Thread Anyone researched their family history?

DJBrenton

In Her Majesty's Secret Cervix
Feb 10, 2010
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A while back I started looking into my family history. On my mother's side I've got back to 1020 as the De Ashford family of Devon. There's only one ancestor of note, a nutter called John Tom in the early 1800's who claimed to be King of Jerusalem amongst other things. He led a group of followers around the country 'giving' them land at random and eventually met the army, led a riot, shot an army officer and was shot himself. His followers believed he would rise again, but he seems not to have. http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/CORNISH/2004-06/1086103016

Anyone else done a family history?
 
My grandfather did some major searching and traveled around to find tombstones and such. The only thing I know is that we're mainly Czech... meh!
 
11th century is as far back as we have found. Ancestors from then from around the black sea, some kind of association with the Teutonic Knights. One relative created a law of physics ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenz's_law ), and at some point, I don't have the name, another relative was apparently a mayor of London (go figure).

that's a nutshell view.
 
I can only trace my surname back to the early 1700's in Germany. This fine man came over and settled in upper New York State, and fought for the British in the US war of Independence. Things didn't go so well with that, so they came on up to Canada, settling in a predominantly Scottish area of Eastern Ontario. All loyalists and their descendants are allowed to use the only officially recognized nominal hereditary title, UEL, for United Empire Loyalist.


Tre, UEL
 
I had a great aunt on my dad's side of the family who traced all of that family roots. Unfortunately she died and I no longer talk to my father, and knowing him he probably threw out all of her research.

My mom's side of the family, my uncle did a bunch of research and traced the family back to Ireland and found some distant cousins. He visited a short time later. Not sure if he met any of the cousins, but he found the cemetery where some of the family members were buried. Pretty neat stuff. Some day I'd like to visit Ireland and check out that side of the family.
 
My mom was adopted, so things don't work so well on her side. My dad's side has been researched back to about the 1200s, if I remember correctly.
 
Closed adoption? :(

Fortunately, we have the info for CL - and are in contact with her birth-grandparents on both sides, etc.

I dunno how it worked. It involved family drama. She found out her parent's names a couple of years ago, but at this point - they may be dead. And that's awesome that you're in contact, but that seems like it could be walking a minefield...
 
My Grandpa on my mom's side has done tons. Traced us back quite a ways.

On my dad's side, his great grandpa I believe ran away to live with Indians and we are having a heck of a time finding anything past him. He didn't seem to leave any records indicating who his parents were.
 
great great grandfather came from ireland in 1844 and lived on long island. family has been unable to trace any further back
 
On my dad's side we have it researched back for centuries. Most of the stuff we really know about people is just from the past few centuries when the family came to the states though. I am a direct decendant of this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Gist and the first female born in every generation of my family bears the middle name Gist to honor that part of our family. The family kept a tree and it has been passed down from generation to generation and is one of our most treasured possessions. My mom's side isn't as well documented and my mom was working on it all before she died and I just haven't started to look at it all again. I know a trip to Ireland will be necessary to find more records. She was planning one before she got sick. A trip to Ireland doesn't sound awful to me.