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My good friend Debbie recently had her family tree traced and was able to map genetic connections all the way back to Henri II, of France and Charlemagne. I was enthralled and envious. I’ve always wanted to know my ancestry, but short of urging my retired father, who’s busier now than when he was doing the 9-5 grind, to take up the project, I’ve never done much toward that end ( in all my spare time 
). But having heard about Debbie’s fabulous findings, I’m once again fired up to learn about my lineage. Plus, I’m convinced that she and I must be distant cousins since we both have relatives from the Ozarks.
Several years before my grandmother passed away, I asked her to write down the date of birth and death of as many relatives a she could remember. But even she could only recall four or five generations. I’ve filed away her list, and I can’t readily put my hands on it… but I know it’s in a file… somewhere in my office. As soon as I finish this book I’m working on I will find that list and perhaps even begin my quest to conquer the mystery of my past.
Have you ever traced your family tree or do you know of anyone who has? Any interesting findings? Any good tips on how to start the process and what to expect along the way?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Nov 21st
2008
9:07 am
Margo Maguire Said:
Nancy – my sister is our family historian, and she has tons of info on our ancestors who came over from Ireland. She’s got a family lineage on paper, but then she got going online… Here’s the link http://www.geni.com/ for doing your family tree. It makes it really easy!
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Nov 21st
2008
10:46 am
Shana Galen Said:
Some distant relative of mine traced our family tree, and it was interesting. My maiden name is Bolks, and I’ve found that pretty much every Bolks is the US is related to me in some way. A few have gotten in touch with me through my website. One 100-year-old gentleman with the last name of Bolks called me from somewhere in the Pacific Northwest because he wanted to meet me. The internet is sure making it easy to find relatives.
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Nov 21st
2008
2:24 pm
Nancy Robards Thompson Said:
Margo, I tried the geni.com website — and oh, boy!! I think I’m going to have fun with it. It’s a great place to start! Thanks for the tip.
Shana, what a neat story about the 100-year-old man! Did you ever meet him in person?
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Nov 21st
2008
3:02 pm
Debbie Pfeiffer Said:
Hey, Nancy! You make me sound so industrious, when really a friend of the family was the industrious one!
Lucky for me!
And I am convinced we are cousins too, even if it’s 39th cousins twice removed.
For anyone in the Chicago area or with ancestors from that area, the Newberry Library is a prime source for genealogy records:
http://www.newberry.org/genealogy/collections.html
I’ve been meaning to take a class there. They have a free seminar once a month.
For present-day keeping in touch, I’ve found Facebook to be an awesome way to get re-connected with cousins (especially the younger ones). Facebook even has some apps like Family Tree, though unfortunately I haven’t been able to get them to work too well. Think there are a few bugs to work out still.
I’ve also gotten copies of interviewing forms from a historical society through another friend with suggested questions to use for interviewing older relatives if you are thinking of branching out a bit into writing up a family history…something I’d also like to do, but am having a hard time making time for!
For now, I’m thinking the family tree is a great source of character names for upcoming books!
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Nov 21st
2008
4:29 pm
Kristan Higgins Said:
Alas, we’re only related to peasants in my family. We might’ve worked for someone famous or rich once…
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Nov 21st
2008
4:58 pm
Nancy Robards Thompson Said:
What do you mean, Debbie? You are very industrious! And great tips for those in your neck of the woods!
It’s funny you say mention the peasants, Kristan. A few years ago, I had this moment of “Ooooh, I think I might be related (by marriage) to Andrew Jackson when I learned that his wife Rachel’s surname name was once Robards. Well, after a little searching, I discovered Robards wasn’t her maiden name after all. It was Donelson. Before she became first lady, she was married to a guy named Robards who ended up sounding like quite a disagreeable character – enough to drive ol’ Rach right into Andy’s arms. You’ve got the peasants and I’ve got the ones with anger issues. Go figure.
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Nov 21st
2008
9:53 pm
Shana Said:
No, I never met the 100-year-old man in person. He was in a nursing home and one of his nurses helped him get in contact with me.
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Nov 22nd
2008
12:22 am
Nancy Robards Thompson Said:
Awww, Shana, how sweet that she helped him.
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Nov 23rd
2008
1:24 am
ladydawgfan Said:
On my mother’s side, there is an entire town in Tennessee that is related to us in one form or another, and the tree has been traced back to the Revolution.
On my father’s side, the family tree reaches a bit further – my family is Swedish and my Aunt traced it back as far as the 1300′s before she stopped. She didn’t stop because she ran out of records, she stopped because every branch she traced led directly to Erik The Red. So there is a very good chance that I am a direct descendant of Eric The Red, which would explain a LOT!!
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