for the last year or so the hubs has been working on our family tree. there have been scattered bits of research done by various people on both sides and the hubs has used that as a foundation--but lately he's been digging deeper.
this weekend he got on ancestry.com to fill in some gaps. it really is amazing to think about your distant relatives from the 1800s or even 1700s. it is interesting to see the census reports from 1920. they tell who lived in the house at the time, how old they were, if they could read. sometimes the names are misspelled. i can almost picture someone knocking at my door today, asking me questions for a census. what must they have thought back in the 1920s? or before?
he has uncovered unwed mothers, fathers who left one family and moved to another state to start another (either with or without benefit of a divorce), a canadian foster child who wandered into kansas and became part of our tree, betsy ross marrying into his tree (though bearing no fruit as it was a second marriage for both parties). there are times where it seems plausible that our families have entwined before our union, but so far no facts or documents to support this. just speculation. we can trace my family back to prussia, his to germany. there are cajuns in his background, canadians in mine (at least one). it is quite amazing. and sad that we really don't have anyone left that we can ask these family questions of. how did my wv grandma end up married to a soldier from washington state? how did they meet? why did his great great grandpa leave his family in arkansas and start another family in oklahoma and why did his grandma visit them?
neither of us have blood-related grandparents left. no great aunts or historians to share these stories.
i know our kids couldn't give a flip about this research right now, even though the hubs has poured hours into to. but someday they will care.
6 comments:
my oldest sister has been working on a similar project for years and years. and it is pretty amazing to dig deep and find out some of the past, the secrets, and the scandals. somehow i think my super conservative sister will bury the juiciest stories of all -- i'd bet on it!
You know who's good at this genealogy thing? Mormons. I know: scary idea, but they seem to be really tapped into some super-duper data base or something. I hear it's so fantastic the Scientologists are crazy with envy.
IB is right. My ex husband did some research at a Mormon university on his ancestry.
I think it's cool that your husband is working on it. Your kids will really appreciate it later on! That might be a good project for me next summer...
I do know that other half and I have a connection between his grandmother and my great grandparents. They all emigrated (from Italy) to the same town in NJ.
I love research like this.Unfortunately I wouldn't know where to even start with something like this.But I think your hubby is super cool for doing it.
dear lord, as long as the hubs and i don't end up distantly related . . . .;)
btw - is he feeling better/
Oooo. Good gossip. Every family has it. Dontcha just wish you knew the stories behind all of it?
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