I’ve been continuing my family research this past week. It’s a scavenger hunt, but I enjoy that sort of thing. As I’ve visited with my mother over the years, there are stories I remember, but they only went back in history so far. I guess what I really wanted to do was to be able to tell my mother some things that she didn’t already know.
My mother knew the names of her grandparents. This past week I was able to find out the names of her mother’s grandfather and great-grandfather. I also found the names of their wives (and children) and where they all are buried. I also found out that the country of their country of origin hasn’t been passed down accurately: not because of lies, but because of misinformation. I have a new geographic heritage to consider (from one side of the family.)
Whatever information I find and share with my mother, benefits me as well, because her great-grandfather is my 3x great-grandfather and that makes it 5x great for Goodnight. I am organizing the information for her so when she’s more interested in family history, it will be readily available. Unfortunately, there are no photos from so far back, but my great-great-great grandfather’s birth goes into the late 1700′s.
I’ve been stuck getting further back than my maternal grandfather’s folks. No middle initials have been passed down, so it’s taking more time to look for information about the next generation back from them. I found information about the 1,200 acre farm they owned and the 17-room house that stood on the land. I’ve visited that farm, been inside the large house and recently found an aerial photo of the property.
I had equal luck on my father’s side of the family, though they have presented more of a challenge. I was able to find information about the church where my dad’s grandparents were married, including the name of the minster who performed the wedding. The church is on the National Register of Historic Places, so current photos abound. I plan to visit it soon, but not until I make a list of all the family places to visit in that area. I plant to visit when it coincides with a heritage festival (of my newly discovered country of origin.)
I understand that it is possible to look at old records at the historic church, so I’m hoping to find out the name of my paternal grandmother’s great-grandparents. The census information never listed any city of origin, only the country, so I’m still trying to narrow it down.
But . . . enough of the old stuff! I’m tossing my granddaughter in the car, heading to Smalltownville for the weekend and we are going to hit the swimming pool where I used to go as a kidster. It’s in the next town ‘over’ as they say there.
I loved researching my family history and liken it to mining …. you come across a rich seam of information and then for a while … just nothing.
It also seems that when you come up with a few answers they throw up even more questions.
Dancing: Exactly right! Rich seam of information and then questions . . . with Americanized versions of names and birth records I’m translating from the originals.
That’s some great work on your ancestry. I’m waiting for Ancestry.com to get more of the 1940 census records posted for some states I need to research. After that, I’ll be able to confirm a few assumptions I had to make. I think I’m correct based on the data available, but that one more confirmation is really going to open things up.
Then I’ll be buying myself an upgrade so I can start searching some international records. It looks like some of my people got to America in the early 1630s. Pretty cool.