What do you know of your genealogy?

[Scutter01]

How far back can you trace your family tree? I'm 8th generation. My earliest traceable ancestor was born in France about 300 years ago. His son was also born in France and the son eventually emigrated to Canada following the misery caused by the French Revolution. That son (for various reasons but mostly due to the Canadian emigration) is considered the first ancestor of my family line.

 

[HoughMade]

I know that one of my ancestors was pressed to death as a witch. I know that others fought in the Revolutionary War....,and when that didn't work out so well, went to Canada.

 

[Scutter01]

I know that one of my ancestors was pressed to death as a witch. I know that others fought in the Revolutionary War....,and when that didn't work out so well, went to Canada.

I don't know many stories about my family tree, mostly just the genealogy. I know that one of them was a leader of the French Resistance during WW2, though. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[HoughMade]

That is, indeed, pretty cool.

 

[wtfd661]

Most days I can remember my kid's names but don't always apply them to the correct face!

 

[Scutter01]

Don't get too excited. There were lots of leaders simply due to the cell structures used. It's not like he was President of the Resistance or anything.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

5th (i think) generation on my dad's side. great-great grandpa came to illinois (peoria/bartonville area) from germany, forbade his kids from learning/speaking german, then farmed the kids out after his wife died. most of my extended family on my dad's side is still there. after my grandpa returned from the service (quit school in 1945 to join the marines) he followed my grandma and her mother to hammond, and married shortly thereafter. they still live up there.

mom's side- no clue. almost all family from her side that i know either grew up or still live in the nwi area and have for generations.

 

[snorko]

On my father's side I knew two of my great grandparents. Austro-Hungarian Empire folk. One side from Hungary, there was a Catholic Cardinal in there somewhere, other side from Slovenia. Distant relatives still outside Budapest.

On my mother's side, the family has been traced back to around 1715 or so in America. English stock including the Reverend Elijah Craig, apocryphal inventor of Kentucky Bourbon.

Pic of my Great great grandparents who stayed in the old country. Kinda shows why I like AKs over ARs.

 

[bluewraith]

I tried tracing my family tree to its roots a few years ago, but I got as far as Kentucky with my Great Grandparents and things started looping back into itself.. that's when I decided it would be best to stop looking and asking questions.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Back to late 1700's early 1800's when they moved to Paisley, Scotland from Londonderry, Ireland. Beyond that, records were lost in a fire (where most records were lost).
They came to the states in 1890.

 

[mrjarrell]

Know quite a bit about some lines, not enough about others. My main paternal line has been here since 1635 and some of the others about the same time. I've spent many years in researching the various lines. It takes a lot of time, money and desire. You also get to meet lots of interesting relatives you'd never have met otherwise. Lots of cousins out there!

 

[ViperJock]

I can trace my ancestry back to Apollo. But more recently I had family on the Mayflower. And secondary to that, Native American ancestry. Another side of my family were Speed through my paternal grandmother. If you've ever been to Louisville you've seen that they were popular or rich or both.

 

[churchmouse]

Back to England. Kids sold into servitude and rode the boats over here. 1 made it through and here I sit at a keyboard.

 

[Expat]

Several back to pre RW. Dad's side was scots Irish and French. Moms went back to Jamestown.

 

[WilsonMD]

Mom's side originated in Normady. Most famous in the line is Jane Semour, wife of Henry VIII.

 

[red_zr24x4]

1800's Dads side of the family were lawyers, Judges, Preachers, and such in Cincinnati. We owned a bunch of land until the railroad stole it to build a train yard/station. before that we came from New Jersey back to the early 1700's.
Grandma's family came from Ireland, Her dad was in the Calvary During the Civil War and out west fighting Indians.

 

[Compatriot G]

On the paternal side, I've traced back to a 7 or 8 great-grandfather. He came to Virginia as an indentured servant. In 1707, he married the granddaughter of Col. Richard Lee of Jamestown. Yes, that means I'm related by marriage to Light Horse Harry Lee and Gen. Lee.

In researching the family name, I discovered it is Norman in origin. It wasn't known in England prior to 1066.

Haven't done too much digging on the maternal side. I know my great-grandparents were born in Virginia, then moved to Indiana sometime in the early 1900's. I have a great-great grandmother whose middle name is "Stonewall Jackson", though! I need to do some research on her.

 

[indykid]

All my family came here around 1890 -1900 from Russia and/or the Ukraine.

 

[Gabriel]

I can trace my ancestry all the way back to... me.

 

[sepe]

There were family letters written about an Indian girl a couple generations before my great grandma's time. Going through some pretty extensive genealogy, everything seems to disappear on that woman and her side. We've got her name and her dad's name as well as city of birth. Her mom was listed as "woman". The tribe mentioned in the letter coincides with the D.O.B. and city of birth of the younger "woman" Beyond that, plenty of links back to the 1600's. Some from England, Ireland, Germany. There are a few well known names, Cessna being one. We've got a letter from George Washington to someone linked to my great grandma. Many horse thieves, drunkards, and whore mongers. Also some circus folk (been around in Germany since 1842, lost the business due to financial issues but reestablished a circus a bit later and there are still touring circuses ran by the same family). Then there are some unsavory folks, lawyers and politicians.