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I can trace some of my family back to the 1700s..... have any of you traced any of your ancestors and are there any 'skeletons' in your family closet ??

I've become mildly curious about this since joining FG.

Accountable wrote: I've become mildly curious about this since joining FG.


Why only 'mildly curious' ?

Bez wrote: Why only 'mildly curious' ?
I don't grant a lot of importance to genaology. Product of my growing up largely self-sufficient. I think it would be neat to see the trail, especially to know why one would leave the land of his birth. Was it desperation or adventure? that sort of thing.

I've recently taken up my mother's research that she began in the 1980s. It's very time consuming and expensive and I'm not dedicated enough to spend too much of either.

But I am focusing on my maternal great grandmother who appears to have been one of the family's "skeletons" Her crime? She suffered post natal depression (melancholy) after the birth of her fourth child. Her punishment? She was committed to an asylum, not the nicest of places in the 1890s, for the rest of her life, away from her children and her family.

Bez wrote: I can trace some of my family back to the 1700s..... have any of you traced any of your ancestors and are there any 'skeletons' in your family closet ??


No skeletons, no one famous. My ancestors are pretty much all English.

Came to what is now the U.S. in the late 1600's and eventually setttled in what is now up state New York. During the Revolutionary War some of them were Loyalists (remained loyal to England) and fled to Nova Scotia. After the war they came back to up state New York. Some of my ancestors moved later to Virgina. During the American Civil War, some served with the Confederacy and others with the Union Army.

Oh, I'm as old as my ancestors. My mother and grandmother keep track of them-came over on the Mayflower, relative of John Hancock, way back to Scotland in the 1500s. We were once dukes or something, and got kicked out for doing something bad-don't know what! Went and hid out in the caves up there, that slowly dripped down water on the top of those ignoble heads, hence the family name came into being, Dripps. (my mother's maiden name) Durn old Duke boys!

Chonsi said ' came over on the Mayflower,'...hey my relatives met the boat! LOL....i lived in plymouth, by the rock, and my courthouse overlooked a cemetery where myles standish et al were buried. there are some quite fascinating historical graveyards in Mass.:yh_ghost my Dad was Italian, my Mom a southern belle right out of GWTW, but there was a cherokee somewhere in the woodpile, so i have a bit of the blood which shows in high cheekbones.

Never done it, but would like to some day. Supposedly Ulysses S.

Grant is an ancestor, also the people for whom Bryce Canyon is named.



Lots of skeletons, I got told a lot of them in my early 20's by a much-

beloved paternal aunt, may she rest in peace. Don't feel comfortable

telling you all, sorry.



One skeleton I found out from my mom (I was in my late 20's) that she

told me 'cause she thought I'd guessed (I didn't have a clue!) was that

she was married before she married my dad! Now, realize that my entire

life I had ALWAYS been told "There was never a little baby that was more

wanted or more looked forward to than you were" (:o ) and then come

to find out, it was because she couldn't have kids with her 1st husband

and the doctors told her it was her fault. 1st husband divorces her, mom

thinks yeehaw can't get pregnant, meets daddy and WHOOPS!! Here

comes The Val!!



:D

Family legends... I have a few

1. (confirmed) My grandmother was a teacher to Navaho kids in the 20s. She taught a chief's daughter who made her a basket as a present. We still have it.

2. An ancestor was a general in a war between Alsase and Laurain for the house of Orange in France.

3. A female ancestor was a weaver for a queen's lace. Possible Mary, queen of scotts or Elizabeth I

Iv'e never gone back any further than my great grandparents, maybe I should it could be interesting. I did find out that my dad's cousin is going to be made into a saint soon she died in 1950 and was beautified on Sept 5th 2004 . Her name was Pina Suriano.



Saint Pina

I've done a lot of genaology. Gone back to the 1600's on some lines and have gotten stumped on other lines. I took it to family reunion this year and everyone had a good time with it. We had to make copies for all the cousins (40 of them). Of course my cousins now have grown children of their own who are about to have children of their own. We were sitting around discussing the first family reunion 24 years ago - we thought it was quite boring because of all the old people ----------------SNAP we realized we ARE all the old people now :-5

nvalleyvee wrote: I've done a lot of genaology. Gone back to the 1600's on some lines and have gotten stumped on other lines. I took it to family reunion this year and everyone had a good time with it. We had to make copies for all the cousins (40 of them). Of course my cousins now have grown children of their own who are about to have children of their own. We were sitting around discussing the first family reunion 24 years ago - we thought it was quite boring because of all the old people ----------------SNAP we realized we ARE all the old people now :-5


Wow...that's brilliant. My sister in law spends hours researching...maybe I'll do some more in the winter... .do you use the internet ?

Bez wrote: Wow...that's brilliant. My sister in law spends hours researching...maybe I'll do some more in the winter... .do you use the internet ?


Yes I use the internet - there are sites you have to pay for and sites you can use for free if you know where to look. When you want info ask me.

I know the LDS church (Mormon) is really active in this in the US. I don't know if they charge or not.

My dad loves Geneaology to bits. He's been very active tracing back our Irish and Scottish roots for about the last 10 years. I know that he has lots of experience with the various Geneaology sites on-line and has been to quite a few Family History centres around where I live. He has at least 5 or 6 full (and I really mean full) folders full of research and information. If anyone knows about it then it's my dad. If anyone has any questions, than I ask him for you and see if he can be of help.

chrisb84uk wrote: My dad loves Geneaology to bits. He's been very active tracing back our Irish and Scottish roots for about the last 10 years. I know that he has lots of experience with the various Geneaology sites on-line and has been to quite a few Family History centres around where I live. He has at least 5 or 6 full (and I really mean full) folders full of research and information. If anyone knows about it then it's my dad. If anyone has any questions, than I ask him for you and see if he can be of help.


How far back does the family history go Chris ?

Bez wrote: How far back does the family history go Chris ?


Hmm to be totally honest I'm not to sure. I would say his details are spread out over the last 200 years or so. He only wanted to do a lot of in-depth research closer to date at the moment, before moving further back in time a few more hundred years, at a later stage.



I'm sure our history though goes way beyond that though. I know that he has found several royalty links to our name, amongst other interesting tidbits. Sure is interesting what you can find out!!

Don't forget the Mexican branch probably has Spanish blood mixed in.