Geneaology
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Geneaology
| Fri, 06-08-2007 - 3:21pm |
Have you ever tried to trace your family history?
My dad had a box of pictures and documents that my grandpa and grandma had.
| Fri, 06-08-2007 - 3:21pm |
Have you ever tried to trace your family history?
My dad had a box of pictures and documents that my grandpa and grandma had.
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I love family histories. It is so cool to see where you came from and learn the stories.
On my dad's side, he had a cousin who did a bunch of research and traced our family back to colonial America (late 1600s). We had family fight in the Revolution and on both sides of the Civil War. One ancestor had 22 children! The couple was married for about 30 years before the wife died, so she was pregnant almost the whole time. Eesh.
My mom's side all came from Sweden - all of my mom's grandparents - through Ellis Island. We can trace a little before them, but it's much harder in Sweden, because everyone's a
"-son." :) Kind of like your Mary Smith.
Very cool that you're starting that project. It will be interesting to hear what you find out.
AJ, enjoying life with C.
I did try to trace mine a few years ago but ran into a dead end. I'm sure I would have to go to Salt Lake City to trace any further back.
I got as far as the (approx) 1830s or so and it just stopped dead. Supposedly, from what my grandmother always told me, our European family on my mother's side came over (from either Germany, England, or the Netherlands) and somewhere married into a Native American family, but she had no idea what tribe. I originally wanted to find that out because that may have helped me with some sort of college scholarship help.
But to no avail. Oh well. One of my cousins is now trying to trace our lineage.
Apparently, my mother's side has a long line of mental illness. I have a great-uncle who hanged himself, and I also have many on that side who were raging alcoholics (self-medicators, probably). And according to some family re-union on my dad's side I have a woman relative who was tortured to death in the New England area during all the witch hunts. Fun stuff. :)
I'd really like to find out where my family immigrated from.
Emdeesea's idea of going to Salt Lake is a good one. The Mormon church keeps extensive family histories on everyone, not just Mormon families.
You might also check the Ellis Island database: http://www.ellisisland.org/
If they came from Europe in the 1800s, they likely went through there.
Also, there are tons of Web sites that help you research records. I think they charge a fee - not sure how much. geneaology.com, familytree.com and familysearch.org are examples.
AJ, enjoying life with C.
If I can find a name to search for back far enough, I will look at that database.
Yeah...I'm already getting frustrated.
Did you mention you have a family reunion coming up? If so, is it on your mom's side or dad's?
I have one in mid July. It should be interesting. For some odd reason, we never kept in touch with my father's side of the family. I can only name two or three of my grandfather's siblings and there were 10 or 11 of them. They are spread out all over the US. I'm actually really looking forward to it.
The reunion is on my dad's side, which is kind of what prompted all of this.
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