September 25, 2012

  • I have a problem

    I am addicted to solving "the mystery".  Going threw my geneology is driving me just a tad bit insane.  

    In the past week I have started this family tree 4 times.  I had to delete a few times because well the first one got a little too complicated!  
    The the last 2 times I kept trying to marry one of my "guys" to his grandmother.  I did this 2 times!!  It's the wording in this book that has the majority of my family history listed.  
    The guy makes this tree with different limbs and leaves on it.  The trunk is the "patriarch" of the then living branches and leaves of the tree.  That part was fairly simple to put together.  But the "guys" that came before this "patriarch" is all written in paragraph form.  And to make it harder they are all juniors and seniors... and all their sons have the same names...  all the wives are named Elizabeth to boot.  So I have 4 Williams, 2 Christophers, and 4 Elizabeths.  2 of the Williams had 2 wives and their children are also Williams and Christophers!!!  
    So twice trying to make this part of my family tree I had a William marrying his Elizabeth (grandmother)...  It's like my brain the book and the paper I'm tracing it on doesn't click in some way.  
    The mystery of my family tree turns into a circle.  

    But the interesting things I've found out (other than I'm a little warped in the brain)....

    I'm Irish on my Gram's side.  
    We were rich at one time because one of the very very far up the tree guy had property in both Virginia and North Carolina (this is when there were only 4 states on our American map) and he was able to divide up this property along with his slaves to all his children.  Yes there were slaves owned in my family (did not know this until today).  The only reason I know this was there was a will stating this and the names of all the slaves.  
    On my Gramp's side I beleive I will find that our name was changed sometime around my Great Grandfather.  

    I also have a sneaking suspicion that I am not German like my whole family thought.  I have a feeling we are going to turn out French instead.  

    So far I am 1/4 Irish, 1/4 English  Because Gram's side came from Ireland and my Grandpa's side came from England (he already did the research I just don't have it plugged in yet can't read his writing but I remember the stories).

    I've been so obsessed I failed to do my laundry today.  I just remembered it about 30 minutes ago.  Guess it's not going to get done today.

Comments (16)

  • I wonder if the genetic tests will reveal any german blood in your family? Sometimes after people put up the family tree a genetic test reveals a bit different than what you thought.

    People used to hesitate to find out if there are any genetic defects in a family line. Now that insurance supposedly has to accept pre existing conditions it may be good to know if there are any medical defects that you need to know.

  • @PPhilip - I was going to ask the next time I visited my doctor if I could get the genetics test to determine if I am suseptible to all the female issues my aunts had.  3 people in my family have had either breast, ovarian, or pancreatic cancer on my mom's side and those are the ones I'm worried for.  

  • Glad you are having fun. I did not get mad when you told me fuk you. And for a moment, I thought that is what you wanted to do with me. Wishful thinking on my part.

  • Wow- confusing! I'm glad my aunt did this for our family. My dad's side is easy as both his parents came off the boat from Scotland. =)

  • You're doing good from what I'm getting so far.  Just be persistent and you'll be able to dig deeper.  It takes time.  May I ask where did you go to find out your lineage?

    As for me... sadly, I can only get to my great-great grandparents from my mother's side and only my grandparents from my father's side.  The trail stops there and well... nobody knows beyond that. 

  • Interesting finds so far.. Good luck!

  • those family tree projects can be quite fun.  I did one for my American history course in high school and I compiled all sorts of information from all my families.  It was so interesting because I traced one of my families back to the 1400s.

  • Sounds like a lot of fun. I've always wanted to do that... Good luck!

  • My brother did this before he died and was able to go back 1,000 years. We are mostly British. His son has kept up the study. I mostly try to ignore my nephew. lol

    It is nice to have a safe obsession.  I ma sure that I have genetic defects based on my wife's comments for 57 years.

    I think you are doing something fun and that is very, very good to see.

    frank

  • Family tree.  Sounds like a very interesting project.  

  • Talking about laundry, I haven't done mine since last week.  I'm such a lazy bones.

  • Half of my family is related to Edwin Stanton, the other half to William Seward, both of Lincoln's cabinet.  Who was greater?  This is argued in every family meeting.  Yawn.  Ultimately we are all related to an African lady in the Rift Valley.

    @RestlessButterfly - You could stop wearing clothes until you do it.  All right with me.

  • @Pepin909 - Mine seem to be very close to Plymouth 1620 though I'm not positive yet.  

    @LegendaryD - I have that problem with my Dad's dad's side.  I've gotten to the great and seem to have lost it all.  Mainly because it seems like the name changed.  They spelled it differently.  I might go searching for clues during my vacation.  I have nothing else to do.  

    @jennylovve - Thanks.

    @godfatherofgreenbay - Oh that's crazy.  I can't imagine trying to do this in highschool  Especially with this line.  I have felt very stupid at times trying to navigate the 4 differnt William Bustins (might have been more) and the now 3 Christopher Bustins.  And as I said before everyone wants to be married to an Elizabeth or Mary during this period.  So the wife names don't help much to distinguish.

    @endlesssummer128 - You should do yours as well.  It can be a little over wealming at times though.

    @ANVRSADDAY - I have had a lot of fun.  It's very tedious work.  And what I've found is my composition helps other people find they're ancestors too.  More facts shows just how connected we all are.  I think I am now related to 3 people at my work because of this.  So distantly that it doesn't matter but it's still cool.

  • @RestlessButterfly - It has been very interesting.  

  • @we_deny_everything - You might be famous if you keep going

  • @we_deny_everything - Awesome idea, but it's a bad example to my niece.

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