Post by: Riley/MN on February 16, 2009, 10:22:42 AM
I was out to CT for a wedding and came home with a copy of my wife's mother's branch of the family tree. Nanny was a canuck, and we are seeing names back into the 17th century. I imagine some of these folks must have been involved with the fur trade...
I have played with some genealogy stuff, but I think this will get me digging some more.
Just generally speakin, how far back have you guys been able to trace your roots?
Post by: Bigsmoke on February 16, 2009, 12:15:48 PM
On father's side, the German one, back to Alsace Lorraine - they immigrated here in 1,700's and settled in Taneytown, MD. On father's mother's side, back to not the Mayflower, but the next one, which was named???? From there, in England, it goes back a few more hundred years or so.
From what I can tell, most all the Germans and English folks in the background were either craftspeople or farmers.
Post by: Sir Michael on February 16, 2009, 03:11:44 PM
Post by: Hank in WV on February 16, 2009, 05:44:55 PM
Post by: Spotted Bull on February 16, 2009, 05:51:41 PM
Dad's side is all German, traced back to the mid 1600's as well, on his Dad's side. All Irish on his Mom's side. Haven't gotten much done on her side yet though.
Post by: Indiana on February 16, 2009, 07:02:29 PM
My dads side has several members of the armed forces throughout. One lost an arm in King Philips War.
I'm planning on basing my impression around the ancestor at Boonesborough.
Post by: Two Steps on February 16, 2009, 07:20:22 PM
Quote
Just generally speakin, how far back have you guys been able to trace your roots?
Far enough back to find one hung as a horse thief ;)
Al
Post by: Uncle Russ on February 16, 2009, 07:34:51 PM
Quote from: "Hank in WV"
Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention when I had the chance.
I wish I had a dollar bill for every time I've said that!
Some time back in the early or mid 1990's, somewhere around the time we got our very first computer, my wife tried her hand at tracing the family tree on line.
She didn't get very far with that little endeavor, but she did manage to run up a fairly healthy amount on one of the credit cards.
Apparently there was a whole lot less "free stuff" back then, and it was fairly difficult to get any kind of information without joining, or paying something.
Since that time we have pretty much let "by-gones be by-gones" while we keep repeating the fact that we both wish we would have listen a little closer when we were younger because we had a lot of that information just handed to us....on both sides of the family.
As we now all know and recognize, It is extremely difficult to tell a 10 or 12 year old anything, when they already know about all there is to know about everything worth knowing!
Uncle Russ...
Post by: Pichou on February 16, 2009, 07:48:12 PM
http://www.shsb.mb.ca/dbtw-wpd/textbase ... yageur.htm (http://www.shsb.mb.ca/dbtw-wpd/textbase/Voyageur/rechvoyageur.htm)
Type a name in the box and hit enter. ;)
Post by: Riley/MN on February 16, 2009, 10:12:54 PM
I do appreciate the link and got a bunch of hits in the right time frames for names I punched in, and babelfish couldn't handle the search results, but it is definitely something to look at.
BTW, Riley is a first name (in my case) and not from a family tie. We don't have much info on the Irish side going back, but I think Mom wanted to keep an Irish tie and Dad knew a kid named Riley, or something like that... I didn't meet another Riley (first name) until I was 30-something, and now they are all over.
Post by: deadfallpaul on February 21, 2009, 10:31:34 AM
There have been quite a number of them involved in the fur trade both as voyageurs and traders.
I, on the other hand, am Scottish and also have gone back but not as far.
We both incorporate these things into our persona's and it makes it more real and quite interesting as we find out more about each side of our families.
Post by: Three Hawks on May 01, 2009, 02:59:44 AM
Her dad was half Cajun, 1/4 Icelandic, 1/4 English. His Icelandic heritage is easily traced, the rest not so easy.
My mom was equal parts English, Irish, Scots, and Welsh. Dad was American, made from 100% Norwegian parts. The records from his family were lost in a fire in the village church in 1902. His mom and dad came here in 1911.
Three Hawks
Post by: bluelake on May 01, 2009, 04:02:59 AM
My g-g-grandfather on my dad's side was a French trader who married my Odawa g-g-grandmother and was himself considered to be Indian by those both within and without the tribe.
On my mom's side, we have two famous cousins: Daniel Boone and Abe Lincoln. My cousins (Mormons) traced the ancestry on that side all the way back to about the 12th century. It included knights and military officers. However, if you trace anyone's ancestry back far enough, you're bound to find somebody...
Post by: Loyalist Dave on May 01, 2009, 11:44:45 AM
What was spooky is that I knew none of this when I went into the Marines, so I wonder how much my genes helped me make the choice. The family moved east after several generations in California. The ships captain was out of Baltimore and Annapolis (30 minutes from where I have lived most of my life), and I was stationed in NC about 30 minutes away from New Bern NC when she found out that one ancestor landed there when coming from England.
Wierd
LD
Post by: KHickam on May 01, 2009, 01:11:11 PM
Although, we are shirttail relatives of the Boones and have a US President in our direct line of descent (but from the wrong side of the blanket)
Post by: No Deer on May 01, 2009, 02:22:05 PM
I participated in the Bicentennial re-enactment of the Battle of Bennington, Vt. and found out a few years later that one of my ancestors fought during that battle. Wished I had known it when I was there for the re-enactment.
Also had a g-g uncle that was in the calvary and fought the Indians shortly after Custer's last battle. I have a copy of a newspaper article interviewing him when he was older. When my father was young, this uncle lived with his family. My father wishes he had listened to the stories that were being told, but as someone else said, you can't tell a 12 year old nothing
.
Post by: No Rod on May 02, 2009, 09:22:20 AM
Post by: Chiefs50 on July 05, 2010, 08:35:38 PM
Mike
Post by: W. Welshman on October 29, 2010, 12:48:01 PM
Post by: 2 Locks on October 29, 2010, 09:38:58 PM
I quick internet search led me to his Autobiography of his years as a mountain man (1831-1835). A great read, but that's as far as it went.
Luckily my fathers family has preserved their direct lineage back to 1637 when Solomon Leonard came to the Plymouth Colony from Wales. (with a 10 year layover in Holland)
About 4 years ago I got a one month subscription to Ancestry.com, and it was heads down research every night for a month. I was able to confirm that the lineage my dad gave me was accurate, and I even was able to trace it back to the early 1500s in Monmouthshire. (sp?)
Then I found Zenas & worked him back until the chain met at my 6th great grandfather, making him the third cousin of my 3rd great grandfather. (I think)
It's a bit of stretch to call him a relative, but that has been who my persona has been loosely (very loosely) based on up to now.
In some recent reading I discovered that my 4th great grandfather, Lot Leonard, served in the militia under Capt. Condict in 1775 (Mendham Twp., Morris Co., NJ). He then served as a private in Captain James Archers Company, in the 4th class. And in the later part of the Revolutionary War served as Capt. Of Indian Spies and Rangers (1779-1783) in Washington and Greene Co., Pa. (Pension #R6291 first rejected and later approved.)
:shock: how cool is that! Looks like I'm gonna have to start a second persona. This is gonna cost me big $$$
