How far back?

[jonathan180iq]

Well done!

Thank you. But it's mostly standing on the shoulders of giants.
She's related to John Pledger, Esq. and his lineages are well-recorded and substantiated. Getting into the early 1700s was difficult. But after that, I didn't have to do much more than verify information.

 

[Revoltingest]

Someone in my family (mother's side) did a huge amount of work documenting my ancestors
& relatives. She gave me a nicely organized notebook of info. Didn't even bother to read it.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Someone in my family (mother's side) did a huge amount of work documenting my ancestors
& relatives. She gave me a nicely organized notebook of info. Didn't even bother to read it.

The love that goes into those is worth more than anything you may have ever received before.
Crack it open sometime.

 

[Revoltingest]

The love that goes into those is worth more than anything you may have ever received before.
Crack it open sometime.

Perhaps some day.

 

[Stevicus]

Some members in my extended family have traced our lineage to some extent. My maternal grandmother (who was also a registered member of the DAR, which qualifies me as an SAR) had a book which traced her family lineage back to William the Conqueror. Her family was among the first Europeans to settle in what is now the state of Maryland. My maternal grandfather was a Cajun from Louisiana, and his ancestors lived in Canada for a time. So I guess that makes me part Canadian. There's also some Spanish and Irish in that bloodline.

My father's side of the family was Dutch, and very devoutly religious. My paternal grandfather told me that his family once originated in France, as French Huguenots who fled to Holland at some point.

 

[Jainarayan]

My ancestors are from small villages in southern Italy and Sicily. Sicilians are notoriously good record-keepers, but everything is in Sicilian (Sicilian language is not Italian, but a sister Romance language). I can muddle through Italian, but Sicilian, apart from a few words, is alien to me. Moreover, there is virtually nothing on-line.

My father's line (the Sicilian half of me) is quite mysterious. From my grandfather, whom I never met, since he died before I was born, I can find only his father's name. My grandfather was very secretive about his life. We (my family) suspect he was always on the run: after all, he did have to flee Sicily after stabbing a man in a fight over a dog. My father hated his father, and only reluctantly talked about "the old man", as he called him. He despised him so much that after my grandmother died, and my grandfather lived alone, my mother had to badger my father into going to check on "the old man". My father's response: "ahh the hell wit'im!". But he did take care of him.

My grandfather may have had 2 or 3 brothers, who were estranged. Typical Sicilians: "a me tu sei mort'; non ti conosco; no teng' familgia" (you're-a dead-a to me; I dunta know you; I have-a no familee). From my grandfather's mother and from my grandmother's lines I have some names and dates. I've gone back as far as my 4x great-grandparents for names and dates, but I question their accuracy. I've met people who say the resemblance I have to one of their family members is uncanny. We may be cousins because our great-grandfathers may have been brothers or first cousins. That family doesn't know much about their origins either.

My maternal line is only marginally better, the reason for the dearth of information is that both my grandparents came to the US as orphans. I have 2nd cousins who've been to our "ancestral village" in Italy. They got some information but the village is so rundown and changed (not to mention dangerous with crime) that it is easier to do a tooth extraction on an unsedated lion than to get information.

Maybe I don't want to know.

 

[metis]

Ever so often I take a few hours to dig deeper into my genealogy. Last night I discovered my 11th great grandfather (b. 1538; d. 1586) and I have a number of branches yet to be investigated.

In the course of all this, I've discovered that ...

• I'm eligible for membership in Sons of the American Revolution due to having a number of Patriots among my ancestors,
• on the other hand, one of my relatives was hung as a loyalist traitor,
• sadly, a number of my relatives owned slaves, and
• the family folk narrative linking me to Davy Crockett is almost certainly wrong and Sarah Elizabeth Crockett, instead of being Davy's sister, is actually a bit of a mystery.

All in all, Shakespeare got it right:

“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”​

Very interesting. I gotta tell ya this true story:

I have an older (imagine that!) 2nd cousin (92 years "mature") who's a retired anesthesiologist and who has been doing all sorts of research on my mother's side of the family, especially our shared great-grandfather who moved here to Michigan from Quebec in 1895 and who worked just a five minute drive from our place in da U.P. Not only did he do the research here, he also went to France to do the research there as well, plus did the genome testing a few years ago.

He went to France nine times and ended up falling in love with a little fishing village on the Normandy coast called "Honfleur", returning two more times. But it was not until he got back after his last visit that he found out that this is where our family came from, later settling in Montreal in the late 1500's, and his marriage was the first white/white marriage in Montreal (the previous were white/Indian or Indian/Indian).

You'll be tested on this Monday.

Shabbat shalom

 

[metis]

My ancestors are from small villages in southern Italy and Sicily.

Where in Sicily? My wife was born and raised in Casteluzzo, which is near San Vito Lo Capo and about a 20 minute drive from Trapani (unless one's Italian whereas it then is only a 5 minute drive ). My wife came here on the Andrea Doria the year before it sunk in 1954 at the age of 6.

 

[YmirGF]

Someone in my family (mother's side) did a huge amount of work documenting my ancestors
& relatives. She gave me a nicely organized notebook of info. Didn't even bother to read it.

I hear you. My eldest sister has been digging for many years and I've yet to appreciate the effort. I don't get it. Is it about bragging rights or something?

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I hear you. My eldest sister has been digging for many years and I've yet to appreciate the effort. I don't get it. Is it about bragging rights or something?

Knowing your roots, understanding that while our culture so values the individual, the individual is the product of the ancestors who came before, and their decisions and actions in life...and by extension, the descendants that we will directly and indirectly leave.

But yeah, for some it's bragging rights--being descended from royalty 40 generations ago, or having ancestors who came over to found Jamestown or Plymouth, etc., or being related to more current people who were/are famous or infamous.

Family legend had it that we were descended from John Wilkes Booth--I eventually was able to show that his Booth family was quite separate from ours going back to the late 1500s--we're not even shirttail relatives.

I did find out that we're related to the Daltons of Doolin-Dalton gang, famous Old West outlaws, and immortalized by the Eagles
eagles doolin dalton video - - Yahoo Video Search Results

 

[YmirGF]

Knowing your roots, understanding that while our culture so values the individual, the individual is the product of the ancestors who came before, and their decisions and actions in life...and by extension, the descendants that we will directly and indirectly leave.

I'm more a product of the era that I grew up in rather than beneficiary of some long forgotten grandfather. Beyond the fact that my 4 grandparents emigrated at the turn of the 19th century for a life in "the colonies (Canada)", there is precious little I could peg on previous generations.

 

[Jainarayan]

Where in Sicily? My wife was born and raised in Casteluzzo, which is near San Vito Lo Capo and about a 20 minute drive from Trapani (unless one's Italian whereas it then is only a 5 minute drive ). My wife came here on the Andrea Doria the year before it sunk in 1954 at the age of 6.

Collesano in Palermo Province. I think some of my 2 or 3x g-grandparents were from Agrigento and Caltanissetta, but they all ultimately wound up in Collesano. I'm sure you know NW Sicily has a heavy Norman influence. I've never been there but my nephew and his wife, and my cousin were there. they all said it took a while for the residents to warm up, but when they did they were most gracious.

I read a quip from a Sicilian writer who said Italians and Sicilians are so different, he wasn't sure who was more pleased about the differences.

And btw, I figured you'd know what I was talking about with Sicilians excommunicating each other from the family.

 

[metis]

Collesano in Palermo Province. I think some of my 2 or 3x g-grandparents were from Agrigento and Caltanissetta, but they all ultimately wound up in Collesano. I'm sure you know NW Sicily has a heavy Norman influence. I've never been there but my nephew and his wife, and my cousin were there.

Palermo is about a 45 minute drive from my wife's place going west, and we stayed in Agrigento a couple of days when we were there last.

My wife is a redhead with some freckes, so she definitely reflects that Norman influence, but she also reflects the Moorish influence as well with her shortness (4'10') and her round face.

they all said it took a while for the residents to warm up, but when they did they were most gracious.

Definitely, and they would allow me to buy anything, so I literally had to sneak out during the afternoon to at least buy desert.

I read a quip from a Sicilian writer who said Italians and Sicilians are so different, he wasn't sure who was more pleased about the differences.

Oh yes, and never the twain shall meet.

And btw, I figured you'd know what I was talking about with Sicilians excommunicating each other from the family.

Oh, we've seen some nasty battles in her family over our 50 years of marriage let me tell ya, but fortunately most got resolved-- until further notice that is. OTOH, my wife and I had only one argument over all that time whereas we went to bed angry, but then when we got up in the morning we just laughed at how stupid we were.

 

[Revoltingest]

I hear you. My eldest sister has been digging for many years and I've yet to appreciate the effort. I don't get it. Is it about bragging rights or something?

It would prolly just be interesting....seeing all the
interesting & notorious people in one's family.

 

[Michelle71]

Ever so often I take a few hours to dig deeper into my genealogy. Last night I discovered my 11th great grandfather (b. 1538; d. 1586) and I have a number of branches yet to be investigated.

In the course of all this, I've discovered that ...

• I'm eligible for membership in Sons of the American Revolution due to having a number of Patriots among my ancestors,
• on the other hand, one of my relatives was hung as a loyalist traitor,
• sadly, a number of my relatives owned slaves, and
• the family folk narrative linking me to Davy Crockett is almost certainly wrong and Sarah Elizabeth Crockett, instead of being Davy's sister, is actually a bit of a mystery.

All in all, Shakespeare got it right:

“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”​

My Grandmother did my Grandfathers bloodline back to the 1500's. I don't know how you, or she, could manage such a thing. I'd want to pull my hair out with all those records that need verifying. What is "Sons of the American Revolution"?? Back in our ancestry pool, we have a famous general that fought for the Confederate Army.

 

[Callisto]

My Grandmother did my Grandfathers bloodline back to the 1500's. I don't know how you, or she, could manage such a thing. I'd want to pull my hair out with all those records that need verifying. What is "Sons of the American Revolution"?? Back in our ancestry pool, we have a famous general that fought for the Confederate Army.

There is a Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), both are national societies consisting of members who can trace direct lineage back to someone who fought or aided during the war and/or otherwise contributed to the country's independence.

I've intended to join but haven't gotten around to it. One of DAR'S chapters was named after my 5th-great grandfather: Rev John “Hans” Roads (1712-1764)

In regards to tracing my family tree, the farthest back has been to 1010 AD Normandy due to one line traceable through peerage. The other side of my family is the direct opposite, I've not been able to get beyond the 1800s.

- edited to fix peerage link

 

[Michelle71]

There is a Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), both are national societies consisting of members who can trace direct lineage back to someone who fought or aided during the war and/or otherwise contributed to the country's independence.

I've intended to join but haven't gotten around to it. One of DAR'S chapters was named after my 5th-great grandfather: Rev John “Hans” Roads (1712-1764)

In regards to tracing my family tree, the farthest back has been to 1010 AD Normandy due to one line traceable through peerage. The other side of my family is the direct opposite, I've not been able to get beyond the 1800s.

That’s really amazing.