A Women's RV Forum run by Women RVer's!

There are a few of us in here who have undertaken learning about our family history. I started up a couple of weeks ago, using Ancestery.com and My Heritage. Have to say I am having fun with it, shoulda started long time ago instead of saying I should do it.

But I was just curious to see how some of you are doing yours, are you putting in birth and death information as you find it on your and then going onto the next person in line and doing the same thing and researching more in depth on these individuals after you have so far. Or are you researching everything you can on each person right then and there until you either can’t find or don’t want anymore Info. I’ve been able to trace the lineage of both my grandfathers/grandmothers and have names etc, for the greats at this point. I’m gathering basic information now and have kept going as long as names and dates are showing up with lineage links. Figure I can change little things later.

I have worked on mine for many years. I think you will find out how you like to do things as you spend more time on it. Sometimes there are so many hints and other trees to look at it gets to be overwhelming! Some of the information that others have put on is not always correct. So you need to be careful and check out the info as best you can. I can't remember how I started as it was way back in the late 90's and I didn't even have a computer at that time. So spent a lot of time in the library checking the books in the genealogy department and LDS info. I have since done all my work on Ancestry. Some people are only concerned with names and dates, I like to see if I can find more info on the person: wills, land contracts, newspaper articles etc.
Have fun Sue!

Sue, I started my family search over 50 years ago and it has been fun. I started before computers. Sent to the archives in Washington and got copies of my great grandfathers enlistment in the civil war. It was a huge packet and thought I hit the jackpot. My husband laughed, ask if I thought I was royalty. My husband’s father died when he was young so no history. We lived on the western shore and all my husband wanted was to live on the eastern shore. He passed away before I found that his grandfather and his family lived on the eastern shore. He would have loved that information. You also find naughty secrets too. Have fun.

P.s. I started with my mothers side of the family and made it back to Germany in the 1600. I had the most info on her family to get me started. I have been able to trace my fathers side back to England since computers and Ancestry in 1700.

I also use Ancestry and have found a lot of information others use is not correct. I follow the hints and see how my information compares. I did the DNA test and found several relatives through that. I find it is both fun and frustrating. I have been surprised to find so many on both sides of my family arrived here in the 1700's. I work on several people at a time.

I've been working on my family off and on for several years. Several things surprised me:

- I am still amazed at how long some of my ancestors lived in the 1700s and 1600s when there was no real medical care. Quite a few lived into late 70s and even late 80s.

- All of my grandparents were born in Canada from parents who arrived there in the mid-1800s. Quite a few of them then came to the U.S. in the early 1900s. I was surprised to find how many of my relatives lived in Michigan and even Detroit where I grew up, but I never met them or even knew about them. These were not grandparents, but mostly great-aunts and great-uncles. I don't know why my parents never said anything about them.

- I discovered a few deep family secrets, such as that my straight-laced, upstanding grandmother had her first child when she was 17, but was married at 18, not 16, as she told everyone. And we all celebrated her and my grandfather's 50th wedding anniversary when they had only been married 48 years!! There were also a couple of divorces that were kept secret. Children out of wedlock and divorce were very shocking even in the 1940s and 1950s and beyond.

- I also discovered that a lot of people made mistakes out of sloppiness. In other words, they assumed hints and information from other family trees was true, without verifying stuff. Can't trust other people's information! Found people who supposedly had children at 12 and were buried a year before they died!

It has been interesting, however. Few of my relatives in the UK could read or write their names, and most were very poor, which is why most of us had relatives immigrate to this country. Makes me wonder what their lives were like as very poor farmers or laborers. And unlike the people in romance novels or Jane Austin books, they no doubt walked places instead of taking carriages.

Such an interesting topic. My maternal grandmother married my grandfather at the turn of the century, so she grew up in the 1800's. One day I commented on how romantic it must have been to wear long dresses and ride in stagecoach-type wagons. She said that first off, they road in open farm wagons pulled by work horses. Streets were dirt and usually mud with horse poops all over. Long dresses dragged through everything! The average girl had 3 dresses: 1 for Sunday, 1 for school, and 1 for play. Each year your Sunday dress became your school dress and school dress became the play one. By that time you had outgrown it, torn and repaired it, and it was faded. Every night you had the chore of sponging the hem of the dress you wore that day - by hand - no washing machines and your winter ones were wool. Her folks had long lists of stocks and bonds before the crash, but lived on rural farmland and never bought frivolous anything.

Not so romantic, huh?

Evie

Six years ago was decluttering in anticipation moving into an apartment. Mom and her sister took many pictures and each always made an extra copy for the other. I inherited the mess and couldn’t bring my self to throw them away. I bought 7 three ring binders and make books for 3 children and 4 grand children. I told them to shove the books in a corner of a closet because I knew some were not interested in the information now but maybe one day. Some of the great grands got excellent grades for their family tree school projects. I’m so sorry I didn’t ask for more stories from older relatives when I had the opportunity. I just shared a story with my youngest pregnant granddaughter about being pregnant in the fifties. She loved it.

I was just thinking yesterday we need a thread for genealogy stories!

When I started in the 80s, I went to the National Archives in Seattle for Census reports. I intended to stick with direct ancestors, but found 'side lines' could be helpful in making connections. I've put books together over the years, but new information is available so books grow. I also spent time at the local Mormon library.

I learned there was a difference between printed source and personal family trees with no sources. Ancestry may not be free, but it is where the most sources are. Family trees are good for possibilities to look into. Someone had a great uncle married to his wife's stepmother!

I had a great aunt, a school principal, who was probably the provider of event dates. Imagine my surprise when I found my great grandparents were married a year later than 'recorded' and the first baby came early. Similar to Judy's story. I shared this at a family reunion (great aunt wasn't there) and someone said, 'You didn't tell Aunt Gertrude did you?' I didn't.

I use both Ancestry and familysearch which is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
in searching on my mom's side the "brick" wall was my grandfather's grandfather... he was married in 1850 had 3 with one on the way when he drowned in the Mississippi river in 1855 he came from Prussa I know nothing more but some one has found a set of parents at one time I think there were 3 listed parents... I don't know how that person did it as I can't get her sources... but I've seen the baptism certificate of the last born ( after dad died) he had several sponsors it's in German... but one name intrigued me Frank Thomas (my great great grandfather was John Frank Thomas) I felt and still feel that Frank is related how I don't know yet but as I followed him a bit his wife's father was also on that list of sponsor's and they had several children mostly girls among them was 3 sets of twins... totally amazed that in the 1800's they survived.. also when they went to Neb they sent for the minister of their old church who was also listed on that certificate .... when we were looking for and taking pictures of old head stones in the cemetery in Neb... decided I needed to use the restroom and none at the cemetery so went to a close by convenience store while there got some candy and asked if there was any other cemeteries in the area was asks what time frame told them late 1800 early 1900 but I'd already been to the right one I heard someone in line ask me what line I was researching told him Thomas he said I am a Thomas... we visited for quite awhile and he introduced me to his uncle so reminded me of my grandfather... then when he came to AZ to visit with his sister they had us come to her house gave us copies of old pictures of course with out names on them but some looked to be twins .... and some of the "family resemblance" I find in our family at times... his ancestor was Frank Thomas but didn't really know much about him... have lost contact with him... mores the pity wished I'd gotten a DNA off him and with one of mom's male cousin's as well I think they are gone now although not sure if both have passes away or not.. then Larry's line goes so fast into Ireland that it's not funny
and so hard to find we actually have a dresser brought over from Ireland if it could only talk
sheila