I periodically research my ancestry. Been doing it on and off for a few years now. Collecting bits and pieces from relatives. Digging through government records. Putting together a puzzle that's been scattered for generations.
Haven't really used the online tools much yet. Most of what I've found has been through word of mouth and official records. Old documents. Family records. The stuff that doesn't show up in a database search.
My father's side traces back to the Alsace Lorraine area. That borderland between France and Germany that's changed hands more times than anyone can count. Grandfather wa born on a ship on the way to the States. Got that side back to the 1700s. That's where the trail goes cold for now.
My mother's side goes further. Back to England in the 1600s. I've got a lot more information on that side. Generations of it. And a lot of military service to this country. All the way back to the Revolutionary War. Knowing that men in my family fought to create this nation and then continued serving it through the generations means something to me.
I've hit one brick wall though. A great great grandfather who's just missing. Can't find him. It's like he vanished. I have my theories. One is that he moved to Algeria. But it's unproven. Just a hunch based on fragments. Maybe I'll crack it eventually. Maybe I won't. That's how this goes sometimes. Not every question gets answered.
I enjoy history. Always have. And I think it's important to know where you come from. Understanding the people who came before you gives context to who you are. The decisions they made. The places they left. The wars they fought. The struggles they survived. All of that is part of my story whether I knew it or not.
Every time I dig into it I learn something new. A place I didn't know. A connection I didn't expect. A piece of the puzzle that clicks into place after sitting loose for years.
I'll keep at it. No rush. It's not going anywhere. And neither are the dead. They'll wait for me to find them.
Anyone else research their family history? What have you discovered?
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
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It is amazing what we discover when we learn about our families. My brother had a high school work and he did a nice research about our family and my uncle at least has a great record from my mom's side. With this research, we know today that we have family in many places around the world! Since we are the second generating in Latin America, our ancestors from Europe chose different paths, so we have distant family in LA, Sydney, and Copenhagen, among many other countries... our direct family is small since my mom has 2 brothers and my dad 2 brothers but for sure our family genes are spread much wider if we think in our past.
That is so cool to think about. Having distant relation all over the globe. Imagine if they have researched and are thinking the same thing!
Fascinating to find out so much of your family history! Some crazy stuff happened back then, being born on a ship on the way to the US wasn't uncommon believe it or not! I had family from my mother's side who fought in the Revolutionary War as well. Five brothers all joined the fight but only four returned. Back then if you died in the field no letters home to the family, you were buried where you fell...
Interesting history going back to France and Germany, and a great great grandfather that just vanished. There must be records in Algeria if he went, but you know how things are in that part of the world. And finding records would be a very daunting task involving months of searching through old records in Algeria.
On my mother's side we did have one tie into a royal line that traces back to Charlemagne which was pretty cool. That was in England where records were pretty meticulously kept. But my family from Scotland on my dad's side hits a brick wall, records weren't nearly as good and were the one's in Sweden.
Interesting to study genealogy, so much to learn!
!BBH
!PIZZA
That is a cool story about those five brothers. On a similar note, my maternal great-great-great grandfather and his three brothers fought in the civil war. One brother was killed at the battle of Perryville. You are right, very few got proper notification. Some might get lucky and a letter from a relative who was serving with them.
As far as the relative that might have went to Algeria, it is only a theory of mine. It is loosely based on people with the same last name living there. That along with the french colonial connection.
Charlemagne! That is so cool. Supposedly I am supposed to be part Scottish, but who knows. As I research I find some things I was told by famly members was false or only partially true.
Oh, I just love it. I was down a rabbit hole the last couple days trying to figure out if my fathers family line way back might have been Jewish. I learned a lot about migrations of the different religions from Alsace and stuff. It was interesting.
OOf, that's pretty good! Thing is, records were meticulously kept for the well to do, but not necessarily the peasants! So your DNA might show your entire family never left a certain area (like my father in law - his DNA shows him as absolutely pure LONDON!) but the records don't go that far back. And if you were a servant or a pauper, chances were you never even got a headstone. It's so fascinating! I'd love to get my DNA done but I'm a bit worried about the whole data thing.
We had a family meeting around 25 years ago. There was a family tree. It span over 4 panels. That's my mother's side, from my father's side I don't have a clue, honestly. I know that my grandfather was a honorary citizen of the Maldives, and was originally from Czaplinek in Poland, which was still Prussia when he was born. But that's about it. Maybe one day I'll take the time to dig deeper into it. It's quite impressive that you managed to go back that far in your family history.
I hope you are able to do so some day as well. It is very interesting what you can find out. That is so cool that your grandfather was a honorary citizen of the Maldives.
He was very involved in the preservation, wrote a book about them, and even a movie.
It's in German, but I think YT does subtitles to it. If you're interested. For me it's always nice to hear his voice again :-)
That is so cool. I imagine it is so nice to hear his voice. Something to always remember him. I will try ot see if I can get the subtitles to work and watch it. It looks very interesting. I like informative clips like this.
Whereabouts? I get mine that far back too, to England. I traced ancestry during COVID when I was stuck there. In my mind my grandparents were from Yorkshire/Derbyshire, which they were, but my Granddad was born near Bath. I ended up living SIX MILES from the town where his parents lived and there was a war memorial in the church there that had his uncle's name on. Plus I found so much more that my Granddad didn't even know about (and he never will as he died some 15 years back). Amazing what the census can reveal!
I think the side from England orgninated from the Isle of Wight. Would have liked to have visited there, but alas, my travel days are behind me.
That is cool you lived that close and had family history written on a memorial there. Yes, government records can provide a trove of information. One of these days I may splurge and pay for a subscription to Ancestory.com or one of those sites.
I've never been to the Isle of Wight.
Oh yes you should do Ancestry.com - I mean even after the sub lapses it's all kept there anyway, so you can pay another month and get access again to continue. That's how I started. Haven't been on in ages though.
Some of the things matched up with some stories. For example, Granddad always told the memory of going back to the family home. His mother's name was Eliza, and when they arrived, his grandmother had suds up her arms and said 'not our Lize!!!' - she must have been suprised and thrilled at their arrival, travel being less common in those days and of course less communication like now. When I searched the records, she was on the census as being a laundress! So that explained the suds!
See, those are the stories I like to hear. I wish I would have spent more time begging for more from my mother and aunts and uncles when they were alive.
I didn't tried to dig up my ancestors . I just listen to what my parents and grandmother told me about it. It would be interesting to know further.😁
Then stories are awsome and sometimes the best part. But, I have learned they are sometimes inaccurate. Especially when it comes to the extended family history.
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I know quite a lot about my mother's side of the family, but I know nothing or almost nothing about my father's side. However, I feel connected to the side I do know: my Spanish grandfather and my Italian grandmother. I hope to visit both countries and learn more about where they were born.
It is so cool to trace all the history. Would love to travel to France. Retrace the migration of my father's side to Alsace Lorraine. Like you, I did not know that side of the family. I feel it would bring me closer.
In the case of the paternal side... in my particular case, I'm not very interested, but the rest are!
I get it. My dad was a worthless turd. But that doesn't mean the rest of the family was. In fact I knew one of his sisters. She was as sweet as sugar.
My father is the devil incarnate and has no sisters, so I talk to one of his cousins. But even so, there is no information; my father's entire German side of the family is gone... I know nothing about his history. Don't worry, I'm fine with that.
Oh, sounds like my father as well. The good thing is we had wonderful mothers.
That's right!!!! Live life for that!
My sister and her husband are really into this sort of thing, but I am not really. Which is funny because I do like history, but somehow I feel more disconnected from these people than you would think I should be.
You would think I would be really disconnected too. All my grandparents but one were dead before I was born. My father was a dead beat dad and left when I was in the 2nd grade. So no real family connection except on my mothers side with her siblings and my cousins. Like you, love learning history. So one day got curious. Went down a rabbit hole and ...WHAM! started finding out all kinds of information from people. I got real lucky because a couple cousins, one on each side of my family, had already done some research. It really helped.
That is cool. Perhaps one day I will get more info from my sister, but for now I am just trying to focus on my present day relationships, that keeps me busier than I would like lately!
I understand that completely. It is just a hobby for me. I don't spend much time on it these days. BUt occasionally I will pull out my binders and go down the rabbit hole.
:)
I know someone who has requested a DNA analysis on where he is coming from (maybe this is not the right term) and found out he has ties with the region I am from, yet he has never known to have any ancestors here as he lives in Hungary.
It's interesting what you can find out when digging.
That is so neat. Been thnking about that DNA thing myself.
Yes, it is so interesting what you can learn. I enjoy learning history, so this is a great hobby for it.
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That is great to hear Joe and we have France in common. We came over to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror from France.
That is so cool. That is some family history there. Not sure if I will ever get mine traced back that many years. It does give you a sense of pride to know your family was a part of those historical moments doesn't it?
Yeah it is fun, that one was actually the admiral of the fleet. Then we have parts of the family fighting against each other in some battles, mental it really is!
We have that too in the American Civil War.
Oh yes not so good
Yes. I love all the family history stuff too. I have done a fair bit of work and got many of my branchs back mainly England and Ireland to the 1700s. Maybe you're missing 2x great grand father had brothers and sisters that might help your research.
It is so cool isn't it. Especially if you are already a history lover. That is neat you have so much done. I need to get more of my maternal grandparents side traced now. aMost of what I have is on my paternal grandparents side.
As far as the 2x great grad father. All of the ones on that side that would know are long dead. I need to dig in and focus on it more. I really haven't like I should.
Nice to meet another interested in their family history.
I did the Dna test as well which so far has confirmed a lot of my work.
That is cool. I may give it a go. Which one did you use?
Ancestry. Then I downloaded the results to some other websites. I just try all the free stuff.
I have been thinking about how to write a bit of a family history and am thinking of it more from a location story rather than the people.
https://peakd.com/hive-184437/@new.things/huxley-cheshire-england-1991
I also found https://www.familysearch.org/ to have the best free search tools. I always worry a bit about giving too much data and detail to some organisation but most of my tree seems to have been searched and recorded by lots of other people too.
I completely understand reservations about sharing data. Like you said though, most of what is shared is public record anyway I imagine and has been shared by others researching as well.