Spinoff thread:How far back can you trace your families' history?

Paternal side I can trace back to the late 1500s, they were from York and Northumberland. Came to Virginia in the 1640's, and fled to Alabama in the late 1780's to avoid persecution as they were British loyalist.

Maternally, I have a genealogy book that stretches to the early 1600s, they were Lowland Scots and also from Northumberland. They arrived in Virginia in the 1680's and eventually settled in North Carolina and Tennesee frontiers, moving to Central Alabama around 1813 .

Dad's side I got back to 1480 something, the family split there and went to Wales and the Netherlands all I know is we're from the side that went to Wales. Mom's side I can only get back to the 1800's. Nothing but peasants, thieves and farmers on either side.

Genealogy can quickly become mythology, and I have to doubt some of what we have. In theory, my father could trace his roots back to Flanders in 1066. I wouldn't trust the records past 1560 though. There's little to verify the claims.

The stories are fun though, you have soldiers, generals, and even a few pirates. King Philip the II of Spain wrote a rather peeved note to Queen Elizabeth complaining about one of those said pirates.

My mother's side kept better records. There's a clear and well documented line of descent going back to Zurich in the 1460s. The old family home is still there, but it's been converted into a museum. If you pop in you can see old family artifacts including armor and even the patriarchs zweihänder.

I want to try that DNA ancestry one day.

From my (mother's side) history book:
"Archibald Stewart was born in Ireland in 1736. He was a soldier during the war, 1778-1783, serving as a Ranger of the Frontier."

quote:

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How much was it to use ancestry.com?

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It really wasn't that much. You could find most of what you're looking for within the first month.

My maternal grandmother traced back to when we came over from England, pre-Revolutionary War. They settled in the Baltimore area. One of them served as a Colonel in the Continential Army. I believe she also got as far back as the 1600s, when I had family leave Prussia for France.

I'd like to sit down and work on my Dad's side of the family. I don't know much about them and know that at some point a skirmish caused part of the family to change the spelling of the last name. I'd be difficult because majority of my Dad's family is no longer alive, but I'd like to do it.

On both sides my family landed in Virginia/Georgia and each generation moved west a state at a time. Mostly farmers and small business owners, no one wealthy enough to be of note. Did have a great grand father who was the first sheriff of San Saba county in Texas.

One interesting thing is that all the way back to the 1600s, my male ancestors have at least one unbroken line of military service; there were a lot of soldiers in my tree.

My mom was a serious genealogist and spent countless hours in libraries around the South and writing letters to research our history (she passed away before the Internet came into common usage, she would have loved the accessibility it provides in regards to family research).

Dad's side: Scottish ancestors dating back to the 1600's from a little village near the Firth of Forth. Later immigrated to Pennsylvania, then Virginia, then on to Georgia, and finally settled in East Texas in present day Orange County.

My primary ancestors (those that carried my surname: Pivoteau, Pevoto, Peveto, Pivateau, etc.) on my dad's side were French, though, and can be traced back to one French soldier who came to what was then French controlled Alabama in the early 1760's at Fort Toulouse, near present day Montgomery. He moved to Louisiana when the French lost Alabama to the British after the French and Indian War/Seven Years War.

Mom's Side: Pretty much all Acadians. Traced back to the time they were living in Nova Scotia up to the 1750's and after the Grand Derangement and settlement in Louisiana.