Genealogy and Family History

[MoBookworm1957]

Oh wait. Should I be apologizing

Not particularly.

 

[Weedygarden]

(small world time... Grizzlyette's grandfather and I share the same last name, his people came from this same area... what are the odds?)

From the time that I sent you some seeds, I still remember your name. There was a local television celebrity with the same name, and since I saw him on television a lot, it helped me to remember your name.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I would not trust some of the data bases. A cousin shared his research with me. He was a member of LDS and most of his research was from their data base.
His own mother’s birthdate was off by 2 years. I pointed it out to him and he claimed it was correct. It would have made my grandmothers younger sister older than her.
His mother had him at 16 and my Great Uncles beat his father and ran the father out of town, according to legend
LDS had my great aunt had my 2nd cousin at 18. Every other database says 16.

 

[joel]

I have my family tree going back ten generation.
A Cousin has traced our line back 450 years.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I have one line coming to the US in 1720. A few Patriots, more Tories

I have another line immigrating to Montreal, one of 7 with that surname. But we joke , we own the bus company. But not speaking French I found that path blocked but i did find them coming to the US from Montreal.

Another 2 lines from Alsace, so take it France or Germany depending on the time of history. But both Germanic names, one of which may have been misspelled at Ellis Island. Resigner seems to be the common spelling, which my line is not

Stymied on my common surname around 1870.

I learned about looking for spelling looking for my Great grandmother - Emma Jean, Imogene

 

[LadyLocust]

From the time that I sent you some seeds, I still remember your name. There was a local television celebrity with the same name, and since I saw him on television a lot, it helped me to remember your name.

His name is Peanut so his last name must be Butter . I don’t know of any celebrities with that last name though

 

[LadyLocust]

I have one line coming to the US in 1720. A few Patriots, more Tories

I have another line immigrating to Montreal, one of 7 with that surname. But we joke , we own the bus company. But not speaking French I found that path blocked but i did find them coming to the US from Montreal.

Another 2 lines from Alsace, so take it France or Germany depending on the time of history. But both Germanic names, one of which may have been misspelled at Ellis Island. Resigner seems to be the common spelling, which my line is not

Stymied on my common surname around 1870.

I learned about looking for spelling looking for my Great grandmother - Emma Jean, Imogene

Also nicknames- it can be frustrating.

 

[Weedygarden]

His name is Peanut so his last name must be Butter . I don’t know of any celebrities with that last name though

I won't tell his real name, but it is not that unusual, imho. There happens to be a street close to downtown Denver with that name and it is close to a place that I think he and I talked about, so he had to have seen it.

I was thinking about how he said Grizzleyette had a grandfather with the same family name and they lived in the same area. It is highly likely that they are related, if you can go back far enough, and then come back down the family tree and fill out the lines. It just takes time and research, and that is something I can do when I am house sitting.

It is easier to gather information when older people are still alive. I haven't had any direct ancestors alive for more than 40 years, but I do have relatives whom have provided me with great information, like aunts and uncles.

Now my family name and one other family name are so uncommon that we must be related if we share those names. Again, it is about doing all the research and as I have said before, reading the old script in a language I don't know is very difficult, and sometimes more than I can do.

 

[Patchouli]

@EastenerWesterner I too am LDS and have gotten frustrated with the database too. It was a great place until they changed things and anyone could change anything if they thought it was incorrect. People go into the records, haven't dug deep enough and are not directly related to the people, is what happens and messes things up. I've seen it many times. I have had to go back in to my own records and change it repeatedly. Got tired of it, have reported these things multiple times, usually with a good result but finally I gave up on it and do most of my searching on other sites. I prefer using ancestry and another friend in church expressed the same concerns. She has made many records which she keeps in her computer, on a thumb drive, also uses many different websites, and doesn't use family search as the "be all know all etc yall."
When you have the information in document, or photos from a headstone, that can help solidify your info.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

@Patchouli
This was back in the early days late 90’s early 2000’s. Several descedents were doing research (14 surviving kids in that family group) and we all shared info.

Dave was adamant that LDS was right even though 4 of us had the same opposing info. We all came to conclusion it was to make Dave appear legitimate. We all liked Dave, we didn’t care. We were all surprised about the info another church had about a Catholic family 40 miles away.

I spent most of my life one town over from LDS birthday place. Drove by the Smith farm and Hill Cummorah several times a week.

It was a hobby I had during a difficult time in my life, Wanting to pass it on to kids or niece or nephew but none seems interested

 

[Patchouli]

Maybe you’ll become aware of another relative somewhere who does want the information, or eventually one of your kids or grandkids. Some of us get a strong sense of needing to do it and for whatever reason, most of the rest of the family doesn’t have as much interest. It is interesting to learn things about our ancestors that you wouldn’t otherwise know unless you were digging. One example: my late husband’s family there was a great great great grandfather who was married in Germany (border later changed) had 2 children. Wife died in childbirth. Remarried, he left for America with the baby and new wife. Baby died enroute. Buried at sea. Second wife died. Got married again and this woman is the one my husband was descended from. That is information I was able to find. Like going down a rabbit hole.
I have yet to travel the church history trail but am interested in doing so eventually. I’ve never been to New York.

 

[UserNameTaken]

My mother traced our lineage when I was a kid. We even went to to the SLC temple and geneology HQ.

My ancestor was one of the owners of John Cabot's boat. So if y'all don't mind, please GTHO my continent!

 

[Patchouli]

At times I've gone to family history conferences (back in the old days before phones were our computers). I came across a paper in a f.h. box a while ago that had the old tyme writing style and the letters they represent. If anyone is in need of it or interested I will post it here somehow.

 

[Bacpacker]

At times I've gone to family history conferences (back in the old days before phones were our computers). I came across a paper in a f.h. box a while ago that had the old tyme writing style and the letters they represent. If anyone is in need of it or interested I will post it here somehow.

That would be interesting to see. How hard would it be to post it here??

 

[Patchouli]

That would be interesting to see. How hard would it be to post it here??

I can try to take a photo of it with my hand held travel across space and time device (my phone) when it is daylight and upload it here.
Might even be able to find something like that online somewhere.

 

[teeceetx]

I went on Ancestry several years ago.

Traced both sides of my family back to the 1700's.

Used to spend a lot of time on that site, but not so much any more.

 

[Weedygarden]

I went on Ancestry several years ago.

Traced both sides of my family back to the 1700's.

Used to spend a lot of time on that site, but not so much any more.

I have 100's of hours doing research. I have contributed many documents to Ancestry from old Czech records for my ancestors and relatives. I am back into the 1700s, but that is where the already difficult writing gets much more difficult. The Hapsburgs had declared that much of Europe had to be Catholic and Latin was the church language. Those old Latin records are where many people come to a screeching halt in their research, myself included.

 

[LadyLocust]

At times I've gone to family history conferences (back in the old days before phones were our computers). I came across a paper in a f.h. box a while ago that had the old tyme writing style and the letters they represent. If anyone is in need of it or interested I will post it here somehow.

Would love to see what you’ve got. Kinda fun reading the old long s style of writing- the norm not that long ago really.

 

[Weedygarden]

There is an annual Roots Tech Conference. This year it is March 6 to 8.

I have signed up for a few years. One of my favorite parts of it is that when you are a member of Family Search, and have a family tree built there, when the conference is in session, you will get a list of your relatives who are also participating. A couple years ago there were more than 100 cousins of mine signed up for the Roots Tech Conference. There were 8th cousins shown. You are allowed to communicate with relatives through the conference, but without exchanging other contact information, when the conference is over, so is the ability to connect through it.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/roo...P7CqOar08a_ICsF5Rw_aem_zr1D_AgqcueHZxbY17yykA

 

[Weedygarden]

I haven't gone back through this thread lately so it is possible that I have shared some of this information on this thread before.

Relative to the LDS centers in SLC and other places: I was in SLC in 1983, at the main Family History center. I had very little luck there. At that time, Czech records were not available except if you went to what was then called Czechoslovakia and went to the government centers where records are kept. A couple decades ago that changed. Now it seems that Czech genealogy is one of the most popular countries for research on Ancestry. One of the things that has happened is that LDS have a mission for seniors who go to Czechia and photograph the old records. I happen to have a friend whose parents have been there, doing exactly that.

I have also been to a few History Centers in the Denver area, again with little to no luck. All of these are run and worked by volunteers or rather people who are appointed or assigned. I usually know more than the volunteers. I have been sent down rabbit holes that took me to places where my family never lived. So much wasted time!

There are a few things that changed my research.

Czech records became available to the public and are available on line. I know that many records are available online now, not just Czech records.

There are groups for people focusing on particular areas or countries. For me, there are professional Czech genealogists who started and run a Facebook group with thousands of members. There is more than one Czech genealogy group, but there is one that is run by professional Czech genealogists. There are groups for Nebraska Bohemians (Czechs), Chicago Czechs, and more. The group run by professional genealogists has been where I have gotten the best help, but every group has had people give me useful information. People have been willing to go to cemeteries in Nebraska to take photos of headstones, etc. Nebraska Bohemians are proud of their heritage. A man in Chicago drove around to a few places one week, helping a few of us figure out what happened to a relative whose parents had divorced in the 1870's.

I went onto the Czech Facebook group run by professionals and posted a photo of my g grandparents headstone. They happened to have a very nice headstone as he was said to be the first millionaire in their county in Nebraska, running a slaughter house and butcher shop. The headstone lists their place of birth, in Bohemia, now Czechia. Within half an hour, probably less, someone shared my g grandmother's birth record. And since I couldn't read the old script nor the language, they then translated the record for me and gave me information about the additional information on the record.

I have a line in one part of my family that is full of misinformation. A gg uncle was married, lost his wife of almost 20 years and then remarried. His second wife was full of it, lies and other baloney. She never met many of the family, but gave information on death records that was completely untrue. She said that the young daughter by the first wife was hers. She was absolutely not, as noted by photos to compare potential ages. Story is that she paid officials in Chicago to change the girl's official records. She said that Matthew was John's father. He was not. Matthew was John's grandfather. The problem is that more than a century later, there are people in that family who still believe the lies and misinformation and continue to propagate it, in spite of me providing actual record images. "Oh no, these are wrong." Can records be wrong? Of course, but when one man is named repeatedly in records for a family as the father, then someone, almost a century later who never knew them, tries to change the information and the descendants want to say she is right when there is repeated proof that this information is not accurate.

For me, images of the official records are exceedingly important. Someone can say they have done the research, and maybe they have, but where is the proof that what they say is true, or not?

One of my uncles died and my aunt, his sister was providing information for his obituary. She and another uncle tried to call me, but I was gone, left early for work. So they said he was born in X because several of them were. He was not born in X, he was born in Y. His obituary has it wrong now, and in the future, how many will believe what the obituary says? The uncle who tried to call me told me not to say anything to aunt, because she would just stress about it. I didn't say anything, because so what? Obituary was already printed.

Find proof if you think information is wrong. Write letters to get records. Look at official records. Arguing with people doesn't serve anyone.

 

[SoulSeeker]

I think I've posted here about going back to the mid 900's on my dads side. For my mom was way harder as my grandfather changed the family name after killing a man in the ring and fleeing Canada. Mom and her side was not forth coming with info either.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I find this to be a fascinating subject. There's a lot of good stories here. I'd like to learn more details about my families history. What I do know is my ancestors were here long before the American Revolution and one was a colonel in the war for independence. Supposedly they were the first Whites in Tennessee, not sure if that's true or not, but they did end up with some large plantations, part is still in the family. They have oil wells on it now. The war of nothern aggression kind of split the family up, with some going to Texas after the war.
I remember as a kid that my grandmother looked kind of young. I found out that she was 13 years older than my dad. I guess that wasn't too unusual back then.

 

[OldSchool]

I think I've posted here about going back to the mid 900's on my dads side. For my mom was way harder as my grandfather changed the family name after killing a man in the ring and fleeing Canada. Mom and her side was not forth coming with info either.

I'm the black sheep, just because others I'm related to have done great things doesn't mean I will. Two sided coin.... a black mark in the family tree doesn't doom all others.

Genealogy and family history may lay a guideline or provide a predictable avenue, but with all those damn branches.... who's to make sense of it. A problem here, a problem there... a blessing here - a blessing there. Nothing is set in concrete based on history. Especially with all kinds of influences.... nature or nurture... environment and influences.... yep - all having an effect on an individual.