Way back B.P. and B.C. (Before Pregnancy and Before Caroline), I started getting into genealogy. I’ve always been a history girl so researching my family tree was right up my alley. David bought me some software for Christmas and I had just gotten started when… BAM! Difficult pregnancy and then baby. Instead of taking a trip to do some genealogy work, it all collected dust.
A few weeks ago I noticed one of those ads for a genealogy site and so went over to see if anything new came up when I typed in some key names. Woohoo! New info! I signed up for the two week trial (leaving myself a HUGE note in my inbox to cancel it before the end of the two weeks so I wouldn’t be out like $150 for a year). I was so geeked by what I found!
I had been focusing on my maternal grandmother’s family and I knew from a family Bible that I could trace it back to at least 1812 in Pennsylvania. But I found someone else’s research that linked into our family tree and can now trace it back even further! I can get back to my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents (John and Mary) who were born in 1753 and 1758. Their daughter (Elizabeth) was born in PA in 1788 so I know she was born here, but I don’t know if her parents were yet. Elizabeth’s father-in-law (with the last name I had been tracing) was born in SC in 1755. (Now all you southern gals will know I’m ok since I’ve got a little bit of South Carolina blood in me!)
If I counted correctly, that makes Caroline at least the tenth generation to be here in the United States.
On my father’s side, I have a fairly detailed written history that goes back several generations. I was doing some calculating on that side and realized that Caroline is at least the seventh generation to be born in Michigan and that part of the family tree goes back to before Michigan was a state.
I thought this was interesting because recently in two different places (a Midwest Living article and an article online) each of the authors referenced that you weren’t a true “Mainer” or a true “Natchesian” unless you had at least three generations in the ground and you were the fourth. Maybe this is common knowledge to everyone but me. I just never really thought about it before. I guess we more than qualify for being true Michiganians then, but it doesn’t make me look down my nose at those who aren’t. But to each their own.
Anyway, I love my state. Michigan has received a lot of bad press lately because of the economy and the auto industry. But it is truly a fabulous state and I’m proud to be part of a long line of people who have made this great state their home.
I’m eager to get back at the genealogy to find out if I can trace the family back further than the mid-1750’s. I just haven’t had time to approach it again. And I have to be honest. As a total history geek, I would love to find out if I qualify for the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). To know that my ancestors were here before the American Revolution was just so fascinating to me and I would love to know if they were actively involved in the war. On the other hand, I might find out they were sympathizers to the throne and then maybe that would explain my lifelong fascination with England and Scotland (and plaid!). (Update here: We’re Officially Daughters of the American Revolution!)
Does anyone else have any interesting genealogy stories to share? How long has your family been in the U.S. or your home country?
That is really cool!
I want to trace our roots sometime. My aunt told me that my dad’s side of the family can be traced back to the Mayflower – apparently they came over as indentured servants or something. I would love to know if that was true. I don’t even know where to start looking for info, though. Maybe someday…! 🙂
My husband and I love genealogy. We have found a lot of interesting stories and information about many branches of our family but by far the most exciting thing we found was that we are very distantly related cousins. We are related through a family of brothers who came to America in the early 17th century. We would love to travel to various places to do more research but that will have to wait until the kiddos are older.
Both of my parent’s families have done extensive research. My sister is the one doing the digging now.
We’ve found some amazing things. For example, we do qualify to be in the DAR (or the sons for my brother). We’re related to a Revolutionary General. There’s also Daughter of Texas that we qualify for from someone. We’re related to Patrick Henry too.
My sister recently found that one of our ancestors is a pilgrim so there’s the Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims. All these things cost $$ to join. I haven’t done so yet, but my mom joined the DAR.
It’s very interesting to find out where we’ve come from. We also come from a long line of Godly people–lots of pastors. I love finding that out:).
We have Swedish history on one side, I know the town one of my Great Grandparents came from in Sweden. We visited Sweden when we were living in Germany, but didn’t make the 2 day trip to that small town. We would have gone if it was closer to where we were in Sweden.
I wish I had asked my Swedish Grandparents more about their history while they were alive.
I did find out this a few years before my Grandmother died, I wish I had asked more:
When I was collage age, I saw a picture of my Grandmother when she was a teenager for the first time. I told her, “Grandma, you were beautiful!” She replied, “Do you really think so?” I said, “Yes, you looked like a model.” She said, “I never thought I was pretty growing up. I was too tall and too blonde and too thin. You were supposed to be shorter and dark haired and a bit plump when I was growing up. When I was little, I was called ‘Dirty little Swede.'”
If my Grandma had been born 50 or 60 years later and had braces, she could have been a supermodel! Instead, she was discriminated against because of her ancestry and made to think she was not pretty.
I love geneology information. My parents are from the Appalachian part of southeastern Ohio, northern W. Va. Who you “come from” is very important in those parts. My mother’s brother has done some extensive research and he found two rather interesting things: there are an awful lot of “father unknowns” in my tree (so who knows what blood courses through my veins?) and my parents are distant cousins. My mother’s great x3 grandfather and my father’s great x4 grandfather are the same man. He was married three times and my father is descended by wife #1 and my mom by wife #3. My uncle had a royal good laugh calling me an “inbred child” (all in fun).
It is indeed interesting.
We’re both into geneology. My hubby bought the Family Tree software over 10 years ago and we learned even more about our family through that and the internet. So, I’m a second generation American (grandparents immigrated from the Czech Republic) from my Dad’s side, and a 7th generation southern (yes, my Great, Great grandfather was in the civil war, a rebel who was a POW) so I qualified for the DAR.
It has been so interesting to hear about your family Sallie, and our friends here in TN. It’s amazing to me that so many people from around the world wound up in America.
While it’s not my family history, I find your’s (and the other’s too) interesting! I think it’s fun to learn these things about how we became America.
Here’s a little about my own family history:
My paternal line to enter “America” came through Jamestown in May 1650 from St. Kitts, but was born in Kent, England. He had umpteen kids, of course, about 1020 acre plantation in Surry and Isle of Wight Counties, VA. I would love to go check out the land that he owned. . . obviously, it’s not part of my family now! Branches of that family have also been known to be educators and school superintendents. I think it’s interesting to see if a family tends to move towards a particular profession/career.
On my mother’s side of the family, there’s a lot of interesting genealogy.
One line includes Scotch-Irish who settled in the Southern Appalachians (the original “hillbillies”) and had been land barons in Ireland. My mother’s maiden name is Kerr which is Scottish. Interestingly in Scotland, there is the Kerr Clan’s castle, Ferniehirst, which was built with a left-handed staircase for left-handed sword fighting (which gave them an advantage). In Scotland, being kerr-fisted or corry-fisted means to be lefthanded. Guess what? I’m lefthanded, and so are many of my Kerr relatives! Here’s a link to an article about lefthandedness which mentions the Kerr family.
“The Kerr family of Scotland, known for sinister swordsmanship, went so far as to build Ferniehirst Castle with an unusual staircase that spiraled counterclockwise. The architecture provided left-handed fighters more freedom to swing their sword.
Today, the common Scottish terms Kerr-handed, kerry-fisted and corry-fisted mean left-handed.”
Both sides of my family have been in the South, particular NC for many generations. I do not know much military service history of my family, but I know their were Revolutionary War soldiers. . . and at least one Civil War Confederate deserter in my family by either my maiden name or my mother’s maiden name.
My husband’s family is from the Midwest (Iowa to be exact), and their family history in America is much “newer”. My mother-in-law has a wonderful antique auction poster that her great-grandparents posted in England when they were selling as many of their wares as they could to come to America in the late 1800s. It includes a hog slaughtering set up as well as cooking equipment, clothing, furniture, etc. Just a list of household items they had to leave behind. Quite interesting. I love reading that list everytime I go to their house.