scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,884
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Sept 24, 2017 19:49:01 GMT
I'm so hooked on this stuff. I did my DNA test and got the results back 3 weeks ago. I have gone down the genealogy rabbit hole ever since. It is fascinating. In one case, I have been able to go back to the 1500's in England. I know that things become sketchy before 1500, so I have stopped there. But I still have so many holes to fill in other parts of my family. The Mexican ancestry has been almost impossible to trace back. There are too many people with the same names. And without solid date of birth info, it's almost impossible to verify if I have the right person.
I'm not giving up though. It really has been great to discover so much about my ancestors. I have 3 Mexican American grandparents, so to discover so much about my European ancestry has been a real treasure.
Anyone else feel like sharing some of the cool stuff you dug up.
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Post by nellej on Sept 24, 2017 19:58:32 GMT
I am really enjoying researching my family tree. Did my DNA test earlier this year. Recently had a very close match - it was a second cousin who had never known who his biological father was until now. Amazing stuff.
1500s is a long way back, well done! It helps if you have unusual surnames to work with doesn't it. I'm half Welsh, so lots of Jones's, Williams's, Davies's, etc.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 21, 2024 17:30:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 20:01:28 GMT
we never knew my great-grandfathers full name. He went by a set of initials which wasn't terribly unusual in his day; claimed there wasn't a full name or would claim his name was Wild Horse. He gave each of his four sons names using that same set of initials. We were able to locate him on on census records and a military service record. He signed his military papers as Wild Horse Lastname. But the census shows his full name and non of his sons have his names.
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,884
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Sept 24, 2017 20:04:46 GMT
I am really enjoying researching my family tree. Did my DNA test earlier this year. Recently had a very close match - it was a second cousin who had never known who his biological father was until now. Amazing stuff. 1500s is a long way back, well done! It helps if you have unusual surnames to work with doesn't it. I'm half Welsh, so lots of Jones's, Williams's, Davies's, etc. I kind of lucked out because one of my 4th great grandfathers has ties to Lincoln history. He wasn't related to Lincoln, but had some business and childhood connections, so he was mentioned in some Lincoln history articles. From there I was able to find his parents and grandparents names and just kept going back.
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Post by Karene on Sept 24, 2017 20:31:07 GMT
My most interesting piece of family history is that my 6x times great grandfather is touted as starting the Oak Island treasure hunt, off of Mahone Bay in Nova Scotia. I know there is a show now called the Curse of Oak Island but I have never watched it. When you google anything about Oak Island, it always says that Donald (Daniel)McGinnis was a teenager. But my research shows that he was older than that. He had already owned land on Oak Island for 5 years before the treasure hunt was supposed to start in 1795. His family was never involved in all the intrigue through the years although they did own lots on Oak Island until the 1920s or so. I have a copy of his will.
Two of my families were founding families of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia having arrived in Halifax in 1751 and 1752. Lots of info on the journey and the establishing of the town.
My grandfather's family came to Prince Edward Island in the 1841. One of my grandfather's uncle's was tried for murder along with three others in a brawl outside of a tavern in 1899. They were acquitted, but he left the country (I think he went to the Boston area where his sisters lived) and I cannot find any trace of him. Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia had strong ties with the Boston/ Haverhill area and a lot of my ancestors went there.
My dad's side of the family is all Danish. He was first generation Canadian. The Danes kept extremely good records and most of the church, census and land records are available online for free from the government website. I can trace my Danish side back to the late 1600s.
I really enjoy genealogy and have looked things up for others. I though about becoming a certified geneologist at one point and bought the handbook. I found out that one of my coworkers ancestors were also founding families of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and was able to give her lots of info. It was pure coincidence. Were are both from Nova Scotia (totally different areas) but live and work in Ontario, and our families lived next to each other in the 1700s and 1800s!
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Post by artgirl1 on Sept 24, 2017 20:50:36 GMT
I have been working on my genealogy for years and keep hitting dead ends. And I just got my DNA back yesterday, and what a surprise!
My mother, her parents, a several siblings immigrated in 1920 from Lebanon (then part of Turkey.) I know this, have the documents, marriage license, immigration records, church records, etc. But cannot get genealogy info from the middle East because you have to be a son of a son to access. (yes, very patriarchal).
Mr Father's parents came from Canada, and their parents came from Scotland in the late 19th century. I have all the documentation, and can trace back to Scotland to 1845.
But my DNA says I am 20% Iberian (Spain/Portugal). I am so confused!!
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Post by peasapie on Sept 24, 2017 20:55:02 GMT
My sister has been doing the research into our Italian ancestors. She's back to the 1700s so far, and we have some colorful characters. Mostly regular stuff like milliners, upholsterers and tailors, but also one fellow who had a duel with his commanding officer, ran him through with a sword, and left northern Italy for southern climes.
The DNA shows our Italian ancestors came from Scotland, Sweden, and Spain. Makes me wonder how long ago that DNA was tracked to. I mean, does our DNA go back to the cave men or what? Know what I mean? People moved around so much...
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IAmUnoriginal
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,894
Jun 25, 2014 23:27:45 GMT
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Post by IAmUnoriginal on Sept 24, 2017 21:03:17 GMT
Back in mid-August, one of the Peas posted that the census records were open for free searching for a week. My paternal grandfather does not discuss his family. I met one of his brothers a few times as a child and had knowledge that he has a sister in a neighboring town. There were rumors of a last name change made by my grandfather and possibly something terrible happening to his dad that might be the reason for it. There were stories between my dad and his brothers that it might have been a suicide. My grandpa’s mom was alive much longer than anyone knew and only found out when grandpa told my grandma and my dad one morning that he’d be taking the day off (family business) to attend his mother’s funeral. No one knew she was still alive at that point. We’ve respected my grandpa’s silence and won’t push him to answer anything, but if I can quietly piece things together, I’m satisfied. It’s been a consistent topic with my brothers and cousins our whole adult lives.
Well, those census records gave me a bunch of answers. My family is from Minnesota and has been since coming over from Norway. I have lived near Chicago for the last 15 years. In the 1930 census, I was able to see my great-grandparents’ names along with the names of my grandpa and his 4 siblings. By the 1940 census, my great-grandfather’s name was gone from the census and my great-grandma had a different last name. I sent the info I found to my brothers via text and not long later my brother sent a link to my great-grandfather’s grave at Find A Grave. He died right after the 1930 census and just days before my grandpa turned 3.
I ordered a copy of my great-grandpa’s death certificate the morning after I found the info. I was able to wipe out the suicide rumor which made us all feel a little easier about digging around. He died at the VA hospital of Hodgkin’s. The VA hospital where he died is 35 miles from where I currently live! The death certificate arrived the morning I left for the long drive back to my hometown. I brought it back with me when I went to visit over Labor Day. My aunt (married to Dad’s brother) and cousins have seen it. My aunt thought I should show grandpa, but I just couldn’t. We were celebrating his 90th and I didn’t want to tarnish that in any way if he reacted badly to my digging around in the past. She thinks he’ll be ok with it because he’s been visiting his sister a few times a month since my grandma passed 10 years ago. He brought my aunt with him a couple times. But, he’s never told me about the visits so I’m not sure. We talk frequently so he’s had plenty of opportunities to bring it up, if he wanted to. Damn stoic old men and their buttoned lips.
I’m a couple generations back on both my great grandmother’sand great grandfather’s sides and into the Norwegian records. I’m slightly stuck, but think I can find some help through the Sons of Norway chapter near my hometown. I just haven’t gotten around to making those connections. I’m so much farther along than I was a month ago!
ETA: I did my DNA through Ancestry this summer. There was nothing shocking there. My reasons for that are looking to see if anything pings on my mother’s birth father. He and my grandma were never married. Grandma told me his name once and it was never spoken of after that. We will see if anything ever pops there.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 21, 2024 17:30:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 21:11:59 GMT
My sister has been doing the research into our Italian ancestors. She's back to the 1700s so far, and we have some colorful characters. Mostly regular stuff like milliners, upholsterers and tailors, but also one fellow who had a duel with his commanding officer, ran him through with a sword, and left northern Italy for southern climes. The DNA shows our Italian ancestors came from Scotland, Sweden, and Spain. Makes me wonder how long ago that DNA was tracked to. I mean, does our DNA go back to the cave men or what? Know what I mean? People moved around so much... Not sure exactly how far back the dna record goes, it is a thousand years at least though... which makes it hard to explain to people who think their family came from Xxxxx country (like Germany or Italy) why they have other things in their dna; because before the older generations arrived in Xxxxxx they migrated from somewhere else.
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Post by hopemax on Sept 25, 2017 0:05:55 GMT
I have been working on my genealogy for years and keep hitting dead ends. And I just got my DNA back yesterday, and what a surprise! My mother, her parents, a several siblings immigrated in 1920 from Lebanon (then part of Turkey.) I know this, have the documents, marriage license, immigration records, church records, etc. But cannot get genealogy info from the middle East because you have to be a son of a son to access. (yes, very patriarchal). Mr Father's parents came from Canada, and their parents came from Scotland in the late 19th century. I have all the documentation, and can trace back to Scotland to 1845. But my DNA says I am 20% Iberian (Spain/Portugal). I am so confused!! My first thought, would be what the previous poster mentioned about older generations migrating from somewhere else. And with doing know research about the actual likelihood, it wouldn't shock me that Middle Eastern people could have Iberian DNA considering their histories. Way, way back the Phoenicians would have had movement back and forth. I would also look to the Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula from 700-1400 and the eventual expulsion of the Muslims from the region. You could have a group of ethnically Iberian ancestors who embraced Islam, and lived in an area under traditionally Arab rule, and could have moved to the area where you know your Mother's family came from when the Muslims were expelled. If it was a larger group of people who relocated (as opposed to a single family), that DNA could have kept mingling throughout the area for the next 500 years. So without focusing on your specific family, what do you know about that area of the Middle East, historically?
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Post by melanell on Sept 25, 2017 0:37:15 GMT
I have only gone as far back as the early 1700s and that's really good enough for me in most cases. I want to see when and from where different branches came tot he US, and in my family, most branches came well after that. Most of my family tree is made up of relatively recent immigrants. (For instance, the Italians all came in the 1900s.) I find that the further back you go, the more helpful it is to actually get up and go to the places where your family came from, and that's difficult for me right now. So instead I focus on adding width and depth to my tree. I try to find out as much as I can about the more recent generations, and I look into not just the grandparents, but the aunts. uncles, & cousins. I will not take any tree online on face value. So even if I find a tree that goes far beyond where I have personally worked, I will not count any of that info unless it is completely sourced and I can view those sources myself and see if I agree with how the other person interpreted them. Far too often, however, I find that online trees tend to list their sources as Find a Grave and/or other online trees, which are absolutely not true sources. I find, despite so many anecdotes to the contrary, that stories told by family & friends do fairly often turn out to have a decent amount of truth to them, and so I do devote time to verifying those.
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Post by mom on Sept 25, 2017 0:40:58 GMT
I have only gone as far back as the early 1700s and that's really good enough for me in most cases. I want to see when and from where different branches came tot he US, and in my family, most branches came well after that. Most of my family tree is made up of relatively recent immigrants. (For instance, the Italians all came in the 1900s.) I find that the further back you go, the more helpful it is to actually get up and go to the places where your family came from, and that's difficult for me right now. So instead I focus on adding width and depth to my tree. I try to find out as much as I can about the more recent generations, and I look into not just the grandparents, but the aunts. uncles, & cousins. I will not take any tree online on face value. So even if I find a tree that goes far beyond where I have personally worked, I will not count any of that info unless it is completely sourced and I can view those sources myself and see if I agree with how the other person interpreted them. Far too often, however, I find that online trees tend to list their sources as Find a Grave and/or other online trees, which are absolutely not true sources. I find, despite so many anecdotes to the contrary, that stories told by family & friends do fairly often turn out to have a decent amount of truth to them, and so I do devote time to verifying those. Yes! My oldest son has been showing interest in learning about our family tree so I showed him how to use some of the more popular sites. One tree we pulled up showed some family members that are very-much-alive as deceased. They even had dates associated that they were using as verification that they died. A whole section of our tree was like someone intentionally screwed it all up.
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Post by melanell on Sept 25, 2017 1:45:22 GMT
It's not even just the obvious mess ups (someone is born after their child or someone lives to be 215 years old, etc.), but just things that appear okay on their own until you look further. For instance, on one of my branches, I found countless family trees an Ancestry that show a particular person--Henry Jamison. Now, in one of these, things look pretty good. They have an exact birth and death date for Henry and an exact place of birth in England. Very nice. Open a second one, and again, things look good, but now Henry's suddenly born in a particular town in New York. Look further and you find about a 50/50 split between all of these dozens of trees, with him either being born in NY or England. But, after taking the time to look at 23 of these trees, I still have not found even one that has a source for his date/place of birth other than just another Ancestry tree. Now at least 50% of these trees are obviously wrong, since it is not possible to be born in 2 places. (And yes, it is absolutely the same person in all of these trees.) And yet no one cares, they just keep saying "Here's my 10 generation family tree!" and here's my proof that it's right---this tree I plucked from Ancestry, which has a 50% chance or more of being wrong. Ugh!
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Post by scrapsotime on Sept 25, 2017 2:00:52 GMT
My mother's family is driving me crazy. I have info as far back as my great great grandparents, but that's as far as I can get. Burnt down courthouses and many people from the area with the same name have me at an impasse. It's also looking like my great grandmother was never married to my great grandfather. I don't think I'm getting any farther on that line.
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Post by artgirl1 on Sept 25, 2017 2:29:35 GMT
My first thought, would be what the previous poster mentioned about older generations migrating from somewhere else. And with doing know research about the actual likelihood, it wouldn't shock me that Middle Eastern people could have Iberian DNA considering their histories. Way, way back the Phoenicians would have had movement back and forth. I would also look to the Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula from 700-1400 and the eventual expulsion of the Muslims from the region. You could have a group of ethnically Iberian ancestors who embraced Islam, and lived in an area under traditionally Arab rule, and could have moved to the area where you know your Mother's family came from when the Muslims were expelled. If it was a larger group of people who relocated (as opposed to a single family), that DNA could have kept mingling throughout the area for the next 500 years. So without focusing on your specific family, what do you know about that area of the Middle East, historically? Thanks for your insight. I actually felt I knew quite a bit of the History, because I had built quite a timeline, etc, when I was trying to figure out why everything said my mother/grandparents were from Turkey. So I spent months studying the "Ottoman Empire". And I went to the village in Lebanon in 1972, to meet family and study, but was not hooked on the genealogy aspect. I have my grandfathers family history back to 1755, but cannot get exact dates, full names, etc. I also have many of the Church records as a number of the family are bishops etc., and were responsible for some Monasteries (my family is Christian Maronite). I suppose that some of this DNA could go back as far as the Crusades. It just gets so complicated. I envy my friend who is 100% British and has a full history back to 1618. When I spent some time thinking about it after my first post, I realized that even the Crusades could have impact on the DNA from that area. I shall have to keep searching/studying. And use some more of the tools available on Ancestry to study the migration.
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Post by melanell on Sept 25, 2017 2:47:58 GMT
I have one couple whose branches are so convoluted that I don't know where to turn any more. They appear married on one census, with a son. At different places & times their children are listed, but the son, at least with that name, is never seen again. Nor is there any sign that he died. Furthermore, this couple eventually divorced. And between them, there were 5 other spouses throughout the years. And other children. Some children I have worked out both parents, and others I am clueless. Plus, the woman changed her name more often than she changed her husbands! And then the children had multiple marriages and children, too. And they also use various different names. And unfortunately, it's one of those cases where one siblings from one family marry siblings from another, so even though this couple is an aunt & uncle to me, not grandparents, I am related to both the man & the woman. So I have them both, plus all of their mixed up progeny, on two branches of my overall tree. It's a nightmare.
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Post by peasapie on Sept 25, 2017 3:01:11 GMT
I have only gone as far back as the early 1700s and that's really good enough for me in most cases. I want to see when and from where different branches came tot he US, and in my family, most branches came well after that. Most of my family tree is made up of relatively recent immigrants. (For instance, the Italians all came in the 1900s.) I find that the further back you go, the more helpful it is to actually get up and go to the places where your family came from, and that's difficult for me right now. So instead I focus on adding width and depth to my tree. I try to find out as much as I can about the more recent generations, and I look into not just the grandparents, but the aunts. uncles, & cousins. I will not take any tree online on face value. So even if I find a tree that goes far beyond where I have personally worked, I will not count any of that info unless it is completely sourced and I can view those sources myself and see if I agree with how the other person interpreted them. Far too often, however, I find that online trees tend to list their sources as Find a Grave and/or other online trees, which are absolutely not true sources. I find, despite so many anecdotes to the contrary, that stories told by family & friends do fairly often turn out to have a decent amount of truth to them, and so I do devote time to verifying those. My sister says the same thing. She gets a copy of each birth, death or marriage certificate herself and often has to write to churches in Italy for copies. And she has to search documents with lots of pages, kind of like a treasure hunt because often names were misspelled in documents when they changed countries — so she might be checking all the names beginning with a certain letter at around a particular date. It sounds painstaking!
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,884
Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Sept 26, 2017 1:26:47 GMT
Census records have been most helpful to me for US relatives. There was one though that left me confused because there were 3 different wives throughout one relative's life, and a bunch of kids. Well it turns out it was right. He had been married 3 times, each time having kids with the new wife before leaving her for someone else.😡
I'm at a stand still with my 3 Mexican American grandparents. I can get beyond great grandparents. I'm about ready to give up.
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Post by melanell on Sept 26, 2017 2:26:01 GMT
I'm stuck on one branch at a relatively close ancestor---my 3rd great grandfather. He was in the military, so I have a lot more records about him than other members of the family, and yet I cannot find a single record anywhere that mentions his parents. Nor can I find anything else that mentions his parents or any siblings. His name is not unique, and can be spelled various ways, so simply searching the area of a family with a child the right age with his first name turns up too many choices. I may never move past him.
On a few other branches I made a break-through when I found a child's name mentioned in conjunction with an aunt or uncle, then I went searching for the parent's name along with that sibling. But nothing like that has turned up with this guy.
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Post by peajays on Sept 26, 2017 2:35:19 GMT
I am adopted and sent away for my DNA back in July. I really wasn't sure what to expect. I got my results quite quickly, and ended up hitting an almost jackpot. I have a copy of my post adoption birth certificate with my mothers married and maiden name, and the name of her husband. My DNA came back with a very close match to 2 people. The closest match ( I believe) is an Aunt. And most all of the matches are very French Canadian which surprised me. I made contact with the person who manages the aunts profile and they responded quickly saying they would assist my search, I sent additional dates and locations, and then they ceased communications. I think her brother (who is deceased) was my real birth father, and not the man named on my birth certificate. I have not been successful in finding anything on my birth mother yet. Very frustrating.
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rodeomom
Pearl Clutcher
Refupee # 380 "I don't have to run fast, I just have to run faster than you."
Posts: 3,661
Location: Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
Jun 25, 2014 23:34:38 GMT
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Post by rodeomom on Sept 26, 2017 2:38:51 GMT
My brick wall has a very common name and one very uncommon name. But still can not find them! The names are Smith and Provins in Texas.
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Post by ntsf on Sept 26, 2017 3:19:49 GMT
I am gathering information requested by a german researcher about my great grandfather. the village he came from in germany is celebrating the 1,250 birthday of the village in 2019. I got some stories from my dad.. who knew him when my dad was a child. He was born in 1855. the researcher says she has lots of info for me!!!
on the other hand.. my father's other grandfather is totally confusing. I can't tell if he had one wife who changed names in records all the time, or if they went back to denmark as rumored.
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