Friday Question #105
By kilax, March 19, 2010 5:33 am
Are you interesting in your ancestry? Have you done any research on it? What tools do you use?
All I know about my ancestry is what I’ve learned from talking to my parents and grandparents. I have not done any digging on my own. And to be honest, I don’t know much, but I would like to!
A few years ago, a distant relative found my blog and sent me some family information. I thought it was pretty cool that we connected this way. Of course… we have since lost touch!
I thought I would ask this question because I have known a few people to really get into this. I wondered if anyone else was!
Themocracy
I’m really interested in this…but also really lazy. It’s kind of one of those “Well, maybe if I won the lottery, I could do this” kinds of things 🙂
I am interested in ancestry, but I get impatient really quickly with the research part of it. I also wonder about sites where you have to pay to access information. I would be mad if I paid for the service, and then there was nothing to be found on my family’s history. Mostly, I just go with what my parents/grandparents have told me…
Yeah, I’m pretty clueless. I think part of it is my family is such a mix of things that there were no traditions/stories to pass on? Someday I would like to find out more though!
I am interested in it, but don’t have the time to devote to it that I would like. I know a great deal about my maternal side because of stories my grandparents have told me, but wish I could get more on my paternal side.
My father really got into it. Both my parents are from Leicestershire England and they traced their roots way, way back. Everytime my dad discovered a new name/new relative, he would get so excited. In fact, he even contacted some. My enthusiasm isn’t quite there yet for my roots. Maybe one day.
When I was in the eighth grade, we had to do a “family project”… while I think it’s a great idea, I also think that it should be done in high school, because at that age I feel like I would have appreciated it more. But I do find it all oddly fascinating!
<3 <3
I know a little bit about my family dating back to my great grandparents. Past them, I don’t know much. I’ve never been motivated to research and discover that history, either. My husband? Someone in his dad’s family has traced their family all the way back to the biblical days. It was pretty impressive when he pulled out the actual tree (on paper) that goes back a couple thousand years.
I’ve honestly never really thought about it 🙂 I know my dad’s side is from Germany (bon-bon or something like that?) I believe I’ve heard my mom’s side is partially from Ireland but I’m not all that sure about that one 🙂 It would be kind of cool to look into it though!
I would love to learn more about my family history. I only got bits from my dad but I know that we have relatives out in like Indiana and things that we don’t know. I would love to find them and contact them since our family is really small and our name is obscure. As in, I’m the only person in the entire US with my exact name. 😀 Also my mom doesn’t know much and I would like to know more about her side as well.
Before I got married, I was the only “Kimberly Ilax.” Our last name is made up!
My ancestry doesn’t really interest me, mostly because my dad’s family in India are all insane. And my mom’s family in Canada is really boring.
I’m not a very good person for saying any of this, am I??
My dad has done some research into his family background. He found info dating back to his great grandfather. I am fascinated by my moms history since she was once told that her maiden name is Moorish.
I would like to do this but haven’t found the time. I’m not even sure where to start.
i wouldn’t say it is a strong interest right this second. i like knowing where i am from and where my relatives/ancestors have lived etc. but i’m not really into spending a lot of time researching it. prolly later in life i will be into this.
I know what I’ve heard from parents and grand-parents…but I’ve never actively searched. For now, I’m not particularly curious…of course when I learn something I find it interesting…but, for now at least, I have too much going on in my right now life.
I always thought it was kind of pointless since my dad is adopted. I mean, sure I could find out about his adoptive parents and their ancestors but that would really tell me anything about where I *really* come from genetically. And there is someone on my mom’s side who did a bunch of research and contacted family but my mom blew her off. I guess no one in my family really cares to know their history.
However, as someone who has some experience with archives and historical societies I loved helping people research their family histories. Watching them find out something they didn’t know before or discovering a piece of the past always made them excited AND me excited. So I guess I’d rather help someone out as opposed to do it for myself.
It would be really rewarding to be able to help someone else find out about their history! What sort of information did you provide them?
I’m definitely interested in this, though I’ve never really pursued it. I know my last name (Hooper) is British. Literally, it means my ancestors used to “hoop” barrels of beer. I’ve heard that people still do this in England. I still don’t know what this is. Anyway, I know I also have some German in me. Not sure what else. I really would love to know my husband’s roots, but his dad was adopted, so it’s a bit of a mystery! If you find out any good tools for research, let me know. I could get into this!
i am so so interested…..my sis is really interested so she kind of takes the reigns…..however we have had similiar things were we reconnect and then lose toch again 🙁
Well my mom immigrated from Scotland when she was 6 and her family is still there and have been there for generations, so I know that side. As for my dad’s side, its a bit more muddled-Swedish, British, possibly French…
Perhaps one day I will research where they come from. I get questions on the origins of my last name, so it could be worthwhile.:)
i’m VERY interested, but very lazy. and come from an even lazier family, so even when i have tried to do some digging, no one has ever kept records or anything sooo it’s pretty slow going.
Its funny you ask that, because Ive been looking into my background a lot lately. I was considering doing a big family tree for my dads birthday since he has everything else. One of my relatives way way back actually died in Custer’s Last Stand. There was also a connection to the Donnelly Murders in Ontario way back in the day. Its find it all fascinating.
That would be SO NEAT if you did a family tree for your dad! Your family history sounds very interesting!
Luckily it was done FOR me. My aunt embarked on a huge Family Tree project five years ago and now we know everything. 🙂
Well, I wrote my answer on my blog……
I just came across this meme, I like it a lot and will try to play every week from now on.
Have a great weekend!!!!
I did one of the free 14-day trials on Ancestry.com and I must say that it was pretty fascinating to find the connections. But when it’s all just names on a computer, that’s not as interesting as actually finding old photos or notes. After my grandmother died this fall, I loved looking through the boxes of pictures and saved notes, wishing she was there to explain them.
You bring up such a good point – it is probably a much different experience to dig up the info with family than to do it online!
About ten years ago, when we were doing renovations on our house and my youngest one still took long naps, I was often stuck at home and I got really into researching my genealogy via internet. I found out a lot of interesting information and even met some long lost cousins, some of whom I am still in contact with today, and one who we actually met up with on a trip to the US. But at a certain point you run into a brick wall with how much information you can find, and then it kind of peters out (at least that’s what happened to me). It was fun to do.
Good question! Both sides of my family are pretty darn confused (remarriages, half kids, overlapping generations, etc). I’ve put together a few fairly recent family trees, going back to just people who have been alive during my lifetime, and that was confusing enough!
For the past 25 years my dad had been working to collect enough original copies of “The Smith Family of Pennsylvania” c. 1746 to give one to each of his siblings. About 5 years ago he finally had enough first editions to do the trick. We’re decedent of the family chronicled in the book, but that’s all the further I know, and would really like to look into it more!
My dad got REALLY into genealogy for awhile, so I’m fairly well informed, but much more so on his side than my mom’s. My grandma (mom’s mom) didn’t really talk much about her life before she came to the US.
No one in my family is really that into genealogy and finding out about our ancestry. I think mostly, the family is Scotch-Irish and German, like pretty much everyone else. That said, I have (obviously) been trying to find out about my family history recently, though for slightly different reasons.
i’m interested but clueless. i’ve been loving the PBS series about geneology, as well as the one that Lisa Kudrow’s doing too
My paternal grandparents had a really interesting memoir put together before my grandfather died, but beyond that and the family that I already am in contact with, I’ve never really thought about it. In fact, my mother-in-law gives me these big long stories about so-and-so from here-and-there and how 100 years ago they knew so-and-so and were here-and-there…she tells it like it’s a thriller novel, and I kind of zone out. Maybe I’m not made for genealogy.
Ha! I don’t think you are the only one guilty of zoning out to their MiL!
I’m interested in ancestry. It’s sort of hard for me to do, because my family is from Guatemala and records aren’t well kept there. So most of my family history is from word of mouth. I’ve heard some interesting things though for my grandma and uncles!
I grew up Mormon (but left many years ago) and as most know, Mormons are known for many things, but ancestry is one of them. As for how interesting I am in my family line, not very. My mom’s great grandparents came over from Europe and based on the info my mom found, it was quite the trek. Her great grandfather fought in a few wars and was a general in one of them (General Harney is name, if I remember right).
My mom was way into finding her family history, but for me, not so much. Maybe one day I will be, but I’m more interested in trying to get down my life’s history first. Much more important in the grand scheme of things.
This is a GREAT series! I actually have been very interested in my ancestry, and can trace back my family back to 1650. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which websites I used 🙁