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Posted by: Sekhmet 09-Feb-2005, 11:08 PM

Well?

How far back have you been able to trace your family thus far? A few generations? A dozen? Back to the 1800s, or to Adam?

I myself have had mixed results, depending on which branch one looks at. My maiden name (Kellerman) has come to a screaming halt after only about five generations. From there it seems they sprouted out from under a mushroom somewhere. Now, if you look at my Schrum line on my mother's side, we have that back into the mid-1600s. Other lines seem to come to a general halt sometime around the time they immigrated to America, whenever that may have been. Occasionally I've managed to get a generation or two before that, but rarely so.

How's your luck been holding out?

Posted by: Aaediwen 09-Feb-2005, 11:26 PM

My dad has traced one branch back 13 generations. to one Richard Creech, who came across from Fife

Posted by: Sekhmet 09-Feb-2005, 11:30 PM

I somehow, by some miracle, managed to get one of my husband's lines back into England/Switzerland, early 1500s. Right now I'm trying to figure out which one of those Hornes held a grant of arms, from which monarch, and for what. And figure out where the heck Chestershire was in England, as that was where they had been granted land. Fortunately, it hasn't become work yet and it's still fun. LOL

Posted by: Avonlea22 10-Feb-2005, 08:07 AM

I've been able to trace my Fathers side only to his parents. I just wrote a letter to one of his cousins who may have some more information. As far as his mom, I have all the way back to 1635, when one of the ancestors came from Hull England to Connecticut.

It's my Grandfathers side that I'm more interested in at the moment. I'm trying to find out if his side of the family has roots in Scotland or not.

I know nothing about my Mothers side of the family. Maybe I should work on that.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 10-Feb-2005, 05:56 PM

For my grandfathers side, the Shrule, Ireland Egan's, we go back to Thomas Egan, born 1793 and his wife Mary ???, born 1790.

My grandmothers side, the White's of Ballyshannon, Ireland, we go back to William Andrew White and his wife, ??? Kilfeather, were both born in the late 1820's.

Since most of the records for County Mayo and Donegal were destroyed, it's hard to find anything further back. I'll just keep searching all the posts on the genealogy pages and hopefully find some relative that has more info.

user posted image

Posted by: CelticRose 10-Feb-2005, 09:53 PM

On my mother's mother's side I got back as far as 1508, with the help of relatives. On my mother's dad side, I got back as far as 1800. On my dad's side, I can't even get beyond him!

His parents into Ellis Island from Sicily. I know that much.

Posted by: dfilpus 11-Feb-2005, 08:09 AM

The earliest birthdate is 1814, three generations back in Finland. Since I am the second generation born in this country, this makes five generations back and two generations forward. Several of my cousins are grandparents.

Posted by: Mailagnas maqqas Dunaidonas 11-Feb-2005, 12:31 PM

In my Livingston line, documentation seems fairly reliable back to:

QUOTE

Sir Andrew de Livingston was one of the Scottish knights summoned by King Edward I on May 24th 1297 to attend his expedition to Flanders. He was killed the same year in the revolt led by the great Scottish hero Sir William Wallace. Sir Andrew was the Sheriff of Lanark, and it appears that Sir William Wallace emerged as the leader of the Scottish forces after Sir Andrew was killed.
It is on official record that the Sheriff of Lanark was killed when Scottish rebels burned Lanark in 1297. Blind Harry, the Minstrel, asserts that this sheriff was an Englishman by the name of Hesilrig; but there is no record of such a man having held this office. Sir Andrew de Livingston is known to have been Sheriff of Lanark during the year preceding Wallace?s Revolt; and it is also evident that he must have been deceased about this time due to the fact that after Wallace?s Revolt there is no further reference to him in the public records.

While this branch of the Livingstons are considered lowland Scots, the lineage possibly began with a Saxon by the name of Leofing (son of Leof), which became Leving or Levingus. The town named for Leving was Leving's Toun, which became Livingston, which eventually became the family name.
http://www.kilsyth.org.uk/history/archivesources/livingston_line.htm

Posted by: EMTQueen 29-Mar-2005, 03:00 PM

I've traced one ancestor to the Civil War period. Not much before that and I don't know how he's related to me (uncle, cousin, great-great-grandparent?).

Posted by: Avonlea22 29-Mar-2005, 09:34 PM

QUOTE (Avonlea22 @ 10-Feb-2005, 09:07 AM)

It's my Grandfathers side that I'm more interested in at the moment. I'm trying to find out if his side of the family has roots in Scotland or not.

Well...I just received some info from my dad's cousin. I now have info going back to the birth of my great, great grandfather in 1838. Born in Castlefinn, Donegal, Ireland.

His wife (of course my great, great grandmother) was born in County Tyrone in 1852. I also now have the DOB and deaths of all 7 of their children, which includes my great Grandfather! Still looking to find more info, though.

Posted by: morgana_l_f 31-Mar-2005, 08:26 AM

My dad's family has been traced back to the late 1500s- two HUGE books were compiled on them. But my mom's familyi've only been able to track down 5 generations. in the mid-1800s mygreat-great grandfather was tired of getting his mail mixed up with everyone else's in the town and changed his name. It was Jens Christianson- Do you know how many Jens Christiansons there were in 1800s Denmark!!!?

Posted by: Lyra Luminara 17-Apr-2005, 03:36 PM

I've only been able to get back to about 1815 because England only started to do censuses in the early 1800s so yeaaa

Posted by: Nancy-Raven 26-Apr-2005, 08:10 PM

I've able to trace ancestor on my mother's side at beginning of the 1600 in France from an island call St-Malo.On my father side I have nothing except the name of my grandparents.I really wish to find more , but I always say to myself I'm lucky to know all this.My best friend have mostly nothing on both side.

Posted by: DaibhidhChleirigh 24-Nov-2005, 12:51 PM

My Grandfather was able to get back to the 1600's on my Grandmother's side. But we have ha a lot of difficulty with my Grandfather's side. He, himself, was born in Bridgeton, outside of Glasgow. We have an "extract" copy from his parents marriage. But cannot locate the origainal or any other records from Scotland. It is like everything just stopped or dissapeared. So only about 1905 and the crossing of the great waters is all that we have on his side.

Posted by: celticfire 24-Nov-2005, 01:19 PM

I have traced my grandmother's family back to 1690s Londonderry, Ireland. Some of my mother's British roots have been around since the 10th century-ish era

Posted by: ronw1 23-Dec-2005, 08:02 PM

family is from england, and from what info i have been able to get i come from the line of stuckley westcott's of 1600 rhode island and back to devonshire england, my cousin shows the line back to a ledger de westcote about 1100's with royal blood line of richard the lionhart

do to marriage. can not hold the latter as true for i have not seen what his folder holds even after offering to pay for copies.

Posted by: myaleigh 10-Jan-2006, 10:39 AM

Depends on the line. Relatives on my Mom's Mom's side were not fond or did not see the point of sharing family history so we've only been able to trace back for a couple of generations.

We traced my Mom's Dad's family back 7 generations to 1678 Wales and if we can ever discover who my ancestors' parents are may go back further.

Now my Mom is spending her free time writing down every kernel of family history she gathers and sharing family stories so my kids will have something to go by.

Posted by: AyaLove 24-Jan-2006, 10:10 PM

On my dad's side of the family I have traced all the way back to 1175 in scotland.

Posted by: Sekhmet 24-Jan-2006, 11:45 PM

QUOTE (ronw1 @ 23-Dec-2005, 09:02 PM)

do to marriage. can not hold the latter as true for i have not seen what his folder holds even after offering to pay for copies.

...so you're related to Berengaria of Navarre? Nifty!

Posted by: DJ Sapphira 21-Feb-2006, 02:48 PM

On my mother's side, I have traced her father's surname to 14th century Kent, Britain (Estes). On her parental grandmother's mother's side, it has been traced to 17th century Fife (Rymer). On her parental gradmother's father's side, it has been traced to pre-Viking conquest (Mac Gobhainn), but was changed upon entrace to Ireland from Scotland (O'Gowan), and then changed again upon entrance to the States (Smith). On my mother's mother's side, it has been traced to 18th century London (Wilson), and 17th century lowland Scotland (Holyfield) (where exactly unknown.)

On my father's side, I have it traced back 2 generations. All I know is that my grandfather was born in Scotland, with a supposedly Irish surname (MacRae), and upon entrance to the states, shortened it (Crae), then had my grandmother.

SO yes, I'm quite confused as to what to call myself... I usually just say Scottish.

Posted by: sisterknight 21-Feb-2006, 05:59 PM

well depending on which side:

the snowdon side came from kennet clackmannan, scotland,james sr was born in 1791.he was superintendent of lord elgin's coal mines in scotland
there are two entries for the snowdon crest one is a horse,described as follows:
snowdon, english, on a mount,vert,a horse,current,bridled,sable
translated into idiot:a black bridled horse galloping over a green hill.

the campbell side sort of dropped into being in the early 1801 when one alexander campbell sr born in county derry,ireland then in 1821 came to canada by way of the states...talk about lots of campbells and then even more alexanders!!!! he was 2nd husband to a lady waugh of garigill,cumberland co.england

the mc gregor side is still much of a mystery, margaret elizabeth mc gregor was born 1869 in huntington,que daughter of james mc gregor

Posted by: ridgeback77 20-Mar-2006, 12:01 PM

On my father's side I have only been able to go back 5 generations. The couple in question were both of German/Prussian descent. On my mother's side I have information tracing my maternal grandmother's family back to the late 1700's, again in Germany. Its my maternal grandfather's family that I get my Celtic roots from, but the information has been difficult to find. At some time in the last 15 years his family Bible has been lost or was destroyed and all of the records with it.

Posted by: ontrose1969 14-Jun-2006, 11:08 PM

I was able to track back to about 700 A.D. My Great Great Great Grandmother's family was from Irish royalty and I was able to trace her lines back that far because royalty has been fairly well documented. I could probably go further back than that, but the research starts getting suspect and I haven't been able to verify it yet.

Posted by: zeryx 24-Jul-2006, 04:17 PM

My father started off the research some 25 years ago and when his sight failed he passed the reins over to me. We are back in the early 1800s where we've struck a block ... the census we're needing to view exists but is not readable - back then they were written in pencil and didn't scan in well onto microfiche ... I'm still waiting for the LDS to put them into digital format and hopefully they'll be good enough to get our next link

Posted by: Macfive 25-Jul-2006, 08:34 PM

The furthest back we can go is to late in 1770 - Hugh MacArthur would be my GGGGGGGG father. Here is a little excerpt:

"Late in 1770 a Scottish ship named Annabella sailed from Campbelltown
which is located near the tip of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. 200
Scots were aboard. Included were MacArthurs, MacDougalls, McIntoshes,
McKays, McKenzies, McLaughlins, Montgomerys & Ramsays. Passengers thought
they were going to North Carolina but were sent to St John (now Prince
Edward Island) at Malpeque Bay. During a storm Annabella was wrecked &
colonists provisions & tools were lost. With the help of indians they
survived the first winter. Then with help from Acadians they began
building & clearing land for potatoes. It became the second largest
community on Prince Edward Island. Hugh McArthur was aboard Annabella.
His wife is unknown. Most New England McArthurs are descended from Hugh
of the Annabella."

This storm that wrecked the Annabella is actually mentioned in a number of weather journals I located from that time period. Must have been a really big storm.

Posted by: CelticRose 31-Jul-2006, 05:46 AM

Paul, this is very interesting to me because one of my g-grandmothers is a McArthur as well. My cousins have researched her more than I have and claim she came from Scotland, although I have no written proof of it all!

Posted by: Shadows 31-Jul-2006, 10:56 AM

Here is an exerpt from the family genealogy I am working on... this is the last documented relative I have been able to "dig up" on my mothers side!

Eighteenth Generation
115. Wyllyam (18) GARDYNYR was born in Midlands, Oxfordshire, England 1450. Wyllyam died 1495 in The Bank, Surrey, England, at 45 years of age.

He married Helen TUDOR in London, England, 1485. Helen became the mother of William GARDINER in London, England, 1488.

At 38 years of age Wyllyam became the father of William GARDINER in London, England, 1488. Wyllyam's wife Helen Tudor was first cousin to Henery VII, as found on Betham's Genealogicl Table DCX in Guildhall Library, London, England.

Here is a list of the Sir names I have so far:

Bechtel, Boarman, Boone, Bowerman, Craycroft, Custer, Dyer, Eppeli, Eppley, Fields, Gardiner, Gardynyr, Green, Gwynn, Hame, Hatton, Kline, Kuster, Layman, Luce, Mac Ewen, MacEwen, Mayse, McCann, Miller, Mitchell, Neale, Nicholson, Prowell, Smyth, Toland, Tudor, Walker, Weire

Posted by: CelticRose 09-Aug-2006, 03:26 AM

hey Shadows! I have Walkers in my family as well! Tudor, eh? You might be royalty then.

Posted by: Shadows 09-Aug-2006, 03:41 PM

QUOTE (CelticRose @ 09-Aug-2006, 05:26 AM)

hey Shadows! I have Walkers in my family as well! Tudor, eh? You might be royalty then.

Well my wife has always said I am a "ROYAL" pain in the ass....LOL!!!!

Posted by: Roberto Phoenix 11-Aug-2006, 10:12 PM

I traced my natural dads family back to Casper Broemer a blacksmith from Saxe?-Weimer, Germany in the 1840's One of his son's (Christian Theodore) married a Emma Solomon from Cornwall.One of their son's (Christian Fredrick) married a Harriette Kelly(daughter of Robert Kelly and Mary van Stone). Haven't been able to find oout were Robert & Mary were born but I sure wish I knew because it would be another Celtic connection. One of their sons Edward married Priscilla Laity (another Cornwall surname). One of their son's Harlan married? my mom a Constantini (Italy). I married my wife Sarah.

She can trace her ancestry back to Germany and Ireland. Is there a trend here?
She is desended from aWolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven German side and the Reynolds family (Irish/Scottish?). As a result of the Reynolds connection she is also linked to the Conover family which means she has a ton of famous cousins. I get a small farm in Italy and a blacksmith in germany-she gets G. Bush, Roosevelt, Nixon, the Wright Brothers, and somehow decended from a Adam Linn (1802-1880) Laird of Loch Linn who married Ann Elizabeth Schenck fifth cousin og Pres. William G. harding.. The family castle Nydeggen built in 1246 is still there in the Duchy of Gelre or Gelderland (Germany near the Dutch border).
Boy, do I feel inadaquete

Posted by: ��c�b 11-Oct-2006, 08:51 AM

My grandfather, and other family members, have traced my direct lineage back to Amesbury, Wiltshire, England to Richard Carpenter of Amesbury. I don't know much about him, but his son, William, came to the United States bef. 1630 (I think it was 1626) and settled in Rhode Island with Roger Williams and other early families of Rhode Island. He married Elizabeth Peake Arnold in Providence, which is how I claim to be related closely to the infamous Benedict, the guy who tried to betray West Point to the British during the American Revolution. William and his father-in-law, William Arnold, wrere two of the 14 originial charter members of the first Baptist church on American soil, so there's something to be proud of!

My paternal grandfather's side also has a line going back to the 17th century in Scotland, the earliest known person in this line being Samuel Williamson, who was born in Ffshire (I think that's how you spell it). Grandpa's mom is directly descended from Irish immigrants James and Mary Kiernan, who supposedly owned a bar near the Rockefeller Center in New York.

My grandmother's side has some interesting history, one line going back to 1570 with the birth of Paulus Vautrin, who was a noted friend of Martin Luther and mayor of several German towns. The Vautrins would eventually remove to Alscace, Lorraine, France and the immigrants to the U. S. would eventually become the Wotrings and Woodrings. One of my grandmother's ancestors, Cora Prudence Felton m. Abraham D. Wotring, has a possible royal descent through either her direct ancestor, Nathaniel Felton (the line connecting Nathaniel's known, but is not being revealed at this moment in time, at least that's what the Felton family historian told me in an eMail), or a possibly through her mother, Mary McHenry, whose mother might've been Jo(h)anna Ogle. Jo(h)anna's line traces to John Ogle, who traces back to Sir William Ogle of Choppington. William's mother, Maud Gray m. Sir Robert Ogle, was the granddaughter of John de Mowbray and Elizabeth de Seagrave, of which you can go through either to get a line back to the Plantagenet kings of England, then ultimately William the Conquerer, Charlemagne, and the Merovingians.

My mother's side is shrouded in mystery pretty much. My great-grandmother from that side was a McCoy, whose family was of Scottish descent. Her husband, Oscar Pierce, was descended from Irish immigrants. My great-great grandfather from Grandma Pierce was a Caldwell, whom I assume was of Scottish descent. However, none of my mother's lines have been traced back past the Civil War.

Posted by: Donajhi 12-Sep-2007, 10:32 AM

My family history goes back to 574AD.
I am lucky because the work was done for me. I inherited the family
trunk full of letter, scrolls, documents and etc. I don't think I appreciate
the history, not having to search for it.
I wish everyone speedy links to your family.

Posted by: Gwynhwyvar 23-Sep-2007, 06:47 PM

I have my maiden name traced back to about 1690 - roughly. One branch of my husband's family is traced back to the early 1200's and another branch has it traced back to Biblical times - we had some information and some how miraculously someone else had all the other information with all the necessary documentation and backing. Each name in both our families we have traced back to as far as possible at this time.

Posted by: oldraven 03-Oct-2007, 05:43 AM

I can't recall the number of generations, but I did trace my father's Reeves line back to 1749, when John Reeves arrived in Chedabucto (Halifax) with his wife. My Aunt has the MacLean line traced back to Scotland, but I haven't gotten a copy for myself yet.

Posted by: Leyland 26-Nov-2007, 02:29 PM

English ancestors who owned property and left wills behind are great for researching back as far as the Domesday Book for some modern day folks. Or at least back to the 15thC and going forward. The English are fantastic archivists! I have several "gateway" colonial Virginia and Maryland English immigrant ancestors that descend from major and minor Anglo-Norman families so the lines can go back another 500 years. Many of the Virigina colonists were younger sons of landed families that served an indenture in order to get to the New World and earn their own property (since the oldest son would inherit all property). Once established, they tended to marry from the class they left behind in England.

My Scots lines usually hit brick walls at about the 16thC. And I have several French Huguenot lines documented from the 16thC and 17thC.

But it is really fun to find explorers, military heroes and leaders, renowned musicians, patriots and prisoners of war, learned scholars and pastors, skilled laborers, and just good people all in your family's history.

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 10-Dec-2007, 11:10 AM

On varied sides of my family I have had varied success, but the line I ma most pleased by is my fathers mothers lineage, I have that all the way to the 1200's we are of the Clan Cathcart. And though I have other lineages that one is the one I feel most drawn to, and whereas my Paternal Grandmother has no one to carry her memory I have chosen to do that so that the lineage may be preserved.

Posted by: thecelticgiraffe 18-Jan-2008, 07:40 AM

Only a few lucky individuals can trace their lines back much before 1600. These are the families who's names have a clearly defined origin. Sweeney would be such a name since the creation of the name is well known and it only occurred in one clan, and so ALL Sweeney's are related. But even then, there may have been some adoptions, or copy-cats along the way, distorting the lineage some. I have done genealogy for 6 years, and professionally, and have seen all the potential pitfalls of claiming any type of lineage back before 1600. There simply were very few records written before then, and most of those that were are lost. As well many people of course, chose the same names. Luckily the Celtic countries many times had very unique names that make it nearly certain that you are part of a particular clan history. Names like Jordan, or Reddick that don't belong to a certain clan history are hard to trace, if not impossible. Either of those two examples could be Irish, Scotish, English or German!

So it is important to realize that if you are claiming to have a history of your family long before 1600, you probably do not have a totally correct history! Most of that would be speculation compiled by someone along the way.

But there is good news! I can't find the article anymore, but mathematicians and social scientists and genealogist have shown that the population actually "turns over" in a certain number of years (like 900). What this means is that ALL of us are actually descendants of any famous person that lived lets say 1000 years ago....people like Charlemagne, etc. Especially if you are of the same race. So..let's say if you are a caucasian male or female it is certain that you are a descendant of William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, etc. This is absolute and not just speculation.

Now what remains is to show the written proof! But YOU DO descend from them.

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 18-Jan-2008, 08:49 AM

You are correct, however there are some exceptions that you did not note, for example the Clan Cathcart, our family goes back to the 1200-'s documented in Scottish History and the Lineage came to America in the 1600's and following the history was documented in early American History for action in the Revolutionary war. I am the US Clan Chieftain, as such I am working to create a complete history of all the Cathcart lines in the US. The name was origonally Keithkert but changed before they got to America. If you know anyone of the Cathcart lineeage PLEASE contact me with their contact information.

Posted by: Sekhmet 18-Jan-2008, 01:03 PM

There are a few lines of mine that stretch back into the "mists of time" as it were. But they're few and far between, and the degree of documentation varies wildly. For most Americans the major hurdle is finding that hop over to the old country and establishing that:

1. The information on the passenger lists is accurate. I've run into everything from inaccurate name spelling (literacy being what it was) to not counting the women and children.

2. That they're not listing the last port of call, but the passenger's country of origin.

3. There's records regarding the family still extant "back there". On occasion we've been blessed with finding relatives back in Europe who had family information, or we found the parish the family belonged to, and for a miracle they still had records.

Otherwise most documented American lines end at the Atlantic Ocean.

Posted by: Shadows 18-Jan-2008, 07:17 PM

One of the things about my mothers side of the family is their passion for keeping birth and death records, etc ...

The family tree I list above has been well preserved and documented in our family book ( footnotes, etc on where the info was extracted ).

Our family lived in southern MD for many years after helping establishing the community of Saint Marys City and we have the fmily records to prove it, that part of the family goes well back into history in England and France.

Posted by: Sekhmet 20-Jan-2008, 02:02 PM

Oooh, I was just reading up on St. Mary's a few weeks ago. Particularly we were looking at the rosaries that are part of their artifact collection, since it's not only an example of (very) early Colonial Catholic religious items, but it spans that space between the old country and the new, showing what rosaries were like back "home" at the same time.

...hey, when you make rosaries from other periods this is fascinating...LOL

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 20-Jan-2008, 02:22 PM

It might be of interest for you to know that "Rosary Beads" were borrowed form the Hindu Religion which in turn had given them to the Buddhist religion. The Buddhist set has 108 beads and were made of bones.

Posted by: Sekhmet 20-Jan-2008, 06:05 PM

Yep, they sure did. Ditto chaplets and similar devices. And the English word "bead" actually comes from "bede" which originally meant "prayer", stemming from their use in rosaries, etc.

Posted by: UlsterScotNutt 15-Feb-2008, 04:39 PM

It has been very interesting reading these posts on family.

My family on my fathers side has been fortunate to have a family book dating to 1840 or so and recording the family back to its immigration to America and also forward as the family grew. The family regularly had gatherings annually for well over a hundred years. I am just discovering my family tree and have been fortunate to have alot of information both written and verbal to learn from.

I tell the story how when I was very young ,I think 4th grade I got into a fight with another student last name Campbell because I called him a name because my father said they kicked us out of Scotland. The nun, I went to Catholic school, who broke up the fight asked why we were fighting and Campbell said I called him a name, she asked what name and he said " Scoundrel", now , neither of us knew what a scoundrel was but thats what I called him. I think the nun was laughing.

I am Fred McNutt, son of Frederick Augustine, son of Fred Cornelius, son of Cornelius Cochran, son of Cornelius Cochran, Sr, son of Abraham, son of James Nutt, son of Abraham, son of James Nutt, born 1690 Ulster, Ireland who immigrated to America about 1730 with wife Anne and son Abraham born 1717, Londenderry, Ulster, Ireland. I have a hole in info on Anne's maiden name, birthplace and date. Big thanks to my distant cousin Nancy M for all her help.

Thats as far as I have.

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 15-Feb-2008, 07:25 PM

The Cathcart family name comes from a bend in the river Cath in Scotland. BTW a further comment here on a post by Sekhmet, did you know that the Roman Catholic Prayer Beads (Rosary) was actually borrowed form the Hindu Religion, and that Jesus had warned followers not to use vain repetitious prayers?

Posted by: Shadows 16-Feb-2008, 11:10 AM

QUOTE (Sekhmet @ 20-Jan-2008, 03:02 PM)

In your research into St Marys City I will bet you the name Gardiner came up often ...

They were on the original crossing, they were escaping persicusion of the Catholics in England... My great uncle Harold Gardiner,SJS even wrote a novel about this event. I belive the tilte is " Edmund Champion ".

Posted by: rpeirson 28-Feb-2008, 04:12 PM

I have been trying to trace the family but find impasses along the way. Both my Grandmothers have a German line and once you get to Germany there records are amazing even with all the wars. I was able to trace them back to the 1500's
now my scotish and Irish Grandfathers I get just back to the old country and am at a loss to continue. We will keep trying and hope to get more information.

I find just knowing where my ancester where in the time line of history is very interesting, matching up events near there area you get to know a feeling of who they were. knowing who they were helps to know who you are, I think.

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 28-Feb-2008, 04:23 PM

I have found a great deal of my family History on a website www.myheritage.com accounts are free and you can, that had some oi get help from others working the same lines. I got contacted by a distant cousin with information I had been looking for and information I had not even known to be looking for.

Posted by: Sekhmet 01-Mar-2008, 01:08 AM

QUOTE (Shadows @ 16-Feb-2008, 12:10 PM)

QUOTE (Sekhmet @ 20-Jan-2008, 03:02 PM)

The name has popped up more than once, yep.

Turns out the Jesuits who founded the church in Maryland also branched out into the Philadelphia area (which was considered Maryland by some for quite some time), and helped to found the Goshenhoppen settlement, which...if you can't already tell by the name...was mainly populated by German Catholics.

Turns out my great (just fill in some greats in there) grandfather came from a long line of carpenters, and he built the first Catholic church in the settlement, and the state.

Then his grandson was the sixth Catholic family to cross the mountains into Western Pennsylvania, and he built the first two churches out here, the first two incarnations of St. Vincent Archabbey.

*His* grandson donated the land nearby which turned into the first convent in the state. Possibly the country, but I can't remember offhand. That's St. Xavier, which is now under the Sisters of Mercy based out of Pittsburgh.

I still have to slog through the records for both St. Vincent and Goshenhoppen and untangle all of those families. So much for my father's battle cry of "we ain't related to no $(*$#(*& Catholics", eh? Heh. It's been a busy month.

Posted by: Druid_of_Ark 01-Mar-2008, 01:34 AM

Interestingly many now honour the Jacobites, but the Jacobites were primarily Catholics that backed the Stewart line for King of Scotland. Which is a plus for them, they nearly freed Scotland from the invading English! But alas the French never came through with the promised aid. It is sad that the French have a long history of not honouring their commitments to their allies.

Posted by: Patch 19-Apr-2008, 06:26 PM

My mothers geneology goes back to the early 1700's in Ireland, Co Wicklow. We know little about my maternal Grandfather as he was an orphan. My fathers paternal geneology goes back to Inverness Scotland, early 1600's. My paternal Grandmothers family is from Co's Kerry and Cork. We have little of that lineage yet. On my better days, I work on that. I only wish I had an interest when my Grandparents were alive.

Sl�inte,��

Patch

Posted by: Camac 19-Apr-2008, 09:11 PM

My step-father's family goes back to the 7th century. My biological father's family to at least the 10th century. Possible further.

Posted by: fionadunbar 20-Apr-2008, 06:38 AM

Hi Im amazingly fortunate, on my Dunbar side I can say the names of my grandfathers for 29 generations (about 1000 years). there are a few reasons for this

1 is a distant relative is a geneologist. she maintains an amazing websight I can access .

2 even without her we have a handwritten pedigree that came out with the family in 1837 and is exactly as accurate as the geneologist so it seems our past has been very important to our family.

3 the scots are such good record keepers and fierce defenders "of a bit of granite" , I can read every single legal skirmish the family has ever been in !! )

4 the family were noble so records were kept in the great records and royal seals,my great granfather was the youngest son of 5 generations of the youngest sons so that means no inheritance and off to the new world to find his way.

My most famous ancestor is Thomos Randolph who lead the northern vangard in the Battle of bannockburn,, apparently he married Isobel Bruce, Robert de Bruce's daughter .Their daughter was Black Agness who defended Dunbar Castle from the English for 5 months and won the seige.

Also Robert 11 Stewart is a direct ancestor, his daughter Marjory married a Dunbar (Robert had 21 legitimate children so many scottish family's share descent to Robert 11) .

The Dunbar's are still represented in burkes peerage by a" Gospatrick Dunbar in Scotland" and an American has clamed Cheif of clan status for a different branch of the family 'The Mochrum Line"

So I'am very proud of all this and only really discovered it all in 2005 when full acsess to the websight was achieved .Since then I've been to Scotland and visited many of the castles and churches and graveyards accociated with my family line.
I got to see how the oldest of the oldest sons inhereted. My family isn't rich but the values of education and family pride do run very strong in our family .My Dunbar's were hereditery sherrifs and chancellors of universities and i must say we still seek civic leadership roles. I myself feel like a princess, I just have a smaller castle that's all.

The other side is wild west bog Irish from Connemarra Ireland that cannot be traced past 1850. I'm equally proud of this side of the faily and love CONNEMARRA so there you go

Posted by: Harlot 20-Apr-2008, 01:43 PM

I've tracing for a little while now and know that my great grandfather Edward King immigrated from England in 1855 when he was 10 or 11 not sure what his parents names are, been having problems finding that. He settled down In Jamestown Indiana,married Sarah (last name n/a). They had one son named James Arthur,born 1882
My grandmother's side, John Kankamp, her father was born in Indaina in June of 1849 and his parents came from Germany. His wife Mandy was born in July of 1833 in Indiana.I can't find a last name for her.I know her parents came from England and Indiana.They had 4 sons and a daughter my grandmother Pearl.
In 1910 James and Pearl were living in Jamestown Indiana. They had 3 sons and 2 daughters one of which was my father Raymond Arthur King. In 1930 they moved to Bronson Michigan. He married my mother Pauline Davis in April 1950 and had my brother James Arthur and I,Mitzie Rae. I know about my mother's side of her family,they were better at keeping records.
A man that I work with his sister is going to see if she can help me with all my unanswered questions,she likes to do that so have at Judy and a BIG THANKS TO HER.

Posted by: jbarron 19-May-2008, 03:32 PM

I would love to hear from anyone who might know about Stewarts living in the Kilmaurs Parish/Riccarton area around 1780-1840. My 3x great grandfather was John Stewart (b. 1816, Riccarton), married to Margaret Steele. He was a weaver and according to the Scottish census, she was a bonnet maker. I have some information on their family (if anyone else is interested) and our roots trace down through their daughter Mary.

I think his father was also John Stewart, mother possibly Janet Tennant (spelling is questionable)...but I am finding little information on them so far. They both would have been born maybe around 1785-1790.

The other side of my family traces back to Cornwall, England.

Posted by: TheCarolinaScotsman 19-May-2008, 08:37 PM

I have recently taken my Mackay line to about 1060 AD. That is about as far as "reliable" info goes. If I use "tradition", I can go to Ireland, before the Scots started Dal Riada. But everything before 1060 is, to my mind, highly questionable if not outright legend.

Posted by: UlsterScotNutt 05-Jun-2008, 03:46 PM

QUOTE (fionadunbar @ 20-Apr-2008, 07:38 AM)

The other side is wild west bog Irish from Connemarra Ireland that cannot be traced past 1850. I'm equally proud of this side of the faily and love CONNEMARRA so there you go

Connemara is absolutely breathtaking, that was one of, if not our favorite place on our limited and short time visit to Ireland. Let me tell you about this baby sheep and momma I happened to know there.............

I decided to take a family DNA test, marker 37, to determine family lines.I am also making a concerted effort to get past 1690 in Ireland, though I know how difficult this can be.
Our family record book goes back to this date, 1690, documented and fully researched.
Hopefully the DNA test will also help clarify my clan lines.

Posted by: McRoach 10-Feb-2009, 02:27 PM

I thought I was doing well getting one or two bloodlines back to the late 1500's but it pales in comparison to some of the posts I have read here.

Anyone know if you can access geneology or census records online from Denmark and Ireland prior to the 1800's?

Posted by: Sekhmet 10-Feb-2009, 09:05 PM

Of all of the things that I have ever read over the years concerning records prior to the (late) 1800s is that unless you luck out and sources are made public by online means or otherwise, you need at minimum to know in what locale and parish/church your relations resided. And *then* it's even a shot in the dark because of loss of records over time. Not to say that it's impossible...just exceedingly difficult.

Posted by: S�meag 03-Mar-2009, 04:55 PM

I've traced one line back to 1799! I thought that was an achievement, since most of the branches don't go back further than the 20th century.

Posted by: celticlord 22-Apr-2009, 08:15 PM

I have traced my family name on my fathers side to 1545. On my mothers side I have only got to the early 1800's..

Posted by: Harlot 22-Apr-2009, 08:57 PM

One of my Aunts traced the Lawrence side all the way back to the Mayflower. She did this so she could join DAR. Now my daughter would like to join so I am getting all the information needed. Keeping it going daughter, granddaughter and I. We even found out there were Free Masons on that side.

Posted by: Shenaniganz247 23-Aug-2009, 05:35 AM

I have gotten back to the 1500's on my mothers side (Bruce and Duncan) but only to about 1800 on my fathers side ( Nash, Shoemaker). Found some really interesting stuff tho.

Posted by: MDF3530 23-Aug-2009, 01:10 PM

I haven't really started, but I know that my dad's maternal grandfather was an orphan so that's as far back as I can go there.

Posted by: coastman 17-Sep-2009, 01:48 PM

As of today I am the year 1732 Londonderry Ulster. My goal is to go to Belfast and see how much further I can go back in my family's genalogy past. Today I received a copy of letter requesting a pension of $91.57 from a Revoluntary War Soldier. This soldier is 6 generations removed from me if my math is correct. The date of this letter is 31 Dec. 1835. I am working on my family's lineage to join the SAR for the male heirs and female heirs for the DAR.

Posted by: Ainwyn 29-Sep-2009, 12:31 AM

My maternal grandfather has been the family (by which I basically mean clan, as it's fairly extensive) genealogist for several years now. But like most people here, so far he's only gotten it to whenever someone has crossed the pond, whether that was in the early 1600s or a few generations ago. We know when part of our family came over from Ireland, but not when they got to Ireland from Scotland, for example. The maiden name of the woman who came to the US was Bugge, and I can't for the life of me find that anywhere, though it's Anglo-sounding. I'd like to be able to find traces of our family while they were still in Europe, but I hardly have time at the moment.

My dad just got some information from his side of the family, but I haven't gotten a chance to look at it yet. I know that we'll only be able to go back a little ways for part of that side, as my great-grandmother never told anyone who the father of her daughter was. Oh well, it's a journey, no?

Posted by: TheCarolinaScotsman 29-Sep-2009, 03:34 AM

QUOTE (Ainwyn @ 29-Sep-2009, 02:31 AM)

The maiden name of the woman who came to the US was Bugge, and I can't for the life of me find that anywhere, though it's Anglo-sounding.

Found the following table for Bugge on surname list at Rootsweb. Looks like best bets would be Denmark and Norway.

Surname From To Migration Submitter Comment
BUGGE 1260 1450 DNK>NOR REBgen
Bugge 1800 now MN skippp
BUGGE 1860 NOR>MN SUSANLAU

Posted by: Ainwyn 29-Sep-2009, 09:57 PM

Thanks!!!! I figured if there was a place I could go to ask that, this would be that place! Denmark and Norway would be very new editions to my family's heritage. I didn't think we liked it that far north! lol I'll have to let my grandfather know

Posted by: kankamp 01-Feb-2011, 09:15 AM

QUOTE (Harlot @ 20-Apr-2008, 02:43 PM)

If you want to know about the Kankamps contact me. My mother & your father were cousins. Mandy = Amanda Ellen Sailor b July 21,1857 In d Feb 21,1946 Bronson, MI married June 18,1882 Steuben Co., IN Pam

Posted by: TetonAndDistrictPerformingArts 05-Oct-2015, 12:01 AM

My grandfather got all the way back to 1647 on one side.

The other side is a bit more difficult. Apparently, during WWII, the area outside Glasgow( Bridgeton) was heavily bombarded with VI & VII rockets. A lot of records were lost.

I have the copies of my Great-grandparents marriage, and my grandfather's birth certificate. But, that is where it stops. My grandfather immigrated in 1905, at age 10.

Posted by: danielle73 25-Oct-2017, 08:30 AM

Hi. I have a cousin that went to Ireland about 25 to 30 years ago and he found one or two cousins there. His name is Mark Waters. He met with our long lost cousins in Ireland and matched our family tree with theres. and sure enough it matched. I would love to keep in contact with them. We might have lost contact for a while. We are yet to get in contact again. We live in Australia now. My family left by ship about 150 - 200 hundred years ago. My name is Danielle.

Posted by: danielle73 25-Oct-2017, 08:58 AM

My cousins name is Mark Waters. My mothers name is Pauline Jenkins. My name is Danielle Edwards. My cousin Mark Waters went to Ireland about 25 - 30 years ago, to find some cousins he researched through the family tree, that did not migrate to Australia. and he found one or two of them. They, i hope will remember this meeting my cousin way back, and i am wanting to find them and to keep in contact with them. . daniellechristine38@.

Not a good idea to post your email; address.

Posted by: Robert Phoenix 18-Dec-2023, 05:13 PM

Did the Ancestry thing last year but I only started working on the tree about two weeks ago. So far the earliest is on my mom's side to a Giovanni Erspamer in 1735. On my Dad's side there is a Stephen Kelly (married to Joan Rickard) that goes back to 1772 in Cornwall.

Posted by: CelticRoz 20-Jan-2024, 02:00 AM

Robert, sounds like you are making great progress on your ancestry. Any new developments since this past December?

Posted by: KelticKouple 11-Mar-2024, 10:03 AM

My wife can trace her heritage back to one of three brothers who fought for the Jacobites at Culloden.

Me, I can go back 4 generations and in that time I have a bootlegger during prohibition, are member of the KKK and the victim of an unsolved murder. Why on Earth would I want to keep digging?