How far have you traced your family tree?

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

My brother has done extensive research. He has traced my paternal lineage back to the village in Alsace that my great x3 (or 4) grandfather emigrated from in 1739.
On a trip to France two years ago I went there to look around. I asked if there was anyone there with my last name and the woman told me about a fifth of the people in that town had our name. The church had memorials to the "gefallen" in WW I and WW II and there were a lot of us.

Same here, but less than 100 years later. The family name was Hunot.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by ltusler

Didn't we all originate in Africa?

Let's try to keep this out of the PARF.

[Jim Richards]

I thought we were from outer space.

[GH85Carrera]

My mothers great grandfather on her mother's side (my 2nd great grandfather) was born in Hamburg, Germany. When he was 12 years old in 1896 he immigrated to the USA. His son my great grandfather was a successful farmer and a great orator. He settled in Driftwood, OK. Not much left in Driftwood now days.



He had 11 brothers and sisters. I have a ton of family stuff from that side of the family. I had a quilt that the wife of Gus Hoefer (the man in the poster) made for her grandmother and a letter she wrote to her grandmother about it. I "gifted" that quilt and the letter to one of my cousins that has kids to pass it to. I am trying to pass as much of that family stuff to the other cousins with kids as possible. I have several boxes of old family photos. It is all on my Ancestry.com site and almost none of thee cousins care about it.

[sammyg2]

I traced it back to one of the original Jamestown settlers, a gentleman who died August 16, 1607 a few months after ariving in the new world.

But the weird thing is, he never had any kids!!!

[Seahawk]

My wife has done all the heavy lifting on our effort to find which sperm met what egg.

Her side of the ledger was very easy. Her mother's family is directly tied to the Ark and the Dove, two ships that sailed up the Chesapeake in 1634. They landed on St. Clements Island, which I can see from my back yard.

She can trace her farther side but I am frankly not that interested...he was a douche. Her father's side is Irish, traceable to Ellis Island and some fortunate souls before that.

My genealogy is a bit tougher. On my mother's side all Spanish folks that settled in California in the 1700's. Pretty easy trace after they got here, a bit harder before since there were two major families that left Spain, one went early to Chile then to Cal, the other direct to California and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They were very literate folks and did a lot of writing. One actual work the History of the Quatro family from his perspective. He also wrote his biography, which my mom self published in the 1970's.

He was a rancher then opened a butcher shop in Placerville during the gold rush...great stuff.

My dads father was an orphan, as was his father. We can trace to Scotland on his mom and dads lineage, but nothing too exotic, normal immigrant tales.

My wife really enjoys the quest and is very diligent about it. All my relatives in California have been very supportive.

After more than a few generations beyond my grandparents, I lose interest.

Odd, that.

[Kraftwerk]

My Grandmother: V. Gist, is related to Christopher Gist, a scout in Washington's Army, saved his life. Twice!

[zelrik911]

Originally Posted by nota

census records are the key and are very good

mormans were obsessed with records and have a very good collection site
most of the web sites are based on the mormans data

Why are the Mormans obsessed with ancestory records??
I had thought their religion was a relative newcomer.

I have used their records to trace my English ancestors in mid 17th century, and for that I am thankful for their diligence.
But is there a reason? It all seems to be before their time.

EDIT: OK - I understand now, thanks for the explanation.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by zelrik911

Why are the Mormans obsessed with ancestory records??
I had thought their religion was a relative newcomer.

I have used their records to trace my English ancestors in mid 17th century, and for that I am thankful for their diligence.
But is there a reason? It all seems to be before their time.

Why do Mormons do family history or genealogy work? | Mormon.org

[Crowbob]

I stopped tracing my family tree when I found out I was the sap.

[rockfan4]

My distant cousins traced my father's line about 15 years ago, even visiting Germany and visiting with distant cousins. My mother's line had been researched as well, both parents all the way back to Norway and beyond. For the last 50+ years I have believed I was 1/2 German and 1/2 Norwegian. This thread got me interested in genealogy again, so I looked at my paternal grandmother. Turns out she was English, traced her family back to emigrating to America in 1637, landing in MA, and later farming in Vermont. My Great great grandfather moved his family from Vermont to Wisconsin, then went off to fight in the war of the rebellion.

I also spent some time researching my fiance's family, as she is also curious. She knew her maternal grandmother was 1/4 native american, she thought she was Choctaw, but I found her Dawes Roll record, and she's registered as 1/4 Cherokee. Her great great grandfather was on the Confederate side, First Cherokee mounted volunteers.

Think we should still get married?