My Pedigree
Before leaving the States, I started researching my family tree (at Ancestry.com). It's really kind of fun, following the chain of names into the past. You notice all sorts of interesting data in your searches. Looking at census data, I find that my great-grandfather had 19 year-old Danish women as servants twice. My grandfather's grandmother was a widowed mother of 8 children by the year 1910.
The search can be frustrating, too. When you're looking for someone with a fairly common name, there can be hundreds of records and no way to tell which one(s) apply.
All in all, I've found it fascinating. Mapping out the major relationship events of a family member that died a hundred years ago intrigues me. How might I have lived in their shoes? How did their experiences shape who I am today? How will my experiences change, knowing what I've learned?
The search can be frustrating, too. When you're looking for someone with a fairly common name, there can be hundreds of records and no way to tell which one(s) apply.
All in all, I've found it fascinating. Mapping out the major relationship events of a family member that died a hundred years ago intrigues me. How might I have lived in their shoes? How did their experiences shape who I am today? How will my experiences change, knowing what I've learned?
Labels: Family
posted by Beav @ 3:31 AM
2 Comments:
At 10:53 AM,
Soo Mi said…
That's how Mister and I discovered we were cosmically connected. I found sources indicating that my grandmother's grandfather had served in a military regiment that picked up an Alabama Union regiment to which Mister's grandfather's grandfather had been assigned. And then Mister and I found each other in the military.
I like karma. :)
When you get back, we'll make a party and road trip of it so Mister can introduce you to the Archives. You can look over census records yourself.
Also, check into the LDS family history website. They've gone to great lengths to copy as many documents as possible. You can stop by a local family history center and arrange a rental of specific rolls of microfilm to be delivered to the FHC so you don't have to go all the way to DC for research.
At 10:55 AM,
Soo Mi said…
Also, there's the SSDI online. If someone has been assigned a social security number, and they're dead, their date of death and the location in which that death was reported will be there.
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