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Is anyone else a family genealogy nerd?
Posted on 4/18/14 at 1:26 pm
Posted on 4/18/14 at 1:26 pm
I am our family genealogist. Started when I was 20 due to my paternal great grandmothers records and stories. Using databases like ancestry.com and countless genforums, I have amassed more info in 10 years than could have been attained in 50 years of traveling to old courthouses and archives buildings of the past.
I became addicted in piecing the puzzles together and satisfying my curiosity. Can't even remember how many small leads that led me to old courthouse rooms across the south to search for recorded wills, deeds, marriage records and other documents. When found....they always led to a new piece of information and something else to search for. Something about looking at a document recorded in the 1700s or 1800s regarding your grandparents whether it's about their marriage, land transactions, slave schedules, or last will and testament.
The most interesting to me has always been my grandfathers military records. I have documented 14 grandfathers Civil War service all the way to company and rank in their respective regiments as well as when and where they mustered in and out. After learning their units, I would then study their regiments history and where they saw action. Learning my grandfather Crenshaw took a bullet to the thigh at Cold Harbor is just one of countless examples that intrigued the heck out of me. It seems to make those historical events far more personal to me. Heck...I had one grandfather who was in the 39th Ga but ended in the war in the 5th Tenn Mtd Infantry(union). Long story about that situation but would be glad to share if anyone is interested an untold story of how almost an entire Union battalion was made up of former Rebs.
As far as the Rev. War is concerned, I have documented 15 grandfathers who fought against the crown and 1 who was a Tory and fought with the crown. The most intriguing to me was my grandfather Garland Lane from Bedford Va who was in General Washington's Elite Guard unit in 1780-81 and finally saw action after Hamilton persuaded Washington to allow him to lead a unit at Yorktown. Most of Hamiltons soldiers that took redoubt #10 were from the Elite Guard unit.
Sorry for the long post but I figured only those interested in genealogy would read anyway.
Anyone passionate about their genealogy? Anybody interested but don't really know how to get started? I find it kind of sad when people can't even tell you their grandparents names. Speaks a lot of the times.
I became addicted in piecing the puzzles together and satisfying my curiosity. Can't even remember how many small leads that led me to old courthouse rooms across the south to search for recorded wills, deeds, marriage records and other documents. When found....they always led to a new piece of information and something else to search for. Something about looking at a document recorded in the 1700s or 1800s regarding your grandparents whether it's about their marriage, land transactions, slave schedules, or last will and testament.
The most interesting to me has always been my grandfathers military records. I have documented 14 grandfathers Civil War service all the way to company and rank in their respective regiments as well as when and where they mustered in and out. After learning their units, I would then study their regiments history and where they saw action. Learning my grandfather Crenshaw took a bullet to the thigh at Cold Harbor is just one of countless examples that intrigued the heck out of me. It seems to make those historical events far more personal to me. Heck...I had one grandfather who was in the 39th Ga but ended in the war in the 5th Tenn Mtd Infantry(union). Long story about that situation but would be glad to share if anyone is interested an untold story of how almost an entire Union battalion was made up of former Rebs.
As far as the Rev. War is concerned, I have documented 15 grandfathers who fought against the crown and 1 who was a Tory and fought with the crown. The most intriguing to me was my grandfather Garland Lane from Bedford Va who was in General Washington's Elite Guard unit in 1780-81 and finally saw action after Hamilton persuaded Washington to allow him to lead a unit at Yorktown. Most of Hamiltons soldiers that took redoubt #10 were from the Elite Guard unit.
Sorry for the long post but I figured only those interested in genealogy would read anyway.
Anyone passionate about their genealogy? Anybody interested but don't really know how to get started? I find it kind of sad when people can't even tell you their grandparents names. Speaks a lot of the times.
7
Posted on 4/18/14 at 1:42 pm to Dick Leverage
very cool stuff
To my knowledge, nobody in my family has done any research into our genealogy. After reading your post it definitely sounds like something that I would like to do at some point. It would be cool to know more about family heritage.
To my knowledge, nobody in my family has done any research into our genealogy. After reading your post it definitely sounds like something that I would like to do at some point. It would be cool to know more about family heritage.
This post was edited on 4/18/14 at 1:49 pm
Posted on 4/18/14 at 2:02 pm to Dick Leverage
I have been working on my family tree since the early 2000s. With the addition of my wife's family, my tree now has over 5000 individuals.
I can trace various lines as far back as the early 1700s in America and the mid 1600s in Scotland and Virginia.
I have at least two Revolutionary patriots, one that fought in NC/TN and another who served under George Rogers Clark (my avatar is his tombstone in Knox County, Indiana).
I have close to 30 Confederate soldiers and can put someone at every major battle except for Fort Sumter. A g-g-grandfather and one of his brothers was wounded during the Battle of Atlanta, another of his brothers was killed at Perryville and a cousin died at Vicksburg/Chickasaw Bayou. Another g-g-grandfather was an artilleryman and fought at Chickamauga under Longstreet and then went to Chattanooga and Knoxville. Three of his brothers rode with Jeb Stuart, one of whom was captured and died at Point Lookout, Md. POW camp.
Like you I have books on a good many of their units and can virtually follow them through the war.
I do have a couple of Union Civil War vets as well. A couple saw action at Stones River and another was part of the mule brigade that was captured by Forrest just west of Rome.
I have War of 1812 and Mexican War vets. I have WW1 vets and WW2 vets, including one who was killed in North Africa by Rommel's troops.
I can trace various lines as far back as the early 1700s in America and the mid 1600s in Scotland and Virginia.
I have at least two Revolutionary patriots, one that fought in NC/TN and another who served under George Rogers Clark (my avatar is his tombstone in Knox County, Indiana).
I have close to 30 Confederate soldiers and can put someone at every major battle except for Fort Sumter. A g-g-grandfather and one of his brothers was wounded during the Battle of Atlanta, another of his brothers was killed at Perryville and a cousin died at Vicksburg/Chickasaw Bayou. Another g-g-grandfather was an artilleryman and fought at Chickamauga under Longstreet and then went to Chattanooga and Knoxville. Three of his brothers rode with Jeb Stuart, one of whom was captured and died at Point Lookout, Md. POW camp.
Like you I have books on a good many of their units and can virtually follow them through the war.
I do have a couple of Union Civil War vets as well. A couple saw action at Stones River and another was part of the mule brigade that was captured by Forrest just west of Rome.
I have War of 1812 and Mexican War vets. I have WW1 vets and WW2 vets, including one who was killed in North Africa by Rommel's troops.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 5:08 pm to dawgM2
I would encourage you, or anyone, to do so. It is a fun hobby that really makes you feel connected to your forebearers.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 5:24 pm to PJinAtl
Very cool. You obviously had a bunch of great x3 grandfathers and uncles who were in the civil war to have a group around 30 documented. In reality, probably far more than that when factoring in their brothers, cousins, etc.. I only cited my direct grandfathers in the OP but when factoring in their brothers and cousins that number would approach 100 or more. I know of many great x3 or x2 uncles who served in the same regiment alongside my grandfathers.
Earliest I have gone back with accurate documentation is 1681 with my Chitwood line in Va. Mathias Chitwood was my great x6 grandfather who married Mary Key in Va.. She was the great aunt of Francis Scott a Key,, making him my 5th cousin.
I am a 8th generation Georgian. My earliest documented Ga grandfather arrived in Wilkes Co in 1725.
Note: I didn't think this thread would garner a ton of replies but I did figure I might visit it after a day and see more than 2 replies. Don't know why I expected that though as I have rarely met anyone IRL that even knows a thing about their great grandparents. Just don't see how family history is of so little interest to modern people.
Earliest I have gone back with accurate documentation is 1681 with my Chitwood line in Va. Mathias Chitwood was my great x6 grandfather who married Mary Key in Va.. She was the great aunt of Francis Scott a Key,, making him my 5th cousin.
I am a 8th generation Georgian. My earliest documented Ga grandfather arrived in Wilkes Co in 1725.
Note: I didn't think this thread would garner a ton of replies but I did figure I might visit it after a day and see more than 2 replies. Don't know why I expected that though as I have rarely met anyone IRL that even knows a thing about their great grandparents. Just don't see how family history is of so little interest to modern people.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 5:39 pm to Dick Leverage
My wife spends a lot of time on genealogy and has about 18,000 people on the tree which includes individuals who are also related by marriage.
The missing 1890 census is sometimes a problem, but the biggest problem with the census for information is that no wife/children names are given in the census before 1850.
What I'm surprised about is how many courthouses burned during the 1800s, early 1900s, losing all records. Not an uncommon thing at all.
Part of my family being Catholic has helped though, with the baptismal, birth, marriage, death records in the church. The other part were Choctaws with no documentation at all so it's a no go in going much earlier than the mid 1800s.
Interesting stuff though. Been to a few states and dozens and dozens of cemeteries and quite a few courthouses.
It can become addictive. :)
The missing 1890 census is sometimes a problem, but the biggest problem with the census for information is that no wife/children names are given in the census before 1850.
What I'm surprised about is how many courthouses burned during the 1800s, early 1900s, losing all records. Not an uncommon thing at all.
Part of my family being Catholic has helped though, with the baptismal, birth, marriage, death records in the church. The other part were Choctaws with no documentation at all so it's a no go in going much earlier than the mid 1800s.
Interesting stuff though. Been to a few states and dozens and dozens of cemeteries and quite a few courthouses.
It can become addictive. :)
Posted on 4/19/14 at 5:41 pm to Dick Leverage
quote:
Anybody interested but don't really know how to get started?
The best single free resource is Find A Grave, the best paid resource is Ancestry.com.
You have to be careful on Ancestry.com though. Lots of people put stuff on there with no support for their information.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 7:26 pm to beejon
This is true. A lot of people get so obsessed with connecting the dots that they assume things and post it as fact without any documentation. And many of the assumptions make perfect sense and are likely true. I just leave my assumptions to myself on my public tree. The ones that really make me roll my eyes are when people start going all the way back to pre 1400s. Just to many trees fabricated back then by the monasteries to satisfy every one in the aristocracy sneed to be descended from Charlemagne. I have a few folks in my group that claim lineage all the way back .......to Adam & Eve.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 7:30 pm to beejon
The 1890 census is a problem and like you said, prior to the 1850 census the only member of the household whose name was listed was the head of household. Everyone else was noted as marks in a gender/age group.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 10:12 pm to Dick Leverage
Working on it now. Traced back to England and Scotland on my dad's side. England we hit a roadblock, but the Scottish heritage we have traced back to Clan Crawford. 4 family castles, hollyrood Abby, and a ton of family crests and such. They actually can trace that part of my family's history to the Vikings around 1000 AD. William Wallace's mother was a Crawford. The clan is now considered armegirous. Which means the clan has no chief, nor has it for almost 80 years.
My great great great grandfather on this side was a prisoner in the civil war in PA, and walked home to Alabama after he was released. Talk about a long trek. We are going to name our son after him and his son, Artillery.
My great great great grandfather on this side was a prisoner in the civil war in PA, and walked home to Alabama after he was released. Talk about a long trek. We are going to name our son after him and his son, Artillery.
This post was edited on 4/19/14 at 10:14 pm
Posted on 4/19/14 at 11:01 pm to Dick Leverage
quote:
The ones that really make me roll my eyes are when people start going all the way back to pre 1400s. Just to many trees fabricated back then by the monasteries to satisfy every one in the aristocracy sneed to be descended from Charlemagne.
Yep, everybody's ancestors were royalty. :) Maybe so, but most likely not. My ancestors from Europe were mostly poor starving peasants, the other side were poor starving Indians (feather). I find the ones that we can trace to be interesting, enjoy hearing the family stories, embellished or not but I can't think of a substantiated (not family legends) story of any exceptional folks in my ancestry, just mostly good, hard working, God fearing folks.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 11:19 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:
Working on it now. Traced back to England and Scotland on my dad's side. England we hit a roadblock, but the Scottish heritage we have traced back to Clan Crawford. 4 family castles, hollyrood Abby, and a ton of family crests and such. They actually can trace that part of my family's history to the Vikings around 1000 AD.
I'm not saying that's not accurate information, but I'd be highly suspicious until it was proven. Simply because there's a book or records with a family tree in it actually means little unless each step in the tree is verified. I've found that the vast majority of the family crest/royalty claims that are given to families to be based on less than accurate records. They're very creative most of the time.
Researching substantiated family records from 1800 to 1700 is a very difficult task to undertake because of the dearth of records from that period of time. It gets even harder (very much so) from 1700-1600 and prior to 1600 the records are very very very very fuzzy indeed.
Old family bibles are indispensable in the research and of course land and marriage records are sometimes available.
Nevertheless, ancestry research is addictive and enjoyable. I'm sure you'll find other family members who have also researched your family and meeting and talking with them is great.
Good luck on your quest! :)
Posted on 4/19/14 at 11:32 pm to Dick Leverage
My paternal grandmother is obsessed with genealogy. She's spent the better part of the last 5 years tracing our ancestry back to the early 1500s or something. I think she hit a dead end though bc she's recently been in contact with my maternal grandmother and wants to plot that side of my family tree also.
Posted on 4/19/14 at 11:49 pm to VaBamaMan
My surname is Scottish. My ancestors straight up that line migrated from Argyllshire Scotland to Northern Ireland in the late 1600s. Lived there for a couple of generations as Ulster Scots and eventually made the crossing in the 1740s where they dis-embarked in Pennsylvania. Quickly made their way down the Shenandoah Valley and settled in Western NC around 1760. Rutherford Co to be exact. My branch off that tree then migrated to Elijay, Ga in 1838.
This post was edited on 4/19/14 at 11:58 pm
Posted on 4/19/14 at 11:56 pm to beejon
I only have one line with Indian that I have found. My great x3 grandmother was full blood Cherokee Indian. Of course, we all have 16 sets(32 people in all) of grandparents on that level and 1 in 32 is not significant. Still cool to have at least a trace of that race in my line. And not to mention that everyone in that line before her were Obviously Indian.
Posted on 4/20/14 at 7:47 pm to Dick Leverage
A good free site.
LINK
LINK
Posted on 4/20/14 at 8:04 pm to Dick Leverage
quote:
I would encourage you, or anyone, to do so. It is a fun hobby that really makes you feel connected to your forebearers.
I feel like I would probably be disappointed. My great grandfather is kind of a loser.
Posted on 4/20/14 at 8:06 pm to Dick Leverage
My great uncle was the MP who was supposed to protect Goering during the Nuremberg trials....that worked out great
This post was edited on 4/20/14 at 8:07 pm
Posted on 4/20/14 at 8:26 pm to WestCoastAg
Hey, I'm a decedent of General George Pickett. frick me
Posted on 4/21/14 at 6:44 am to Dick Leverage
quote:Very true. It also helps history become more interesting. My wife is a teacher and was teaching turn of the century immigration and WW1. She used some of the documentation on my paternal grandfather who was a British subject, visiting his brother in Atl when the war broke out to show them both his documentation through Ellis Island as well as after he made his way to Canada to join up for the war. To make that connection for the kids really seemed to help them out.
I would encourage you, or anyone, to do so. It is a fun hobby that really makes you feel connected to your forebearers.
quote:
You obviously had a bunch of great x3 grandfathers and uncles who were in the civil war to have a group around 30 documented. In reality, probably far more than that when factoring in their brothers, cousins, etc.. I only cited my direct grandfathers in the OP but when factoring in their brothers and cousins that number would approach 100 or more. I know of many great x3 or x2 uncles who served in the same regiment alongside my grandfathers.
I do. My 5th great grandfather on my mom's side moved from Virginia to Wilkes County in the 1730s, wonder if he was neighbors of your Wilkes County ancestor. His son (4th g-grandfather) later moved over to the middle fork of the Oconee in what was then Jackson, later Clarke and now part of Oconee County.
He had a total of 14 kids, two of whom (my 3rd g-grandfather and a 3rd g-grand uncle) moved to Cobb and Paulding Counties when they were opened for settlement in the 1830s. Between them, they had 15 kids so a large part of my CSA group comes just from that one chunk of the family.
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