Topic

Anyone here into genealogy?

Just wondering if anyone else here is interested in this topic?

Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • as in pedigrees and squares?
    Posted 13 years ago by Djoe6897 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ummm, not sure what you mean by squares in this regard. But, yes, sort of pedigrees. I mean tracing one's family line to determine ancestry. As in finding out who your great- great great grandparents were. I like to look at it from a family history perspective, because I'm interested in history. So, it's just a natural extension of that. I can place my family in certain historical events, thus personalizing them somewhat.
    Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, was just looking up my family tree last week. Got back two further generations than I had managed to before, all thanks to the internet :) Last time I researched it, was back in elementary school and that was before I had internet access, and I'd managed to get it back to a relative born in 1764.  Thanks to the internet, this time around, I managed to get both his father and his Grandfathers details, back to 1708.  So found out who my Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather was.   Which was... Great! lolAlso found that some of my partners very distant ancestors hooked up with some of my very distant ancestors, which was mildly disturbing o_o
    Posted 13 years ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Awesome! And strange about your partner's ancestors hooking up with yours... I had traced my great great grandfather back to England last year, and even found a distant relative there. But I couldn't find the info. on when he immigrated to the US. Today on Ancestry.com I tried a random search and got lucky. It's so much fun to have a breakthrough after months of hitting a brick wall! I was also lucky on the other side of that branch, because another relative had already traced the family back to the 1600's. Well, the men at least...The women are not very well documented.
    Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am, we have 9 generations of my dads side traced (including he next gen), we were planning on going through some old records of Mennonite churches but they tend to get burned down a lot. We have huge family reunions because I know my 8th cousins.
    Posted 13 years ago by Ani Laurel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Me, me!  Though I have been working on it less since I discovered Glitch, I am very into learning about my family's history.  In fact, my avatar here at Glitch is named and designed after my great great grandmother, who has been a big focus point in my research.

    @Audaria, my interest also extends from a lifelong love of history.  I research the history of the area in which they lived, read both fiction and nonfiction books about the time period, and even go so far as to watch documentaries and films set in a certain time or place.  If my health was better and money grew on trees, I'd like to visit the places they lived as well as attend re-enactments in villages or on stage.  I use it all to enhance my idea of what their lives were like, and who they were as people.  Such a great hobby!  Does any of that make sense?  Ambien is kicking in, so I sometimes have trouble getting my point across!  *lol*

    @Ebil, that's not so uncommon, so please don't feel any discomfort on it.  I've got some much closer relationships that might make your eyes widen in surprise!  :P

    I have a bookmark folder full of research helps that I'd be glad to share with any of you that could use them!  For example, the LDS church has a website where they upload a lot of similar content to Ancestry that you can access for free.  You can download the images and order copies of the records (Microfilm) for a very minimal fee.  

    I've got some neat success stories, as well.  Recently, I came across a cousin who had recently come across a more distant cousin who happened to have a photograph of my grandfather.  I'd never seen a picture of him before, as he died when my father was 7.  I look just like him.

    Another amazing (to me) story:  I knew my great great grandfather managed a restaurant based on his answer to a census question.  After finding no information on it for months, I decided on a whim to google his name, the word restaurant, the location, and a date range, all as one big search.  My first result was a listing of photographs donated to the local university.  I contacted them, and just based off of a gut feeling mailed off a hefty check immediately to pay for digital scans of the front and back of a few of the photos listed.  The risk paid off, because he was indeed in the picture and standing outside of his restaurant, which was called The George Restaurant.  I only found it because his last name was listed elsewhere on the page as a brief index of who was in the shots (no first names were litted on the website, but they were on the back of the photos), and the name of the restaurant was his first name!  It wasn't even his restaurant, he was just the manager.  It was a VERY lucky gut feeling!  :)

    The grandfather photo and the great great grandfather photo, plus photos I already had of my great grandfather show that my father and I have carried down some very distinct family features.  I hope that one of my children will have them, as well.  Another cousin has a photo that she says is my great x4 grandfather, so I am looking forward to see if it came from him or his wife's side of the family.  
    Posted 13 years ago by Mahalla Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Anilover - We have nine generations of one branch of my grandmother's family, including her. It goes back to Jamestown, VA which, I confess, tickles me. I plan to go there someday and knowing that my ancestor walked and worked in the same place...well, it moves me. Your family reunions must be spectacular!

    @Mahalla - I don't go out of my way to learn more about the places my family has lived. Or, I like to tell myself that anyway! The truth is, when I find out someone lived in a certain place at a certain time, my interest in that area and era increases and I do try to find out everything I can. I would love any helpful advice you care to share! I've heard that the LDS church is a good resource, although I've never used it. I actually live fairly close to a temple in Mesa, AZ, so I really should get down there and explore.

    My grandparents have both passed, but I'm lucky enough to still have my grandmother's sister and she's a great source of information. I also have some of my grandparents' papers - including my grandfather's grandfather's birth certificate, which is how I was able to trace him back to England and connect with another relative. Funny story: When I found the ship's manifest yesterday, I immediately e-mailed my English relative to get his opinion. He had done the same search yesterday and found some of the names, but had missed the parents. So, on the same day, after months, we both stumbled on the same information!

    I agree that your story about the restaurant is amazing! I think it really pays to listen to your gut in this kind of research. It does take a lot of work, but just as often, luck plays a huge role in finding that one little detail that pulls it all together.

    Oh, and @Ebil - There was a scandal in my family tree when first cousins married! Even at the time it was not considered ok. I think that kind of story just adds to the fun.

    Unfortunately, the other side of my tree is a giant black hole and both of those grandparents are gone as well, so there is no one to ask. But I keep plodding along, hoping that I'll get lucky. I'm also waiting for the next set of census records to be released, as I think that may help in my quest.

    Mahalla, I also have my grandparents' photos, which I love. I have names for many of them, but probably just as many without names. And of course, I'm not even sure that all of the people in the photos are relatives. I guess it's no surprise that I also love mysteries!
    Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I haven't checking into it for a while,  but I did do quit a bit for a while,  until I ran out of places to look.  I know some of my family went back to the 1600's.  I was able to find a really nice book to list information in.  
    Posted 13 years ago by Emerald Fern Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes.  I do a little research daily.  This is a most interesting hobby that gives you a whole new view of History.

    ETA:  www.grandmahudson.tribalpag...
    Posted 13 years ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Brib, that is a wonderful site you've created! I don't have time to explore it thoroughly now, but I will. I love the idea of putting together a website with my research - thanks for the inspiration!
    Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Audaria - That is a good place to have a site.  You can get a FREE site or pay a small amount for a sub which gives you more room for photos, etc.  You don't even have to know anything about site creation.  I love adding photos and stories.
    Posted 13 years ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am so in love with researching the family tree. Decided to get into it at the start of this year I believe it was, trying to find info about my maternal grandfathers family. He pretty much never talked about them and we knew nothing of them. Totally managed to track down some long lost relatives in Canada and Scotland as a result. It was really lovely being able to fill in the gaps that had been missing.

    I've managed to fill in a fair few gaps elsewhere in the family tree too which is always good. I think I've got the tree up to around 2200 people or so. 

    Being from Australia I've come across the whole convicts in the family thing, but the most interesting thing that has come out of the research was when my paternal grandad dropped off some of the things he had of his family. One book contains 16 or so letters that my grat grandad and his brother wrote home during World War 1. It was sooo amazing getting to read them. It was quite sad too reading the letters my great-great uncle wrote home shortly before he was killed in action in France.

    Another story I came across which I found really interesting was the accidental death of one of my relatives in the Arcadia Hotel on Pitt St in Sydney in 1907. They never came right out and said what happened, but it seems the lift attendant was only quite new at the job and both he and my relative who died, Rebecca, liked playing games and acting a bit silly. Not sure what happened but she ended up falling down the elevator shaft and dying from her injuries.

    Ancestry.com is just so handy. It's unfortunate Scottish records have to be found on Scotland's People though.
    Posted 13 years ago by Jeff Buckley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • By squares, I think Djoe meant heredity in the biological sense, like determining carriers of a disease. Punnett squares are one type of diagram used in genetics to determine whether or not someone is dominant or recessive for a particular trait. In case ya didn't know XD

    My mother's uncle was a famous recording musician back in the 1950s in Puerto Rico. He sang, and played guitar, and wrote his own music in this traditional style of music called the aguinaldo. I have a great-great-great grandmother from Spain, too. As for my father's side, I think waaaay back I'm related to Robert Livingston, the one who drafted the Declaration of Independence. And I have a few US senators on that side of the family, too. A lot of freemasons too.

    Weird side-note: my paternal grandfather apparently built houses for Elizabeth Taylor and the guy who invented the labels that print on metal coffee cans. XD
    Posted 13 years ago by LitaPie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That is super cool Lita!
    Posted 13 years ago by Jeff Buckley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ LitaPie -  What a wonderful family history you have!  Thank you for sharing some of it!
    Posted 13 years ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Genealogy is so much fun!

    @Jeff Buckley, I have a few old letters in my posession too, and they are indeed precious.

    @LitaPie - my grandfather was also a recording artist in the 1950s. His name was Roy Hogsed. Every once in awhile I run into someone who was a fan of his. He's apparently still popular in Germany, lol.

    I love finding the little details. Of course, they are fewer and harder to come by, the further back I go.
    Posted 13 years ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • lostcousins.com is free to use :)
    Posted 13 years ago by Princess Fi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Old letters are the best. Lets you get to know someone who is long gone a little bit :)
    Posted 13 years ago by Jeff Buckley Subscriber! | Permalink