| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| KanMogirl |
Posted - Apr 26 2010 : 4:16:41 PM
How many of you do family history? I dabble in it. I don't have the time or money to do it seriously. My main names are Smith, Hart, Reedy, and Mitchell.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| KanMogirl |
Posted - May 23 2010 : 11:14:02 AM
What a treasure to find, Marilyn.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| edlund33 |
Posted - May 22 2010 : 10:20:17 PM
I really enjoy genealogy research - when I have time during the rainy winter months.
I started researching my paternal grandfather's Swedish ancestry in 2000. I dabbled at it for a few years with no luck. I speak a little bit of Swedish, so one day I got brave and posted a message on Roter - which is the Swedish equivalent of Genealogy.com Within a few days I had found living relatives on all four family lines. Turns out that both of my great-great grandfathers had a sister that stayed in Sweden while the brothers emigrated to the USA. They all knew there was family in the USA but didn't know how to contact us. One of these Swedes was an 84 year old man who had been doing research for over 50 years. He was so delighted to share his information with me and we communicated several times a week for about a year. One day a package arrived - he had sent me ALL of his research records nicely typed and organized. With it was letter saying that it was mine to keep on the promise that I would safeguard it and get it computerized to be shared with future generations. Sadly, a few weeks later he passed away. Since then I have been slowly but surely verifying the data and entering it in my FTM program. Eventually I plan to submit it to Disbyt (a Swedish genealogy registry)for permanent safekeeping. Last summer two other relatives came to visit us for a week. During their stay we hosted a family reunion that was attended by relatives from WA, MN and CO. Their family still owns the ancestral farm in central Sweden. And yet another relative has done extensive research on historical documents and shared stories about several colorful ancestors who were repeated drunks, thieves, tax evaders and otherwise not behaving themselves.
The names I am researching are Edlund, Johansson and Ericsdotter from Floda, Sodermanland and Astrom and Englund from Bjuraker, Gavleborg. My great grandfather changed his name from Johansson to Edlund a few years before emigrating to Chicago. His brothers kept the name Johnson. They lived in the Chicago IL/Hobart IN area. I am currently focused on locating two of the Johnson brothers who came to Chicago but dissapeared after a few years. My great grandfather died rather young after moving the family to Seattle. My great grandmother and her children stayed in Seattle but they lost touch with the Johnson brothers after his death. The Astrom's emigrated to central MN. Researching the name Johnson in Chicago is like finding a needle in a haystack but that's what makes it a challenge!
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| KanMogirl |
Posted - May 20 2010 : 4:12:34 PM
I hate to say finding skeletons is part of the intrigue. There has been a story about a horse thief in my Smith family which my grandfather would change the subject when it was brought up. But so far family researchers have not found any evidence of such a story.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| mndreamer |
Posted - May 19 2010 : 4:45:51 PM
I have been researching for several years now. It is SO addicting.
Anyone who is interested in it....the best advice I can give to you is talk to everyone in your family, beg for pictures and stories, digitally record them if you can. Just don't put it off. It's amazing how many people you can be related to, some are more than happy to help, and some never answer my calls or letters. I now have over 1200 people in my tree and it grows every day. What a legacy to leave for my children!! Even though I have a few skeletons in my closet, the search and discovery is so worth it. Our ancestors were far from perfect, as are we.
~Vicky~
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. ~~Ronald Reagan
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| KanMogirl |
Posted - May 16 2010 : 11:17:44 AM
I can access some of ancestry.com through my Family Tree Maker software. I do have to scrutinize some of the information but you do anyway. I have had some problems with dates that make no since; like parents having birthdates after their childrens or death dates before their last children were born. But I agree it has helped me get further than I would have otherwise.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| jclambert |
Posted - May 16 2010 : 06:42:49 AM
My husband is really into genealogy and subscribes to Ancestry.com. It's expensive, but he wouldn't have been able to find alot of his information without it. We started out by searching cemeteries and local records, but alot of what he needed was in other states. Ancestry has tons of records (social security records, death records, military records, and information that other people have put together. I think it costs around $350 a year, but we would have spent much more than that trying to travel to all the places we would need to go to look up records on our own.
Judy
"Speak your mind and ride a fast horse" |
| sherrye |
Posted - May 15 2010 : 8:59:51 PM
oh gena i am so sorry. you will be in my prayers and heart today.. sherrye
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farmgirl #1014
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| ilene |
Posted - May 15 2010 : 7:28:51 PM
Brenda,
1925 was not that long ago. Please keep us posted about what you discover. This is important. Is anyone else in the family helping you?
Yes, my genealogy is important to me also. My relative in Norway gave me a Norwegian genealogy chart so I have made one for myself and one for my brother. These charts are circular. You start with a small circle for yourself with your name and date of birth then add progressively larger circles for each earlier generation. One half of the chart will be your paternal, the other your maternal side. My chart goes back 12 generations so the circles get to be quite large. It takes lots of time to do these but the effort is so, so worth it.
Ilene |
| KanMogirl |
Posted - May 12 2010 : 2:10:19 PM
Good Luck, Bonnie! I wish I could give you some tips but I'm not an expert.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| Bonnie Ellis |
Posted - May 09 2010 : 6:49:45 PM
I was adopted. When I found my birthmother in 1986 and my birth father's family the same year, they said it was up to me to do the geneology! Well it is really hard with no family stories and very few pictures. My paternal grandmother's family had some realitive that did it but when she died, her daughter moved away and wouldn't share the research with anyone! But I'll keep on looking. Bonnie
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
| prayin granny |
Posted - May 07 2010 : 06:26:00 AM
I hope to begin researching my maternal family side. On my paternal side, my Aunt did it all. We have books of all her research. We have hit a dead end with my great great grandpa. He sailed here from England and now my cousin and I are trying to trace his records in England. A bit harder though tracking records overseas. It is very time consuming, but as my cousin and I have said, 'it is like a giant treasure hunt'It is sooo much fun when you get some answers! Enjoy! Linda
Country at Heart |
| KanMogirl |
Posted - May 04 2010 : 3:01:40 PM
Feel free to share your family history stories and the names you are researching. Somebody might be able to help you with a name.
I would rather wear out than rust out.----Richard Cumberland |
| maggie14 |
Posted - May 04 2010 : 11:31:59 AM
I have! It first started out as a homeschool thing and then after putting it down for a few years I just got into it again. I have really enjoyed learning more about my family. It has been fun and exciting!
Brenda, that is so exciting, neat, and sad. Have you found anything about her disappearence?
Hugs,
Channah
Farmgirl sister #1219
Just a small town country girl trying to live her dreams. :) |
| delicia |
Posted - May 04 2010 : 10:26:26 AM
I have worked on my family and I get addicted to doing it once I start. I went to the Libraries, and have climbed most of the hills in Eastern Kentucky looking for graves. My son is afraid to get in the car with me because he is worried we are going to look at cemetaries. My names are Combs and Noble.
delicia |
| Bear5 |
Posted - May 03 2010 : 4:31:06 PM
Brenda:
How sad about your mother's paternal grandmother disappearing. Did you ever find out what happened to her?
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
| LakeOntarioFarmgirl |
Posted - May 03 2010 : 04:00:19 AM
I do!
I am the Family Historian for both sides of my family, and even do some for hubby's family tree.
My maternal grandmother did a lot of genealogical work in the 60's and 70's and I inherited all her research papers a few years after she died.
I love it, to me family history is soooo important and there are so many wonderful stories to save!
My mother's paternal grandmother disappeared one day around 1925 so it has become my goal to do all I can to find out what happened to her.
Brenda
FarmGirl # 711
Nothing we achieve in this world is achieved alone. It is always achieved with others teaching us along the way. Lee J. Colan
http://theviewfromhere-brenda.blogspot.com/ |
| Sheep Mom 2 |
Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 4:47:23 PM
My grandfather was really into it and when he died in 1974, I collected up all his research and a woman I knew put it together as her senior project at UNR and it was published as a book so that everyone in the family could have one. It's really neat as I collected stories from all the living old ones (my grandfather was 92) and the siblings were also in their late 80's and 90's. It has stories and pictures in it as well as four branches of the family and goes clear back to the early 1700's in Sweden. I'm really glad that I rescued the boxes off the truck destined for the dump. Everyone asked me what I wanted with them (I was 16) and I said he deserved to have his dream come true. I am really glad I was able to as he was a wonderful man. The strange part - my husband died in an accident on the same day (in 1989)that my grandfather died. I like to think that he helped him to come home when he died.
Blessings, Sheri
"Work is Love made visible" -Kahlil Gibran |
| smiley |
Posted - Apr 28 2010 : 4:15:34 PM
This is so important. I have collected stories since my childhood but now with my dads passing in Jan. realize how important for our children this is. I have been making one book apiece on each of our parents. The kids are loving it also. It takes time that is true but what doesnt? Good luck in your searches. |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Apr 27 2010 : 9:58:43 PM
I have tried to do this once, but at that time I really didn't have the time to do it. Like you, I dabbled in it. My main names are Hebert, Miller, Aguillard.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
| natesgirl |
Posted - Apr 26 2010 : 7:09:32 PM
I have done some. More than anything I have collected stories from family to be able to pass on to my girls.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
