How to Find Your Family History

12/08/2019

01/21/2017

One good way to find a clue to ancestors is to "google" their surnames and research and study what you discover.You'll be amazed at how much information this can generate and quite possibly lead you to others who share your lineage and possibly share information.

03/30/2016

My Great Grand Father was an old Indian fighter. My Great Grand Mother was an old Indian!

12/04/2015

When you begin to search for your family history, ALWAYS go to the older ones who have all the stories. Often these folks are thought of as a little "out there" or maybe tellers of tall tales. Others may be honored as family historians who keep tradition alive. Whatever the case, there is often golden nuggets of truthful information that may form the foundation for your search. - A prime example of this is those who claim to trace their lineage to Pocohontas. Obviously many of these claims are false, but a good many are true! She was not referred to as the mother of our nation without reason. Even though she and John Rolfe only had one son, Thomas, and Thomas and his wife only gave birth to one son, from there the descendants became prolific! Many famous people of history....Presidents,Governors, Chief Justices, etc.,trace their ancestry to this Indian Queen, as do many people of all ethnic and social standing. Even me, who talked to a beloved aunt who many considered to be a teller of tall tales and later proved our genetic link to the Mother of our Nation

10/31/2015

Rhineland Palatinate encompassed parts of Bavaria and Germany. It was incredibly abundant in grapes and other fruits and and vegetables as well as grain. It was aptly called the Garden of Europe. Unfortunately, beginning in 1618 the 30 years war completely decimated Rhineland Palatinate under Napoleon.This led to a large exodus from that region to William Penn's Colony, Pennsylvania. My maternal grandfather traces his line to one of those families, the Riegels. I have trace that line back to Knight Riegeler of1332 Wurttembur Germany.

09/28/2015

There is interesting data that supports the idea that curiosity of adopted persons regarding their adoptive families' genealogy causes them to research that family's past. I believe that this shows the power of love and inclusion that truly causes true families to exist on this planet!

09/14/2015

You sometimes run into trouble if an ancestor changes their surname. This can definitelly lead to brick walls or detours in your search. Many things were responsible for people changing names. One common reason was difficulty with the law or running from debts. But one recurring reason that is intriguing to me is the many Native Americans who tried to navigate through white society by trying to pass as white! This, of course, required a name change.

08/17/2015

One way to generate information about your line of descent is to enter family surnames into the search box. You might be amazed at what opens up before you! Other people who share that name might have info to share, or you might find family forums that allow you to chat. Sometimes complete family trees are there, or family histories that provide specific information that are relevant to your search. Happy hunting!

07/28/2015

Genealogy is a fascinating field of study! So often coincidence is involved, often to our great astonishment. For instance, I found out that the famous abolitionist John Brown is directly descended from the famous Higley family of Connecticut, and that is my maternal line of descent as well!

01/08/2015

Genealogy is often strange and fascinating. You continue to find things out that you really were not even searching for. For example, I discovered that both paternal grandparents are directly descended from the Randolphs, my Grandmother's maiden name. My Grandfather's descendency was a couple of generations back, but they were distant cousins. I doubt if either of them even knew they were related!

08/03/2013

Started to like Steve at 12 or so instead of the Beatles with a 4 years in jazz druming background

07/05/2013

Knowing every note on the guitar is a challenge unique to the instrument. A saxophone has only one way to finger each note, while a guitar usually has a few different strings and four fingers to choose from. String a few notes together and the permutat...