized, it's amazingly easy to start tracing your family tree. I'd never done it, but I watched this season's TV show, "Who Do You Think You Are?", and they kept referring to ancestry.com. So on a whim a few weeks ago I logged onto that site , and I've been amazed at what I've found. My mother's father's mother's family line goes back into the late 1400s in France, via many generations of French Canadians--who knew??? One of my dad's grandfathers came to the US to escape the Potato Famine in Ireland, and the other was apparently paid by his wealthy father-in-law to leave Ireland before the authorities arrested him for his anti-English revolutionary activities.

I've started wondering if I may be related to any of my fellow FReepers. Do any of you have any ancestor stories you'd be willing to share? My family has history in Quebec, St. Paul MN, Jasper County IN, Iroquois County IL, and the Seattle area (including the Olympic peninsula), but I'd love to hear from other FReepers regardless of whether we turn out to be related.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Outlaw Woman]

I once saw a picture of my great grandfather and his brood. That’s as far as I wanted to go after that.

[ApplegateRanch]

Do You Know Who Your Ancestors Are?

“Only the milkman knows for sure...and he still suspects the mailman.”

“Nobody really knows who their paternal ancestors are for certain, but it is difficult to fake maternity.”

I can list my ancestors back into the 1600s, but those linkages on the charts don't mean corresponding sperm-egg linkages necessarily match in all cases.

[kalee]

Whoever recorded my grandmother’s birth made an error. Esther Lily was officially recorded as Easter Lily. Her baptismal record at the church and the family Bible entry say Esther, but the courthouse says Easter. LOL She was born in Jan. so was not an Easter baby and I guess she would know her own name, she went by Esther.
We only found out the courthouse mistake when we requested a copy of her birth certificate when she was elderly and ill and we needed it for something. We contacted the courthouse thinking they had made a mistake but they said that the official record says Easter.
Her cemetary marker says Esther.

[martin_fierro]

	Genetic Genealogy >> PING <<
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[Monkey Face]

Thanks! I need to read this thing!

[Lando Lincoln]

You wouldn’t happen to be wealthy, would you?

[kalee]

I am English, Scots, Irish with one line of French. All were here before the Revolution and I am a DAR member with a long list of supplementals.

One of my first ancestors to come to America came with his mother to MD by a land grant given them by Charles II of England. The grant was compensation for Cromwell’s execution of his father.
The father had been tried and was beheaded for treason, his crime? He was an Anglican scholar and clergyman who was accused of praying for “one know to us but now far away”. His son later returned to England where he was ordained and then came back here to be the 1st ordained Anglican clergy in MD.
He married a daughter of an old MD family. Her family’s home still stands and was on the market a few years ago. Exciting for me to see it in a magazine and call the agent to ask for more info because it was an ancestral home. My grandfather who wrote the book on our family history had thought it was no longer standing.

Another line were the first settlers in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. When my grandfather was a young boy he said the original log cabin still stood on family land in The Valley, he had been there and had been in it. He died in 1999 at age 100.

Another not first wave but early Jamestown.

I also have a mystery French line who appear to be from the “wrong side of the royal sheets”.

[kalee]

Same here, my grandfather was a treasure trove of family stories handed down orally. I am so glad he wrote them down and published them.
As his research assistant I am also glad I had the opportunity to spend time exploring WV, VA and MD with him tracking down the official details of births, marriages and deaths.

[LiteKeeper]

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!

[DJ MacWoW]

Now that is really a neat story.

[kalee]

Oh and forgot to add the two women accused of witchcraft in Lancashire England.

It appears that one was accused because the accuser wanted her property.

[wolfcreek]

“My family goes back to Africa and the Rift Valley................................”

I’m still waiting from some definitive proof before I claim to be from Africa.

[winodog]

I have wanted to do that but I figured AC.com was not worth it. I am just super catious about any site that wants a CC#

You heartily endorse them? The 165 fee can be a time thing thing and you believe it will be worth it?

[oh8eleven]

You heartily endorse them? The 165 fee can be a time thing thing and you believe it will be worth it?
First, I do heartily endorse Ancestry, but you have to remember I was very successful using it. As the saying goes - your results may vary.
You don't have to subscribe annually. AC offers the following U.S. Deluxe Memberships:

• Annual ... $155.40
• 6-month ... $89.70
• Quarterly ... $50.85
• Monthly ... $19.95

AC takes time to learn and like I said, I had recently retired when I started so I had plenty of time. If you decide to go with AC and have questions, I'd be happy to help you.

[ODC-GIRL]

I found out I was related to Hilary Clinton. Yikes! Who knew SHE had French ancestry.

[ODC-GIRL]

I am French (and Many other nationalities) as well. Have been doing my genealogy for about 22 years and have thoroughly enjoyed finding out more about my personal history in the context of American history.

Finding out why families left their homes and came to this country is fascinating. One family came from Germany in 1709 making my Mom 7th generation while another came over as a little girl and made my Mom a 1st Generation American. My father is a similar mix of French families who came over as early as the 1500’s and a Luxembourg family that came in the 1800’s.

Enjoy, but fair warning, it’s addicting!!

[hmmmmm]

My local library system allows free access to the Library Edition of Ancestry.com. As far as I can tell the only thing I am unable to do is make an online tree and it seems I have access to worldwide info. The best part - besides it being free :) - is I can access it from home.

[winodog]

Thanks. I imagine two of the biggies are getting the birth and death dates of my grandfather on both sides.

I ran into a roadblock there when I half A tried to do it myself.

[oh8eleven]

I imagine two of the biggies are getting the birth and death dates of my grandfather on both sides.
I urge you to communicate with as many relatives as you can (especially the old ones), and ask them for as much family info as they can offer. Older folks, and family verbal histories, contain a wealth of information.
As an example ... my German ggGF was listed in the 1900 US Census as a tailor in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. While I was emailing a cousin, she mentioned he wasn't just a tailor, he owned his own business and at least 12 of his children worked there.
When I asked how she knew for sure, she said she got it from her grandmother in the early 1970s and her grandmother was his daughter. She worked there!
Make sure you write all that stuff down and I also suggest you keep those records in a tabbed, loose leaf binder. They'll pile up fast.