Who Do You Think You Are?
Have you watched the show Who Do You Think You Are? My husband and I have watched it the last two weeks now. It’s fascinating. Of course I’m semi-geeky and think family history is fascinating. I spent many years middle school through college researching my family tree online and in various courthouses and libraries. Then I had kids and it was just too time consuming to do both.
We traced my mom’s parents pretty much back to the people who came over from Europe. Both sides of her family have been here for many MANY generations. We got grandpa’s one branch back to the 1600′s. We have 
ancestors who came over with the French army to help during the American Revolution and fought under Generals Washington and Lafayette. We have relatives on both sides of the Civil War, one having been a prisoner and survived Andersonville. We lost family in a flu epidemic in 1919. We have ministers, moonshine runners, farmers, a post master, and many more professions. This is just my maternal grandfather’s family. No other branch has proven to be as interesting. What made it fun to research is as far as we can tell, Grandpa’s family stayed in the southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the southeastern side of Ohio.
My maternal grandmother’s side from what I’ve found pretty much came over from Germany and England in the 1800′s and settled in Northeastern Ohio and stayed there. Most of our relatives from this branch are still there today.
My dad’s family is relatively new to this country. No one on my dad’s side really knows much about the family in general. They’re an odd and dysfunctional bunch. What little I know I took from the information listed in my grandparents’ obituaries. From what I can tell, my paternal grandfather’s 
grandparents came from Germany, and my paternal grandmother’s parents or grandparents came from Ireland.
It’s interesting if you get the chance to see where your family has come from. It also gives you some insight into some traditions your family may have or attitudes you’ve seen.
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I love genealogy! My great-uncle is the official researcher in our family. Turns out I’m related to Robert E. Lee, Robert the Bruce, and King James. Pretty cool.
Of course, it also turns out that my great-great-great-great-great grandparents were first cousins.
Sigh.
Rachel´s last blog ..Is It Ever "Right" To Have An Affair?
I so wish I had info on my family like that. Talk about a dysfunctional family… mine doesn’t even speak to me anymore! I would love to do a family tree but I cannot get any info from my mom and my dad passed away 3 years ago.
I love hearing about other people’s family.
I do know that there is a family wives tale (don’t know if it is true) that we have some Mohawk Indian Royalty in us.
Lorie Shewbridge´s last blog ..Mommy and Me Monday
I have been tracing my family tree for a while. My Uncle is the official historian of that side of the family. I find it all very fascinating. I am a direct descendant of Capt. John Smith. As in Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith. LOL There is some far back royalty somewhere as well. I am having a helluva time tracing my Mom’s family because no one was born in a damn hospital, the names I know the relatives by are not their real names (It’s the South, don’t ask. My Grandma named one uncle Herbert Hoover, another Linwood and yet another Dexter. Strange names they came up with back then…), so it is hard to find birth records on anyone. Plus no one in my Mom’s family really knows the true last names…it’s a mess. But until I can afford the ancestry.com subscription again, it will have to wait. I would like to do that DNA swab thing though. THAT would be interesting.
Shan @ Last Shreds Of Sanity´s last blog ..Giveaway Mondays