Researching Family Tree

[msmoneybags48]

I had to make a phone call two days ago.  My daughter called me to ask if anyone from our family was from Haiti, because someone asked her if she was Haitian.  My great, great, great, great grandfather was an African slave and he was sold for a mule in the 1850's.  I have been compared to an African as well.  I called up my cousin, who is the family historian of sorts.  I learned from her that her father's mother was born in Haiti and there is someone else from Haiti, but she doesn't know who that person is.  Has anyone on FC researched their family tree and what was the result?  At the moment, I have typed up 13 pages of "Ancestry from the Mother Bloodline"; because when my cousin typed it, she left out a whole lot of people.  In addition, when she got the information from her great-aunt, who is my cousin, she misspelled my great, great, great, great grandfather's surname, and since then, there are other people who have been added to the family tree.  I am fascinated by this, and wonder how you went into researching your family tree.

[Timberlan127]

I haven't done it myself but I know many people who have and once they get started they get addicted to it. It can be very interesting and you can find out a lot of things you never knew about your family. Good luck with your research.

[bretay]

I have researched my grandfather on my mothers side.He is part cherokee.I had always been told that I have my greatgrandmother's eye..They are a light grey like hers.I didnt know my grandfather too well.But he told me he would know who i was because when he saw my eyes it reminded him of his mother..She had died giving birth to his younger sister at 25..I have saw only 1 picture of her..Very pretty..Wish I looked more like her than just the eyes..lol

[ladavia89]

One of my cousins had researched my dad's side of the family for a family reunion a couple of years ago so i started with that. I then used ancestory.com to do more research. I think the oldest person I found was born in 1820 in Alabama. It's pretty difficult to actually find out where people originated before they were slaves. I know I have people in my family that were actually Native American that are listed as black on census records

[msmoneybags48]

I found out that you can view the 1940 Census report for free.  I did the one for my area (West Point, MS) and found my great-grandmother (she was born in 1885) and was 54 at the time the Census report was done; she was one of three daughters born to my great, great grandfather and his wife.  I also found my grandmother's niece; she was born in 1924 and was 15 at the time the report was done.  I even found people I didn't expect to find.  It was fun to research the Census report.

[inertia4]

I have not done a family history but my cousin is in the process of doing it. I have often thought about doing that. Maybe one day I will.

[tashamjoy]

My aunt did this on my moms side a few years back! i have to say it was awesome to look at he had birth, marriage death records, pictures. Its was so interesting to see where my family lived and moved around and last names how they changed and stuff like that wow wish i got copies of that =(

[keveland]

I really wish I could join this topic but I am adopted and have no idea of what my family tree looks like. I often get jealous of people who can trace their family history and appreciate it.  I also get angry when I see some of the younger generation who couldn't care less about their family history and are so disrespectful of what they have. I would give anything to know about my family history!!!!

[msmoneybags48]

Have you gone to your adopted parents and asked about the records? 

I feel compelled to share a story with you, keveland, and this is true.  My late uncle and his first wife could not have children.  They wanted to adopt me and my mother said no.  She allowed them to adopt my other sister; she stayed in the family.  My late uncle was my late mother's brother.  I found the phone number when I stayed with them and, when I was an adult, telephoned her.  We met for the first time in August 2000.  The last time I saw her, I was 8, my sister next to me was 3 and my sister who was adopted out to my uncle was 2.  My mother had two other children; my brother and my youngest sister.  It was thrilling and fascinating to see her; she is now 48, nearing 49, my sister next to me is 49, nearing 50 and I am 54, nearing 55.  My brother is now 44, nearing 45, and my youngest sister is 41, nearing 42.  I wish you luck in finding something to research.    

[wccohn]

I've never really looked into my family tree but maybe I will a bit more in the future.

[lbeery]

I have been working on filling in the blanks in my family history as well.  I have been trying to find out who in our family was either amish or perhaps mennonite.  My mothers father spoke Pennsylvania Dutch which is spoke by these groups in some areas.  One way to research is to use the geneology sites provided by the library - no charge and it provides information from the  census records as well as the military records.  Good luck with your research.

[loulizlee]

I began researching my family history several years ago after I heard of a group of people called Melungeons.  I have known from my childhood that I was probably of a mixed race, and the old people always told us we had a great-grandmother who was Cherokee.  Turns out, there were many children who grew up when I did that were told they had a Cherokee gg-mother.  My theory is that, before the Civil War, the landowners had children by their female slaves.  I think that happened to some of my ancestors.  I have found landowners with slaves in my family, as well as several preachers who came from England to escape religious persecution.  As a matter of fact, some of my ancestors were from the English aristocracy.  After the Civil War, my part of the family was dirt poor.  Now, most of us are what I would call middle class.  Researching your ancestors is fascinating and sometimes very emotional.  I have been using Ancestry.com from time to time for about 20 years.  I decided to have my DNA tested.  The results were that I am 70% English and 13% West African.  The rest is mixed between Middle Eastern, Russian, and unknown.  I'm still searching. By the way, Who Do You Think You Are? will be on again this summer.  It's very good.

[champak97]

I began researching my family history several years ago after I heard of a group of people called Melungeons.  I have known from my childhood that I was probably of a mixed race, and the old people always told us we had a great-grandmother who was Cherokee.  Turns out, there were many children who grew up when I did that were told they had a Cherokee gg-mother.  My theory is that, before the Civil War, the landowners had children by their female slaves.  I think that happened to some of my ancestors.  I have found landowners with slaves in my family, as well as several preachers who came from England to escape religious persecution.  As a matter of fact, some of my ancestors were from the English aristocracy.  After the Civil War, my part of the family was dirt poor.  Now, most of us are what I would call middle class.  Researching your ancestors is fascinating and sometimes very emotional.  I have been using Ancestry.com from time to time for about 20 years.  I decided to have my DNA tested.  The results were that I am 70% English and 13% West African.  The rest is mixed between Middle Eastern, Russian, and unknown.  I'm still searching. By the way, Who Do You Think You Are? will be on again this summer.  It's very good.

That was interesting to know that you could test your DNA and find out about your race. How and where do you do the DNA test?

[loulizlee]

Ancestry.com offers a DNA test for $99.00.  You have to be a member.  You can join and pay by the month.  You can stop your membership and then go back any time you want, and your family information will still be there.  The DNA test is a basic one that will show the percentages of each ethnic group you belong to.  It will also match you with other members who are possible cousins.  I have found some really good information from that.  You can go to ancestry.com and get an idea of what you can do on the website.

[dancer139]

I would love to do this.  I have done quite a few of my family using Ancestery.com but it is to expensive for me to use.  I did the 14 day free trial and got what I could get.  Its pretty awesome to see where your family comes from. I used the free 1940 census also to locate some family that I never even knew.  Just amazing.

Getting more from other family that I live close too.  I just wish I could do more and not have to pay for the information.