Ancestry thread..

[MehGuy]

I know there has been a million of these types of threads but I have been spending that past couple of days really trying to fledge out my family tree on ancestry.com.

So has anyone else used the site? Is it helpful? Do you have any useful tips on tracking people down?

As for me, it's been a mixed bag. Lots of my family is shrouded in mystery. Luckily I was able to locate my great grandparent's missing father. Since he was adopted I thought the trial was cold, but a census from 1900 shows his real father. Although the mother is missing and my great-great grandfather was apparently a widow. 5 years later he's out of the picture too. Lol.

Anyways share your genealogical stories.

 

[William67]

Do you have a library card? If so, go to your library and ask if they are part of the @Home site. They give you free access to Heritage Quest census images and are searchable. It also has a ton of other sources.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Ancestry.com was frustrating when I tried it. My older sister got quite a bit of info out of it when she gave it a go a few years ago, but I was impatient.

 

[BadHabit]

I had my DNA tested through Ancestry dot com, and it was very revealing. Most of my family history is a big question, and we don't have records, but it was interesting to find out my genetic makeup.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I had my DNA tested through Ancestry dot com, and it was very revealing. Most of my family history is a big question, and we don't have records, but it was interesting to find out my genetic makeup.

Was the process easy or complicated? I think that is interesting, and I'd be curious to know what my results said. Although I don't know how comfortable I feel giving strangers a DNA sample. Never know if that might end up in CODIS or something.

 

[MehGuy]

I plan to get myself tested soon too.

 

[MehGuy]

I might be more German than I thought. Even though my last name is English sounding uh.. I guess that line is from Germany.. ? Lol. Its kind of weird there. Seems like they moved in and out of Germany a few times.

 

[MehGuy]

Looking at all my relatives who enlisted to fight in WW1.. most of them listed themselves as short.. lol.

 

[James of Arc]

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[blackribbon]

I used all the free sources (rootsweb.com plus others) at one time...and after the kids leave the house and I have space to spread everything out again, I'd like to use the pay sites and do my best to verify what I have. I was able to piece together a lot of already done family trees...and on one genealogy forum talked to gentleman who had done extensive research on a different line of my husband's family but he gave me tips on why there was a sudden name change (lo and behold, that name is also in our family cemetery a thousand miles away)...and tips on how to pursue more information and how to read between the lines on censuses. I may never be able to prove some hunches but again, those same names are both in the same town census in Alabama and end up in our family cemetery in Texas... It is a fascinating study in history to do a family tree...especially, if you do the extra work to dig a bit deeper than just a list of names.

 

[blackribbon]

My parents came from Arkansas and eventually moved to Kansas where they had me and then we moved back to Arkansas.

I know its not exciting but we all cant be from a family that came over on the mayflower.

Unless you are Native American, you had to "come over" on some boat...and that is interesting and a story even if it is an unimportant boat.

My husband's great aunt was raised by her aunt & uncle. Her mother died when she was 7 and they went back to Sweden to bring her here. There was a spelling change during this time frame that was supposedly for some inheritance issue. I was able to find the manifesto and I suspect that they really changed her spelling to bypass immigration and present her as their own child. She probably was an illegal immigrant from Sweden. I never told her this because it would have horrified her but unless the immigration laws were different for children back then, she doesn't look like she was ever naturalized....

 

[MehGuy]

One of my relatives was the manager of a button factory. Just found a photo of him (I think) wearing a spiffy suit. Seems he passed it on to his son in law who married a woman older than him. Wonder if he was some gold digger who wanted a ticket in the button making business.. Lol.

 

[James of Arc]

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[MehGuy]

Honestly its creepy to see other ancestry.com users having similar family trees as your own. This guy has loads of pictures of my long dead relatives.. I guess I'm closely related to the guy who compiled it. Wonder if I should say hi? Lol.

 

[MehGuy]

I found a picture of my great grandfather.

Looks stiff. Would probably be horrified if he ever met me. Lol.

 

[James of Arc]

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[MehGuy]

Found a picture of my great-great grandfather, and an engraving of my great-great-great grandfather.

 

[MehGuy]

Ok, my grandads dad came here from Scotland in the 1880's. My grandmothers familly came her at sometime from Scottland too but I do not know when but her maiden name was Abercrombie so there is no doubt they came from Scottland. Her family was wealthy and owned a 689 acre milk farm plus many other places with lots of acres. My dad hated being a milk farmer so when he turned 17 he joined the Navy and never went back to the milk farm again.

On my moms side they were French I believe and the only thing I know about any of them was that my grandads dad worked as a US Marshal in Oklahoma before it was a state in the early 1900. I believe he was shot and killed in 1916 when my grandad was just 5 or so.

Yeah well you probably don't have a relative who worked at a button factory, so I win.

 

[blackribbon]

Ok, my grandads dad came here from Scotland in the 1880's. My grandmothers familly came her at sometime from Scottland too but I do not know when but her maiden name was Abercrombie so there is no doubt they came from Scottland. Her family was wealthy and owned a 689 acre milk farm plus many other places with lots of acres. My dad hated being a milk farmer so when he turned 17 he joined the Navy and never went back to the milk farm again.

On my moms side they were French I believe and the only thing I know about any of them was that my grandads dad worked as a US Marshal in Oklahoma before it was a state in the early 1900. I believe he was shot and killed in 1916 when my grandad was just 5 or so.

Now that is interesting...

 

[MehGuy]

Whoa.

I just uncovered a treasure trove of photos and information of my family on my father's mother's side.