Learning about my Ancestors...

My ancestry is six parts gin, to one part Vermouth. Stirred, not shaken.

E.

Hi MsAubrey!

Man, I've got so much mutt and travel in me it's really impossible to track any roots--especially on my father's side. My mother's half goes to Dublin through my grandmother and a little village in the Midlands in England through my grandfather. But my father's side of the family is German--Pennsylvania Dutch--(and English), and there are many people with the same surname as me in that area, still.

Interestingly, a cobbler in my family from that area moved to St. Louis and opened a shoe factory. A generation later and a world away, my grandfather on my mother's side of the family also became a shoe maker. Makes me wonder if I'm destined to make boots!

One person--who shared both my first and last name--was arrested in Philadelphia in the late 1600s for lewd conduct. He had a painting of a naked woman decorating the entrance hall of his home and refused to remove it. Yep, I thought, that just HAS to be an ancestor!

MsAubrey, hello! I love working on my ancestry. It's been over 10 years since I got the "bug."

My mother's family settled in Rhode Island about 1630ish, then my great-great grandfather migrated to Oregon in the mid 1800's. That part of the family that came to the Americas first are directly descended from the Percy line in Northumberland, England. That part of the tree goes back to the 900's. It's fascinating to me to learn of my ancestors and discover what they did for a living, and how long they lived. Most of my ancestors lived well beyond the norm. They also had lots of children!!!!!!!

I did have a subscription to ancestry.com, but had to cancel it for financial reasons. Eventually I'll be able to continue. In the meantime I discovered another way to find resources. Myheritage.com has free software that I've been using for almost a year. When there is an entry that is a close match to another's entry, the software alerts to possible matches. It helps to get in touch with others that may have information available that you don't have.

I'm going to be attending a family reunion this summer. There will be over 500 family members attending. That is going to be a blast. The first reunion from this family was in 1891 with about 40 people attending. The family has grown.

I lucked out, with tons of work having been done on both sides of the family. Back in the 20's, someone hired a genealogist to do my dad's family tree back to the birth of my g.g.g.g....grandfather, Thomas, a Vermonter who served in the Revolution.

I have been able to ascertain on my own that the family originated in Norfolk.

I've added more info about Thomas and some of his sons by visiting our state library and on line. Thomas was active in local government in our state. One of his daughters married the son of a state senator. A son brought Episcopalianism to the western part of our state. People with backgrounds like that are easy to find.

Even easier on my mom's side. In about 1903, someone did a very detailed book on their genealogy. There's a website on the family as well.

They were among the first European (English) inhabitants of MA and later RI. The fam included 4 Mayflower passengers and several of the founders of Westerley, RI. Over the years, they became real colonial movers and shakers.

I have gotten more info on my Mayflower ancestors and some of the better know colonial types at the time of the Revolution, but, again, that was there for the reading.

There is one part of my family I know very little about. My maternal grandmother was French Canadian, with a Native American grandmother. I would like to know more about them and, of course, my NA ancestry.