[braingonebad]

Anybody tried to look up their ancestors? I've tried a couple sites. Wow, that could take forever. So much info, a lot of people by the same name!

You'd think half the planet would have to be related to at least one Margaret O'Shea.

[Momma's Kids]

Yep, best way to find out is to ask family members, especially the older folks. I've been working with a cousin and we have gotten back as far as the early eighteen hundreds, with documentation. If you have a genealogy library where you live, its a great place to get information. Get with family and look at photos, see if they have names on the back, follow those names. It is not easy, takes time and can get frustrating...so hang in there.

One thing to remember is that a lot of people changed their names once they landed on Ellis Island or it was changed for them.
My great grandmother was Apache, my ggrandfather was disowned by the family for marrying her. We have relatives that the family knows nothing about...

Yep, I found over two hundred names for my Maternal ancestors...everybody was named John, Sarah, Mary, etc.
Good Luck,

[Kitty]

My sister started looking at our family tree years ago. I don't think she got any farther than our great-grandparents. There is a website that will help you - I can't remember the name of it now but it has a leaf as a advertisement.

I know that DDH's (dear departed husband) sister traced their family tree a good ways back. I have nothing on it though.....and not sure I really want to find more people in that family, KWIM?

[Blessings2You]

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com

I've been doing some family tree climbing lately, and it's a lot of work, but I'm loving it. Connecting the dots, so to speak. You kind of have to have some starting references though.

My Dad's family was from Massachusetts before Vermont; my Mom's from Western PA and the Cleveland area of OH, and across the lake in Ontario. Probably I'm related to some of you.

I about gave my Sunday School class a collective heart attack when I told them I had furry ancestors in my family tree. Then I showed them old photos of David, Ellis, and Anna Furry.

[freeinhou]

You definitely need a place to start, like family records.

My paternal grandfather (where my last name comes from) - came over from Germany late 1700's. Records in Germany take the family history back to 1300's. If the preacher in the town is right, possibly 1100's. It's in the Black
forest - no wars, so church records were not destroyed. I lived in Germany for 3 years - this was easy to research. Family history shows Blacksmiths and Spielmans (entertainers) as the most part. The germans keep meticulous records.

My paternal grandmother - last name Simmons. Came over on the second Mayflower in the early 1600's. Well documented - family history on record at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. My link - Moises Simmons.

My maternal grandmother - Came over from Wales in the late 1700's. Very complete family history maintained - it's amazing how people over the years keep track of their family history. Oh, as a side note. This is the only side of the family that lived far enough south to actually have owned slaves. They freed them after the war (no, not the civil war. Records showed they freed them in 1791 - after the revolutionary war technically ended). Family name was Montgomery. They initially settled in Delaware - owned a tannery.

My maternal grandfather - uh oh. Last name Miller. He was German. My wife's last name is Miller. His family ended up in Lancaster Ohio. My wife's family came from Lancaster Ohio via Germany. I don't know enough about my mom's dads history to conclude much but damn...

Tom

[freeinhou]

I just googled Moises simmons. Try moses simmons.......... He's my great great great.......

[Kitty]

Hey, I just thought of something. My Dad's mother's maiden name was Pitt. Maybe I'm distantly related to Brad!!

[barb02]

I discover that my ancestors on my father's side of the family came (were sent) to Virginia from England (early 1800s) because they had not paid their taxes.

[Erin524]

I'd love to be able to search out relatives of my paternal grandfather. I think we have his parents names, but as far as I know, we've never been able to find out anything about them.

My grandfather came up here from Texas. We have his birth certificate and he was born in Houston. We dont know if he had any siblings, other than the fact that once he mentioned to my grandmother that she reminded him of his sister. I think we've got his parents names too, but no one I know has been able to research any further back than his parents. I know they were Irish. (we have a really really common Irish last name that I'm not mentioning because I dont want to give away my real last name)

He died in the early 60s before I was born, so I never got to meet him and interrogate him on the family history. Apparently my dad and his siblings and my grandmother never asked him any questions about his family.

I know that my sister and I would have had him under hot lights, asking him all sorts of questions about his family. I would hope he would have answered our questions, but I dont know what he was like. I dont know if he would have answered any questions.

At least for my dad's mom's family history, one of my aunt's has done the research for her family (and luckily had my grandmother and her siblings to ask questions of) I think they still doing the research tho. They've gone far enough back that they've been getting information from family members that are still in the European country that my grandmother's parents came from.

My maternal grandparents had the family researched back to the 1600's. I think they got as far back as the part of England her Smith family name came from. (not the famous Smith tho) I need to get copies of the research...what I do know about that is about 120 to 140yrs ago, a few of my mother's maternal grandparents were Choctaw and one or two other Southern US Indian tribes. (possibly Cherokee) I think it was far enough back that I couldnt really claim any specific tribe. It's just cool to have the mention in my family history. (it was enough to interest me in learning about various indian tribes...altho I did more research into the Plains Indians than any other tribe...instead of reading about the ones my mom was distantly related to)

I know about my dad's mom's family, and my mom's family history. I really want to know about my dad's dad's family and am seriously disappointed that we havent been able to get past his parents.

[pud's friend]

I love this kind of thing...

My dad was the product of a liason between his teenage mum and an Italian POW in Wales. Cut a long story short, my family met the italian family about 6 months after i left the country (so I've yet to meet them).
Dad has a wonderful relationship with that side of his new family though his dad died some time ago. it's been a real eye opener.

More recently, my nan would tell stories of an aunt who went to australia (from wales) when nan was a child.
Anyway, cut another LONG story short, I found the passenger list, the electoral rolls and the house where they moved to.
I always kinda looked up to this aunt; she'd made the same journey as me though undoubtedly my trip on a plane was better than hers on a boat.
It was with huge sadness that i learnt before christmas that, having been in Oz for 30 years and raised a family on a successful farm, she actually took her own life, and that's why the trail ended where it did.
I then started looking into her children and found out that one of her sons also took his own life. So maybe they weren't so happy after all.

I can trace my lot back to great great great great great great grandparents.

Ancestry dot com is good for finding UK people. Take the free trial, use it to the max then cancel it before 14 days.