Genealogy

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Mickey1992
Get it all in digital form (if you have not already).  I use Family Tree Maker.  RootsWeb.com was the best place to find distant relatives until they got asimilated by the all-evil genealogy.com.

I have traced my Swedish ancestors back to the mid-1600 with the help of a professional there.  Unfortunately most Irish records before 1830 are lost, so I have only been able to go back to around 1820.  German and English back to early 1800s as well.

It is really amazing how much data is now out on the web.

you're the 2nd person to recommend that software. Thanks Mickey! Going to look into it.

Very interesting on your ancestors! My fathers side is only traced back to the mid 1800's (Stockholm)

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Roscoroo
my family's been here long also Rip

Most of them came over in these years
1736 /1756 /1850's  according to The "Fam Bible" dated 1606 or something like that .  They came to WA and settled yakima.(one of my Family burial  plots is  the oldest in the cemetary there   . then over here in Edmonds  I'll have to go see if our book is under glass again in the library there or if my Moms got it again .  
Its pritty cool . and its sort of like a ship log book as for it has all important dates, births,wedd's, moves, ect written in it by all my relatives ... back thru time to the early 1600's .

(Hide the poles  was one of my  Great great aunts biggist worries  she thought we were polish and it really effected her ... when it was romanian the whole time .. )

I hit all my relatives up for family tree history  and ive got most of it luckily  . (Along with being the "Next"  inline for Keeper of the Book  helped )

Did you have any of the name changing going on in yours during the late 1600's  and then again in the mid 1800's ???
  I always thought it was wierd that Thousands of familys did that to protect themselfs from meaningless persicution . wether you were jewish/polish / Celtic/romanian/scottish  ect   ...  if you wanted into the U.S. you better have the right family tree /name or else .

some pritty interesting stuff can be found out if ya like history  


also Rip you may have all your Family females direct line for "Daughters of the Revolution"  My Mom and Sister are in that society and its got alot of history  that can be searched too.

Thanks Roscoo, interesting stuff on your family!  No name changing from what I'm seeing on the lineage sheets.  Thanks for the info.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by DREDIOCK
I've had this conversation with my mother.
One of my motheres great regreats is that she didnt enquire more from my grandparents then she did. Unfortunately all my grandparents have passed on as well as my father.

I believe that is what we're going to run into with "Grampa Krussel" on my wifes side. Should be interesting...

[lasersailor184]

Ripsnort, it's an interesting hobby, as long as you remember one thing.  

Who your ancestors were does not mean a thing.  I've seen too many people who get into geneology with the guise of looking for famous people, or looking for people to be proud that can say you are related to.


Remember, a famous ancestor and a Dollar can get you a coffee at a Wawa.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Goomba
Just an interesting story of my own;  After my paternal grandmother died, we were going through the usual task of sorting a loved ones last effects.  We found, as you would imagine, stacks of old photos of family.  The one that stood out to me was a terrific shot of a tall, proud mustachioed man in WWI, US Army uniform...complete with jodphurs and leggings...standing in front of his pup tent with his rifle.  Picture is what, 90-ish years old?

Well, the thing that made this more than just another old family photo?

The guy in the picture, for all intents and purposes...was me!  Even my wife went pale for a moment, and said it out loud before I did.

Kinda very cool , and very freaky at the same time.

 

Goomba, that is eery!  My grandfathers picture in his WW1 Pilots uniform complete with flying cap on, has some features I can recognize in my own photos when I was his age in the photo. No doubt he's my grand pappy!  Its really cool for the kids to read this stuff too. We spent one evening reading a couple of "chapters" out of this booklet.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
Ripsnort, it's an interesting hobby, as long as you remember one thing.  

Who your ancestors were does not mean a thing.  I've seen too many people who get into geneology with the guise of looking for famous people, or looking for people to be proud that can say you are related to.


Remember, a famous ancestor and a Dollar can get you a coffee at a Wawa.

I don't believe I've mentioned any yet, but there are a few  famous ones in this booklet that make it an interesting read!

[BigGun]

mormon church has great genealogy resources, I think a lot of it web based.

[Mickey1992]

Links for newbies:

LDS http://www.familysearch.org/

Searchable Social Security SS-5 death index, 1880 US census, 1881 British Isles census, 1881 Canadian census.  They also have their own DB with data from various sources.
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RootsWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/

Lots of BBS forums for US states/counties, as well as the WorldConnect project where 420 million people are indexed that have been submitted by internet users.
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USGenWeb http://www.usgenweb.com/

Great if you are looking for info in a particular county in the US.  Every US county has its own web site.  Lots of data is also archived by county.
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Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com

Considered The Borg of genealogy.  Ancestry.com is a subscription-based web site that has a ton of census, immigration, and vital records data.  Much of the data is actual scanned images of the original documents.  Be aware that about 25% of the data they charge you to view is available free elsewhere on the web, but it is still the largest collection of genealogy stuff.

Ancestry.com bought rootsweb.com a number of years ago.  Many hated this in the same way people hate that Amazon.com bought IMDB.com.  Some of the content on rootsweb.com that was submitted by internet users that was free to the web got "aquired" by ancestry.com and now they charge people to see it.

[Ripsnort]

Excellent link sources, Mickey, bookmarked! Thank you!

[Reschke]

On my mother's side of the family they have traced family connections back to Scottish and Dutch ancestry. Two significant historical figures in my family were President James Buchannan and Peter Stuyvesant and they can go back into the mid 1400's with Scottish clan and Dutch information.

On my father's side we have been able to trace back our English ancestry to 1066 and discovered that one of the "nobles" with William the Conqueror. The first time that records show immigration into the colonies here were in the 1600's in the Northeast and there was a long time between since the next time was not until the mid 1700's in the Carolinas and Virginia. On my father's side the most interesting reading is letters that my great-great grandfather sent home during the Civil War. He fought at Gettysburg and was wounded after that with a minnie ball through the neck and was with R.E. Lee at the surrender at Appomattox, Va.

In his letters home that were not sent after the surrender he writes about how long it was taking him to make his way back to home in Perry County, AL. From the time he started writing his journal he says that he and several other men from the area mad their way home over the course of two years. After being detained for a short while after the surrender. To think that my grandmother has these letters in a leather binder after close to 140 years from the first writing, they are still very legible and easy to read. She has been the keeper of our families history and now I will be doing it since I am the oldest grandchild of the family.

[lasersailor184]

Fine, you want to see eery?



To the left is my dad.  To the right is his Great Great Great grandfather.  He is very famous, big bonus points to who can name him.

[Yeager]

who?, do tell

[nirvana]

My best friend says he is related to THE General Lee.


My ancestry goes back to Switzerland/Germany on my dad's side.  There is supposedly a whole town there where almost everyone has the same last name as mine.  Figure it'd be unique but it really isn't.  Anyway, they were governors of some land n Bavaria however long ago.  As you can see I don't know my heritage too well, we have 2 coat of arms though, my dad made out out of wood and it is hanging in his house, really nice.

My mom's side has a few genealogy people but I haven't heard much about it.  Grandfather's  ancestry goes back to Ireland i believe, grandmother's i'm not sure.  Always cool stuff.


P.S. Stands at renaissance festivals can usually give you a small trace of geneaology along with your family coat of arms for 15 bucks.

P.P.S. The picture looks like a president but not sure,Laser.

[lasersailor184]

P.P.S. The picture looks like a president but not sure,Laser.

You have no idea how close, yet so far away you are...

[z0rch]

The picture looks like a president but not sure,Laser.
You have no idea how close, yet so far away you are...

Wow, the resemblance is amazing.

Just doing the math, this picture is probably circa 1840 or so... Maybe even Civil War era...

A general perhaps? He sure does look familiar.