A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day.....July 25, 2007.... Getting to Know Your Ancestors

7-25-2007 | Just Amy & MamaBear

[JustAmy]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

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We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, GodBlessUSA ~

Sometime during the twelfth century the concept of heraldry came into prominent use. Knights began to have their shields and other equipment decorated with marks of identification. These marks and colors evolved into a way to identify the bearer as a member of a certain family, clan, or allegiance to a feudal lord.

The lords, and their knights and all their followers displayed the lord's coat of arms on pennants, shields, and battle dress. Families and clans of families were identified by these symbols.

"If You Could See Your Ancestors"

If you could see your ancestors,
All standing in a row,
Would you be proud of them,
Or don't you really know?

Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees;
And some of them, you know,
Do not particularly please.

If you could see your ancestors,
All standing in a row,
There might be some of them, perhaps,
You wouldn't care to know.

But there's another question
Which requires a different view ...
If you could "meet" your ancestors,
Would they be proud of you?

~ Author Unknown ~

Do not use a wire brush on stonework. It will do much damage to the surface of the stone and encourage the growth of moss and lichen.

Do not apply any proprietary sealer to the stone. Stone must be able to breath and allow air and water to pass through.

Gravestone rubbing is not recommended because so many gravestones are made from soft sandstones and limestone that are easily damaged.

Do not apply shaving cream, chalk or other chemicals to the stones, as this can also cause damage.

If you are planning on visiting cemeteries remember to treat the headstones and markers with care. Many of these grave markers are very fragile, and even the pressure used to take a tombstone rubbing could cause damage to some stones.


Good light will always produce a better photograph. If you wish to photograph the headstone and inscription in a shaded position and you want the lettering to be readable it may be necessary to provide additional lighting. This can be done on a sunny day by using a mirror at an appropriate angle.

"Pay Heed, Now!"

I’ve done it! Yes I have! I’ve tracked my ancestry.
I tracked it back beyond the start, of modern history.
And even further back than that! (No, not an easy task!)
The records were quite hard to find, (but, Thanks that you did ask!)

The story that was written, before the ink and quill,
Excited me when first I learned, I guess it always will.
You’ve heard about some fossils? No, not your Gramps and Mum,
Those stony skeletons they found, beloved and then some!

“These were our ancestors,” they cry. Now, let me tell you true.
The critters they discovered had no children in my view.
At least from that flat landscape, from which they stare, agape,
You’ll have no progeny at all of either Man, or Ape.

For they were dead, you see, demised. Deceased and obfuscated,
In a word, obliterized. Corried and quarried, they had been Terminated!
The ones who walked around that mess, averting fearful eyes,
Are quite the ones I wish to note, my own survivor guys.

The studious type, I’m proud to say, note-takers with an eye,
To leaving danger, and small brains, to a luckless other guy.
You may have doubts that this could work, I’m sure you’d like it shown,
But we were record record-keepers, ( I still have all my own!)

The stacks of notes are towering, they go back quite a ways,
To warmer weather in the past, and somewhat warmer days.
Now that was handy, you’ll admit, for when you had some itches,
You didn’t have to slow down much for fasteners on britches.

Well, anyway, I did the work. The place we got our start,
Was almost just what they described, (describing is an art!),
It was a lovely Garden. (You knew I’d say that, right?)
But did you know what else I found, in digging out that site?

The very first last testament, and will of that first writer,
Who lived so long, so long ago, you know he was a fighter!
Well, anyway, I want to say, you guys are all in trouble.
You owe back rent, to me of course, and penalties are double.

NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 21, 2007

You know you are a Genealogy
addict when...

~ You brake for libraries.
~ You hyperventilate at the sight of an old cemetery.
~ You would rather browse in a cemetery than a shopping mall.
~ You would rather read census schedules than a good book.
~ You are more interested in what happened in 1699 than in 1999.
~ Eenrum, Baflo and Groningen are household names, but you can't remember what to call the dog.
~ You store your clothes under the bed (or wear the same two outfits to save space), because your closet is full of books and papers.
~ All your correspondence begins with "Dear Cousin".
~ You have traced every one of your ancestral lines back to Adam and Eve, you have it documented and still don't want to quit.
~ Your most important social life is meeting people who you run into while searching a family line.

The USGenWeb Project

Census Online

Some Basic Links

RootsWeb.com

Civil War Soldiers & Sailors

Ellis Island Records

03-27-07 ~ Hall of Fame #19

THIS WEEK'S THREADS July 23-24,07 Military Tribute

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[Kitty Mittens]

Awesome Thread, (((((Amy))))) and (((((Lori))))), and I Wish I Knew Something of my Ancestors; my Grandparents did Tell me I'm a Mixture of Choctaw Indian, Irish, German, and Dutch. My Husband is a Direct Descendant of the Famous American Indian Named Kwanah Parker.

(((((Dolly))))), I Used to Go Occasionally to Cemeteries to Read Tombstone Inscriptions, and One I Remember said Something Like, "The Finger of God Touched him, and he Slept." That Same Cemetery had an Entire Family from around a Hundred Years Ago that had Passed Away Due to a Disease. Sometimes there were Interesting Trees and Flowers at the Old Cemeteries, as Well.

[JustAmy]

Thanks, Kitty Mittens. Doing the research and finding SOMETHING is very satisfying. I’ve spent lots of time on the Internet and come up empty handed.

My son used to make apologies for me to his cousins because I always made a point to visit old cemeteries. Just to read the inscriptions.

[Stonewall Jackson]

A few months ago, my mom messed up her knee for a couple of weeks. After a few days of laying on the couch, doing nothing but reading books or watching TV, she was going crazy, so I bought her a subscription to Ancestory.com.

I think this is one of the best presents I have ever given. She is going absolutely crazy with it. She already had a pretty decent family tree laid out from some research that her aunt had done 30-40 years ago, so this gave her a solid foundation to start. She now cranks out about 15-20 E-mails a day to distant relatives, both here in the US and in Europe, asking for information on our ancestors.

So far, she has discovered fairly close ties to Henry Clay, Daniel Boone, and Andrew Jackson here in the US and a large amount of royalty in Europe, ranging from Robert the Bruce to Henry VI of France.

My dad's side of the family is harder to trace, primarily since most of the records stayed in Germany after they immigrated and the towns were subsequently destroyed during WW2 (one during fighting with the US Army and the other was burned to the ground by the Soviets), but we have managed to piece together some details over the years.

[AnalogReigns]

First white woman born in the colonies?

That honor goes to Virginia Dare born in 1587 at the Roanoke Island colony in what is now North Carolina. That was also known as the “Lost Colony” as it disappeared (probably captured and intermarrying into local Indian tribes) without a trace. Also I cannot believe that Jamestown of the Virginia colony, established in 1607, some 13 years before the Pilgrims landed, didn’t have any children born to it before 1624.

There are many accounts of grey or blue eyed Indians, some even speaking Welsh, in the East in the 1600s—by Indians who claimed to be descendent of white Europeans. It’s likely that the Roanoke survivors and others did intermingle with the Indians...and Britain had many born in North America before 1624.

[JustAmy]

Wow .... that is great that your mom has discovered the fun of family research. I have a subscription to Genealogy.Com. (It may be the same because I am also able to search Ancestory.com.) It is exciting to see ancestors names mentioned with some of the early settlers in America.

I’ve been busy and have not been spending as much time as I would like or as I did a few years ago. I get contacted by distant relatives about 6 times a year and then I get excited again.

I’m still waiting for some Bechtol family documents but am afraid I will not get them unless I contact someone other than a distant relative in Morgan County, WV.

I hope your mother continues with her research. It is a great hobby and something that her descendants will treasure.