Have you traced your ancestors?

[Indigowaters]

I was just wondering has anyone else done this? I went on Genealogy.com and put my name in and found out about more relatives than I knew what to do with. Someone from another city in my state (whom I don't know) posted all of this information about me and my family members (such as names and surnames and who was who's parent). He even had information dating back to 1809. Has anyone else gone on there and found out about their ancestry?

 

[IslandGirl77]

My Grandmothers sister, before she died did that for their side of the family. She did a few years worth of research and created books for the family with pictures and information. I never researched my Dad's side though.

 

[Indigowaters]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandGirl77 My Grandmothers sister, before she died did that for their side of the family. She did a few years worth of research and created books for the family with pictures and information. I never researched my Dad's side though.

Wow. That's awesome. I was thinking of doing that with my Grandmother on my dad's side. Having her sit down and tell me about her side of the family again, either on tape or video. I don't know if anybody else in my family knows who this person is that made the page for the family (I think one does, but I'm not sure). My mom's side is difficult to get in contact with though.

 

[IslandGirl77]

Yeah, my Dad's side is hard too. My Dad's Mom who was Japanese died a few years ago. I know nothing about her family I don't know if anybody really does. My Dad's father died also, and I think that his side was from Poland. Not to sure about that either. I typed his name on that website but it is so common it brought up thousands of people. Thanks for the site.

 

[Indigowaters]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandGirl77 I typed his name on that website but it is so common it brought up thousands of people. Thanks for the site.

No problem. Try his middle name in there also. They had me under my nickname and last name.

 

[quandolak]

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[quandolak]

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[Chic 2k6]

i havent traced fully for my ancestors but so far i know that my mom's side of the family goes way back into 1775 as farmers

 

[Beauty Mark]

I'm adopted, so I have not. My adoption was private, too. I don't feel a strong tie to my ancestors or even my birth parents to try.

However, I think geneology is fascinating. I know it's incredibly rough to find information, particularly if you're black (because of the slavery aspect.) I've met several women who've traced it back to the Mayflower, which is really impressive.

If you're interested in searching for things, I would also try your local historical society or the one in the city where your family is from. My local one had an incredible wealth of information. They had files there, with news clippings about the people, so you could learn a lot and the people would seem more real.

 

[lemurian]

All the work has been done for me, as my family is really into this sort of thing

My father's side is nothing too special (he's from Denmark and both his parent's parent's and on and on are, too), but my mother's family has been in the Americas since long before the revolution and thusly her family geneology is pretty interesting! For instance, you wouldn't know by looking at my white ass that I've got native american blood in me And that I qualify to be a member of the Daughters of the Revolution

Ironic, isn't it?

 

[prinzessin784]

I've always wanted to do this but I'm a bit skeptical about it. How do they know someone is actually related to you and doesn't just have the same last name? Now granted I'm ignorant as to the process they use as I've never tried it so if someone can answer that I'd appreciate it! I mean, my father's last name was "Smith" lol, if I looked that up what are the chances that I'd actually get relatives??

 

[Indigowaters]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prinzessin784 I've always wanted to do this but I'm a bit skeptical about it. How do they know someone is actually related to you and doesn't just have the same last name? Now granted I'm ignorant as to the process they use as I've never tried it so if someone can answer that I'd appreciate it! I mean, my father's last name was "Smith" lol, if I looked that up what are the chances that I'd actually get relatives??

The reason I found out about so many people is because someone did all the work for us. I saw alot of my relatives names which were correct even down to my parents and me. I think one of my aunts helped the person get the information but I'm not sure. They also have it where you can search by the full name including the middle name and you can check whether the person is alive or deceased.

 

[prinzessin784]

oh ok so it's not like you just put your name in and it does all the work, it does require some knowledge from the family. That makes more sense! thanks for clarifying!

 

[Indigowaters]

Yw!

 

[veilchen]

I tried this once when I was 14 or 15 as I have always been interested in European history and was really excited to learn about my ancestors, but I couldn't find out much. My grandma (dad's side) came to Austria when the Sudeten German were expelled from Czechoslovakia (as it was called then) after World War II. My grandpa (dad's side) used to tell the story that his ancestors came from Bohemia and that it was under the reign of Empress Maria Theresia (Marie Antoinette's mother) that the family was made to settle near the Danube in Austria. Very likely as many families then settled from one part of the Empire to another, but no one can be 100% sure as there is no written proof. Most other material was destroyed during the War so there are hardly any documents left on this side.
My mother's ancestors have been growing wine from the 1500s onwards in Lower Austria, there are several old certficates as evidence. And they still do so up till today. So nothing special on this side either. No hidden aristocrats or anything

 

[Indigowaters]

^^^Cool. I love to hear stories like that.

 

[Indigowaters]

 

[Willa]

A couple years ago my uncle did a research on our family name. Here in Canada we are less than 100 people with this name.

We already know that my grandfather was american (from Rhode Island). He came to canada just before the second WW and got naturalized, him and his brother maried both sisters, my grandma and her sister. It's funny because my first language is french but my grand father spoke english and learned french to mary my grandma.

I know I have family somewhere in Portland...
I found one cousin on facebook, we talk sometimes.

My uncle's research leaded him to Great Britain, but we don't know much

On my mother's side, it's not very complicated. They all were french canadians for as long as we can see. I guess from the French colonization back in 1608... Maybe I have Native American connections too, because my mother's family come from this place where there's an Abenaki (Algonquian) village. I don't know, I should take a look

 

[banjobama]

I never have researched my ancestors but I want to!

The farthest I ever got with this was in high school, mentioning a guy's name at school that I thought was hot. My mom was like, "Oh, we have some cousins with that last name!" So I was related to the guy, like a cousin by marriage. Creepy.

 

[kimmy]

my sister traced our family tree way back when she was an undergrad. as it turns out, one of my good friends at work came from the came town in ireland that my family came from, and our ancestors fought together for the home country.

kind of trippy when you think about it...!