  Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1078 Registered: 11-2003 |
I'm just starting to research my family history. I have the book Polish Roots and have just begun to read it. I'd be curious to hear from people who have researched their history and how far back they were able to go. Any other advice would be much appreciated. | ||
Maof2 Member Username: Maof2 Post Number: 1321 Registered: 06-2008 |
I'm sure you'll hear from Ray1936. He's big into genology. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2714 Registered: 07-2004 |
I have been researching family history for about 10 years. Got my Dad's family traced back to 1825, when his paternal grandmother was born; my Mom's family back to 1830 when her paternal grandfather was born. I did this using Ancestry.com, using census records. I was surprised to get even this much information, being that they were African-American, and were not registered on the census until 1870. My husband's family was easier to trace. There were others who researched branches of his family, so I piggybacked on their research. His paternal great-grandfather was born in the very early 1800's in Indiana; Indiana research is relatively easy because they have copious amounts of records available. I would suggest that you open a subscription to Ancestry.com, as they are constantly revising and adding on records to search. Good Luck! Geneology is one of the things I like most to talk about! | ||
Mashugruskie Member Username: Mashugruskie Post Number: 417 Registered: 09-2006 |
Familysearch.org has the 1880 census for free. Ancestry has a few things on it that are free but it's mostly subscription based. Once you're subscribed for a few years, the rates start to go down a little. You can upload and privately store your genealogy for free at Tribalpages.com. You can check old papers at Footnote.com and Genealogybank.com Both subscription based but I plugged in my family's name and found my great grandfather was duped when he was clerk in college, to sell cocaine by his boss (who was a pharmacist.) LOTS of Civil War stuff, too. Rootsweb.com is free. Jewishgen is free. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 671 Registered: 10-2007 |
RJK how much info have you been able to get on your family? Have you determined their place of origin in Poland? | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 3217 Registered: 10-2003 |
I did most of my genealogy research back in the dark ages when I was in college...and there was no Internet! Using the Burton Historical Collection, since both my parents' families had been in Detroit at least a couple generations, I was able to trace my dad's mother's line back to the founding of Detroit, and my mom's mother's line back to the Mayflower. Other lines have been traced back to their arrival in America in the mid-1800s from Ireland and Germany. Back then I did a lot of letterwriting to churches and cemeteries and worked some of the family sites onto our vacation itinerary to visit local courthouses and cemeteries as well as distant relatives. It was quite an adventure. And I did self-publish an 80-page genealogy on one of the family lines. A cousin put together a family history for a reunion nearly 20 years ago. So all of my research is on paper at this point. One of these years, after I retire, I'll think about compiling it electronically. In the meantime, I've created some streamlined ancestral charts customized for my two sons and my four siblings and each of their children to show their ancestry from our French forefathers and Mayflower ancestors, accompanied by a Detroit 300 keyring and a Mayflower ornament respectively. I'm now working on one about our Irish ancestors that will include photos and be accompanied by a heraldic keyring or coaster. Just a way to enlighten the new generations so that maybe some day they will be intersted in learning more. Good luck, rjk! Be sure to get as much info about the family and their daily lives from your living relatives as possible. I certainly was able to get the names and dates and places when I was doing the research, but neglected to ask about the family life and traditions. | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1079 Registered: 11-2003 |
"Have you determined their place of origin in Poland?" I do know the town where one of my grandmothers was born. My grandfathers discharge papers from WW1 list him as being born in Russia, but it is my understanding that the town in which he was born in now in Poland with the movement of the boarder. I'm going to have to call a relative who has the discharge papers to get the town in which he was born. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 672 Registered: 10-2007 |
Once you determine their birthplaces, it's fairly easy to get their records. Hopefully the town is not one of the many that have duplicate names all over Poland. That complicates things a lot. Name of the town, then the powiat which is the subdistrict of sorts, then the district, or wojewodztwo which will get you in the ball park for searching at the LDS for records. Go here to do this online: 0,0, LDS Place Search Locating the right parish, and records, depends on the location and existence of the records themselves. Type in the name of the subdistrict first, then in part of, put Poland. Compare the results with the known facts about the town and powiat that you identified.The towns are listed in the records you will pull up. Compare to a map for surrounding towns if you have to. It should lead you right to the correct set of records. If you are local, the Roseville LDS FAmily History Center has a man that helps out in the center that can read Cyrillic (Russian) somewhat, as well as Polish. He's not there all the time though. The nice thing about the records is, even if they are in Cyrillic, they wrote the name of the person you are searching for in western characters, (like this) in the marks. So you can print them and then get someone to translate. (Message edited by townonenorth on January 10, 2009) | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 6317 Registered: 12-2005 |
Before the internet, my aunt researched our family geneology and made customized copies for everyone in the family. It makes great Christmas presents! She was able to burrow 18 generations all the way back to Richard Olmstead who was born about 1430 in Olmstead Hall, Essex, England. From there the trail fades into uncertain records dated 1367. Oh, to have a time machine! | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3776 Registered: 01-2005 |
Rjk, be forewarned....it's addictive. Once you're hooked, you're unable to give it up; it gets into your blood, literally. That said..... Like Leoqueen, I've been into this 'hobby' for about ten years also. Mom was born in Germany in 1916 and emigrated to the US with her parents in 1923, but she maintained contact with all the "old German relatives" until her death last year. Well, one of those old relatives sent me a floppy disk ten years ago with all of mom's ancestors back to 1660 in Bavaria and Austria. Then he followed it up with copies of all the old birth and marriage certificates from the parish churches. "Wow!", I thought, "I wonder if I can trace Dad's ancestry like that?".....and thus began the search. The search has been an amazing adventure, and has taken me to Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Utah, California, and -- of course -- Michigan. Anyway, the bottom line is I traced back my male line to 1530 in Bradninch, Devon, England. Further, thanks to my paternal grandmother, I can also trace roots to my 8th great grandparents, who happened to be John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the Mayflower. That amazed me. Noted cousins that I can document include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John and John Quincy Adams, Dan Quayle, Princess Diana (and thus, William and Harry), Orson Welles, and Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. Much more important are living cousins I discovered and made contact with that were previously unknown to me. That includes one that I bumped into in a deserted cemetery in Freeport, Kansas, at twilight on a Sunday evening that was an unforgettable experience. So do get into it! It can be frustrating, but the rewards more than make up for the frustration. I do recommend a one-year subscription to Ancestry.com. It will get you started, and I'd also visit my nearest LDS (Mormon) Family History Center. They will be more than glad to assist. I'll also post some outstanding web sites on the next "response" in this thread. Stay tuned! | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3777 Registered: 01-2005 |
Search site of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons): http://www.familysearch.org/En g/Search/frameset_search.asp Links to death index databases for all 50 states: http://www.deathindexes.com/in dex.html Cindy's List of Genealogy web sites: http://www.cyndislist.com/ US Genealogical Web, connections to all county genealogy web sites in 50 states: http://usgenweb.org/ Castle Garden, search site for immigrants to the US before the 1893 opening of Ellis Island: http://www.castlegarden.org/ Ellis Island search site: http://www.ellisisland.org/ Note: Do not use the above with .com as an extention; that is a commercial site that has no real connection with Ellis Island. And by all means, google "Polish Genealogy" for a wealth of information! Good luck and let us know how the search goes! | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2231 Registered: 08-2007 |
Rjk, I too have been bitten by the bug, and while I'm not as active as I once was, I've found it is a challenging and rewarding waste of time. That said, I suggest you venture off to your local public library. Thanks to John Engler, every public library in Michigan has a full subscription to Ancestry.com. There you'll be able to find your family's imigration papers which should list their city and country of origin, along with who their sponsor was, how much cash they had and if they had something wrong with them. Like folks have said, it is adictive, but in a good way. I've found long lost cousins, re-discoverd homes where my early Michigan pioneers lived and in general had a good experience. Stay away from the "pay" sites. Besides Ancestry.com most pay sites are long on promises and short on everything else. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3780 Registered: 01-2005 |
Oh, yeah, if you can get Ancestry.com free at the library, by all means go that route. Good tip, Gnome. | ||
Eriedearie Member Username: Eriedearie Post Number: 4401 Registered: 08-2007 |
Wonderful tip Gnome! I had no idea you could access Ancestry.com free from the library. Oh, I'm gonna try that for the rest of my research. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 673 Registered: 10-2007 |
Just one thing about Ancestry and other family genealogy sites, is that the sources are only as good as what gets put into them. Lots of spurious genealogies out there, puffed up so everyone and their brother can have kings, queens and whatever royal blood in their tree. Fact checking should always be primary, as well as your own research. And, not every library has Ancestry free to everyone. Check before you go. Mine doesn't have it. Statewide access was eliminated in 2007. It was replaced by Heritage Quest, which can be accessed at home. Click on Genealogy on the left. Mel catalog (Message edited by townonenorth on January 10, 2009) | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2232 Registered: 08-2007 |
T1N, I didn't know state-wide access was eliminated in '07. Sorry, if I mis-lead anyone. | ||
Mashugruskie Member Username: Mashugruskie Post Number: 418 Registered: 09-2006 |
Heritage.com is free at libraries! I second what Townonenorth said. I've had people link up to my direct tree (Detroit side) and they're so far out in left field that I've had to delete the whole tree to preserve facts instead of the fairytale that "other" person was placing on my tree. THERE IS NO STANLEY IN MY FAMILY! Hope you're reading! | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3783 Registered: 01-2005 |
I want you all to know that in the past ten years, I have sent at least $500 to the State of Michigan for death certificates (at $26 a crack). Tryin' to help the economy back there.....  | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 674 Registered: 10-2007 |
Heritage is free at home as well, at least for the next year anyway. I did play with the Ancestry family searcher at the LDS once, came up with a few interesting hits, like Ray's mostly. Not as many of course. Just tried a few ancestors that I remembered off hand. It's fun, but nothing in the direct line, mostly just cousins X time removed. Interesting to see the relations, as distant as they might be. I hope that Rjk finds the relations that are being searched for. In looking around for my family, I always see people searching for their Polish roots in the USA, hoping for some help. It's hard if you don't have the right info. Mash, it's funny how people will do that with your trees. Or just outright steal your info. I've seen family linked by others to all sorts of English nobility. Sometimes you just gotta accept that you just aren't linked from royalty or famous people. Somebody has to be decended from the serfs... | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 7524 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks Rjk for this thread, I had wanted to share with Ray1936 a tidbit about our family genealogy. I have recently moved into a new home after 16 years in my last one. One of the delights is coming across bits and pieces you know you have but just don't remember where you put it. I rediscovered the copy of the family tree which dates back to my Great-great grandfather born c.1820 in Scotland, but orphaned, but the Orphanage burned down leaving a dead end to any earlier records. My Great-uncle compiled all the information in the 70s and distributed copies to the "cousins" around 1980. I know my nephews and nieces are unaware of much of their family background (as many families in this society are), so I thought it would be interesting to show it to them at our holiday party and update it with family data. I was thinking of a website that we could access, and add to for at least our branch of the family. Killing some time on that great Canadian Holiday, I "googled" some of the names from the tree. Imagine the shock I felt, when I clicked on a link and there was my father and mother's names, their 4 children, and 2 of their grandchildren on the screen. Clicking pages previous, the entire family tree that was compiled by my Great-uncle is already published an the web, the site is owned by a very nice gentleman in Sarnia. I emailed him regarding it and if he would like the updates of the generations since that compilation. He quickly responded that he would, and explained one of my distant cousins had given it to him and how his family was related to ours. Hell, after spending a couple of hours on that website, I'm probably related to 1/2 of Central Ontario. Well, at least the WASPs). One of the other tidbits was another site led me to the marital records of Kent County, Ontario of 1890. There I found the wedding date of my Great-grandparents. After over a 1/2 Century of family tradition of being told that until my mother, the family was pure Scots-English, I found out my Great-grat grandmother was Irish. I need a shot of Jamiesons. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 675 Registered: 10-2007 |
Great that you have that site to show the history Jams. Often family oral histories are a little foggy at best. The story was that my GGGrandfather was from Scotland, he wasn't. HIS 5th Great grandfather was though. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2233 Registered: 08-2007 |
A lot of folks just want to collect names, like they're making a phone book or some such thing. I go for primary sources and for stories about person X. What they did, where they lived, who they loved, and the sadness they had. For me that is what makes genealogy come alive. It is the stories behind the people. One such story came from an old Uncle that wasn't buried in the family's Catholic plot. He was across town in the city cemetery. Why? Come to find out in 1927 he killed himself over the guilt he felt involving the drowning death of his best friend. Old newspaper clippings revealed he and his pal where fishing when their boat flipped over; the friend panicked and grabbed on to the Uncle, the Uncle kicked himself free and in-turn the friend died. Five years later the Uncle bit a barrel while "cleaning his gun". At the time suicides weren't allowed to be buried in Catholic cemeteries so that's why the Uncle isn't in the family plot. Much better story than filling in names from the phone book. With genealogy I think you have to always ask, "why". Why did they move to town X and not Y? Why did they marry? Who knew whom? Why? I have a Grandfather that came from County Monaghan Ireland straight to Commerce Township in 1849; built a house, a family, a life; if he had not made that trip, if he'd have endured the Potato Famine instead of leaving everything he knew, I wouldn't be boring you now. Damn him. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 7527 Registered: 10-2003 |
Gnome, You start with the skeleton, (outline), then you flesh it out. My cousins, with whom I've shared the story about our Irish GG-grandmother, have already asked their parents about their "Gram", damn, she was feisty. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3786 Registered: 01-2005 |
Great stories, all! Meet my 1st cuz, 3 times removed (that means the number of generations separating us). He is George W. Downing (1856 - 1937), and this is his photo from the Wyoming State Prison after he was convicted of 1st degree murder. Four years after this 1901 photo he was pardoned by the Governor of Wyoming. Seems the deputy sheriff he shot was in the sack with his wife so he kind of beat the rap after all.  | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1080 Registered: 11-2003 |
Has anyone attended a meeting held by the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan? According to their website the next meeting will be in March. Would it be advantageous for me to attend since I'm just starting out? | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 681 Registered: 10-2007 |
If you are interested in joining, that meeting will be informative, if not mostly procedural. The speaker they have in March is quite good at what she does. You could learn some things from the lecture, perhaps. Try it and see. Ask questions of the members, they all have a lot of experience in the Polish research, it will be helpful. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 3221 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yes, hearing (and meeting) Ceil Wendt Jensen at the PGSM meeting would be beneficial. Check out her website at: http://mipolonia.net/ | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2716 Registered: 07-2004 |
Hey Ray! You are related to my husband and daughter! My husband is related to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow through his great-grandmother, Tamar Longfellow Boswell! The Longfellow family is very well documented. My husband's father was contacted by the Longfellow estate in the 1940's; he inherited some property from them. I dont have any other details, but isnt it interesting! | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2717 Registered: 07-2004 |
Rjk, I would suggest that you check out the genealogy magazines---Ancestry Magazine, Heritage Quest, Family Tree Magazine, Family Chronicle, Everton's Genealogical Helper. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 7533 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'm very excited. My sister just called me to tell me that a cousin contacted her and will be sending her the family tree of my mother's family. My grandfather refused to ever speak of anything of his life in Hungary/Rumania, so we were stymied in searching for any information of direct linkage. The family name is a prominent one dating back to the founding of the kingdom of Hungary, and I am aware of at least 3 books about the family and its estates throughout the history of Hungary, but that stubborn old cuss, just wouldn't give us any clues about our family. My uncle, recently passed, moved to Szged about 10years ago to teach at the University there. He was obsessed with connecting us to the Shakespeare of Hungary (a clue to the family name) did some painstaking research and the results were included with his belongings shipped to her. | ||
Bigb23 Member Username: Bigb23 Post Number: 3219 Registered: 11-2007 |
I hear you Jams, my dad clammed up on his side of the family. But, on my mothers side of the family we have records going back 400 years. I'll give him his do though, WWII vet, Flying Cross with clusters. And a great father. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3798 Registered: 01-2005 |
Leoqueen, I think we're all related to each other in distant ways! Here's my sequence on that line: John Alden (1599-1687) Elizabeth Alden (1624-1717) Priscilla Pabodie (1654-1724) Mercy Wisewall (dates Unk) Peleg Wadsworth (ditto) Zilpha Wadsworth (ditto) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) My line splits off at Priscilla Pabodie. At any rate, HWL is a 5th cuz 4 times removed (5c4r in genealogyspeak) . Your line comes in from his maternal grandmother. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2239 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hey Ray, loved the pic of George. Looks like a real gentle guy. A quick google search "george w. Downing" Wyoming, brought up somebody selling a wanted poster for dear sweet George. http://www.artfact.com/auction -lot/1893-wyoming-wanted-poste r-wanted-poster-11.5in-x-1-c-h dii71ap4i quote: I couldn't figure out if it is currently for sale, or if it was sold ... thought you'd be interested. | ||
Lferg Member Username: Lferg Post Number: 57 Registered: 07-2008 |
I have found a ton of wonderful information on Ancestry and still hold an active subscription. Another site I have found helpful for my Detroit Ancestors is the new LDS site: http://search.labs.familysearc h.org/recordsearch/start.html# p=0 They offer a few census records, birth records (although not very accurate) and marriage records for Detroit through about 1925. Check the local library websites as well. Grosse Pointe and Farmington both offer the local news for free on their sites. I think the Grosse Pointe news dates back to the 40's, but Farmington dates all the way to 1888! I have also had success with Genforum and rootsweb and have found a few distant relatives that way. I really got lucky when I ran a basic Google search for the family name and the country. I found the name of a man researching the family, emailed him, and solved the mystery of my Great Great Grandmother! He has emailed me old family photos, a picture of my GGrandmother's grave, and even a typed manuscript that her cousin wrote about her memories of her family and growing up in Chicago. As someone else stated, watch the information in the family trees but when you find a connection, it's worth contacting them. Good luck! | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3799 Registered: 01-2005 |
Wow, Gnome, that would have been fantastic. Unfortunately, the web site is extremely confusing to sign up for, so I'll just dream on that one. But interesting to know such a poster exists! | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2241 Registered: 08-2007 |
Yeah Ray, just think how cool that would be hanging on the wall. Very cool. You might be able to contact the folk up in Red Lodge, ... Red Lodge is on the northern edge of Yellowstone, its pretty high up right on the edge of the tree line. http://www.carboncountyhistory .com/merc_detail.asp?itemID=WH ENWHISTLEBLOWS Be warned... Red Lodgers hatred for anyone from Nevada is only out matched by their hatred for Detroiters. Spent part on a winter there. Its damn cold. Even in summer. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3801 Registered: 01-2005 |
Thanks to cut and paste, here's my genealogy notes on George W. Downing: From the "Genealogy of the Palmer-Trimble Families": " He went to Nebraska in 1879 where he was married. He is now a licensed Rocky Mountain guide, where he has been (1908) for 29 years. He guides tourists through the Yellowstone National Park, and hunters of big game all through the mountains. Address: Ishawooa, Wyoming". He is not located in the 1900 census, at which time he likely was in custody awaiting his trial in the murder charge discussed below. In 1910, he appears in Ishawooa, Park co., Wyoming; divorced and a farmer. The 1920 census finds him still in Park co., Wyoming, running a ranch of some type. In the 1930 census, he re-appears, divorced, and living with his son, Carl Phillip Downing, in Park county, Wyoming. In 1934, his family petitioned to place him in the Wyoming State Hospital because they could not keep him from wandering off into the mountains and getting lost. He was adjudged insane, but current enlightenment would described his senility as Alzheimer's disease. He died three years later of stomach cancer and other ills, and is buried on the grounds of the hospital. Thanks to the research of Douglas Downing, it is now known that in 1893 George shot and killed a deputy sheriff in Carbon county, Wyoming, He fled into the mountains and was not arrested until six years later. He was tried and convicted in 1900 of second degree murder, and sentenced to 25 years in Wyoming State Prison. However, he was pardoned three years later by the Wyoming governor when extenuating circumstances came to light. It was likely a matter of self-defense. | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1082 Registered: 11-2003 |
What do you do when you have two sources that list two different DOB? My GF's discharge papers list his DOB as 1889 and Lferg's site which listed him under marriages has his DOB as 1890? Is there one document that takes precedent over all others? This afternoon I might stop at the DPL and check out the Burton Historical Collection. What should I be concentrating on? Am I right in assuming that I should make copies of documents? Thanks for all the great info and links. | ||
Lferg Member Username: Lferg Post Number: 58 Registered: 07-2008 |
Hi RJK - One thing I have learned is the old vital records are not always accurate. The birth records for the city of Detroit shows my GGrandfather's date of birth 3 years later. I was able to source his official birthdate using the 1900 census which lists month and year, his draft card for WW1, and also the Michigan death index. As for copies - I keep copies of everything I find, even if I am not certain I have the right person because it may help me later, even if it is just to rule them out. I would look for all the free information you can find online 1st and then use the Burton Collection for the information that isn't available anywhere else, as it can get pricey to pay the charges for copies at the library. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2909 Registered: 01-2004 |
Traced the surname part of my family all the way back to Ireland. Its easier to track lineage if you have any notable people in the chain somewhere. My peeps came over to the american continent with William Penn, and settled in the new Pennsylvania territory. Ages old stories about the family being related to Daniel Boone (everyone who lives in Kentucky makes the same claim) by marriage turned out to be 100% true. Burton is a golden and precious resource, I was able to do the majority of footwork there. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2242 Registered: 08-2007 |
RJK, both my Grandfather and an old uncle had competing Dates of Birth. It usually comes down to when the FATHER got to the County Seat to record the birth. Not to offend anyone, but a father recording a birth asserts legitimacy. I assume that in the bad old days, it could be viewed that a mother could just make up a father's name. On my own birth certificate, it says across the top Certificate of Legitimate Live Birth. I digress... On some records you'll see two dates: one for date of birth, the second for date of record. Same for death records. If your Grandfather was born somewhere in the middle of nowhere, my bet would just be a logistic thing. Like Lferg says, sometimes you have to triangulate the truth through a variety of sources. Word to wise on transcribed documents. Some human transcribed it and humans make all kinds of mistakes. Sometimes spellings get funkified, sometimes the competing date formats messes things up, ie MM/DD/YY vs DD/MM/YY. Sometimes records look like drunken chickens attacked it with ink on their paws. In short, transcriptions are not Primary Sources. Oh, in the real world of big-league genealogy, only Certified Primary Source records count, not photocopies. | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 8281 Registered: 02-2007 |
It was fairly easy for one side of my family -- records have been kept dating back to the 1290s and were placed in a library in the 1870s. the other sides were much more difficult. | ||
Mashugruskie Member Username: Mashugruskie Post Number: 420 Registered: 09-2006 |
Mauser, my ancestor, Valentine Hollingsworth, also came over with William Penn. Val settled in Delaware. I descend through Val's daughter, Catherine Hollingsworth Robinson. They were Quakers. | ||
Mashugruskie Member Username: Mashugruskie Post Number: 421 Registered: 09-2006 |
Rjk, if you're on Ancestry, there should be a registry document for your ancestor's military record. Those who could write had to fill the papers in themselves. There should be something there for him for WWI. An exact birth date in his hand would be sufficient because he had to sign the document and it was witnessed. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3806 Registered: 01-2005 |
Speaking of Quakers, Mashgruskie, if you want a real headache, just get into the Quaker dating system prior to 1752. Their year didn't start until March, and it's just a nightmare adjusting to the true date. Not to mention the change in calendars that year. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2721 Registered: 07-2004 |
I believe that too, Ray, that we are all related! If only all people would treat each other as if they were brothers and sisters! I think I have dates for Peleg Wadsworth and Zilpha Wadsworth; I had a Longfellow family tree in my computer, but two days ago I mistakenly erased my entire hard drive when I did a clean install of Mac OS 10.5. I am pretty sure I have my genealogy stuff backed up on one of my external hard drives; when I find it, I will post. I had uploaded this family tree from an online geneology collegue who had traced the Longfellows and linked them up with the Boswells, who are my husband's family. | ||
Oladub Member Username: Oladub Post Number: 1079 Registered: 08-2006 |
In 1968, I was a geography major at WSU enrolled in Prof. Bunge's 'Geography of Population" course. The Christmas break assignment was to do a family tree including as much information as possible about why and when family members moved from A to B. This was before "Roots". After returning from break we had to give class presentations. The two stories that I remember were those of two Black students. The first went to a family get together in Georgia where he talked to older family members. They claimed that one of the family forefathers was an opera singer who had died in Poland during the Civil War. That made no sense. After that he did some library research and found that there was such an opera singer with the same surname who had died in Poland. The book went on to mention that there was no market for Black opera singers in the US in those days. Somehow, he got to Europe, married a Swede, and was touring Europe. He was on his way to perform in Moscow when he died from pneumonia in Poland. The other Black student said he had no family tree because he didn't even know who his mother was. Prof. Bunge encouraged him to expand upon the circumstances and his story was also an eye opener. This student was born in a southern state. His mother gave him to an aunt to raise as she already had too many children to feed. The mother died or moved. He didn't remember her. When he was 14, he talked a traveling preacher, who went back and forth across the country to take him to Los Angeles. When he applied to enter the LA school system, they demanded a birth certificate. He wrote to the place where he was born but the building housing the birth records had burned down. After three months of back and forth letter writing, a birth certificate was sent - but with a different name on it. It was good enough for LA schools so he adopted a new name for himself. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3824 Registered: 01-2005 |
Good story, Oladub. Black genealogy is a special challenge, and I was fascinated on a PBS special not long ago that traced Oprah Winfrey's 'roots' back to Africa. Turned out that DNA testing disproved she was Zulu, but rather from one of the Western African areas (contrary to her belief). Funny thing about what you learn when you get into this 'hobby'. I am about as non-religious person as you'll find (agnostic, not athiest). Yet my family lines are full of conflicts in seeking religious acceptance. From Mom's line fleeing Austria for Germany during the Reformation (they were Lutherans fleeing Catholic persecution) to Dad's line leaving England for William Penn's Pennsylvania due to their Quaker beliefs, to even ties to the Mormons (which totally blew my mind!). Learning your past is a totally humbling experience. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 2115 Registered: 12-2005 |
Here are some selected Detroit City Directories from the period 1852-1895 that might prove useful in your research. DY forumer Frankg and myself have collaborated to make these available for download to fellow DY forumers. Footnote.com has digitized most of the Detroit City Directories from 1861 through 1923 and even though they are a subscription site, I believe you can search their records for free from this page. Try searching for names here first and if you find them, note the year and then go to the other page and download the directory/directories closest in time to your match on Footnote.com. (Message edited by Mikeg on January 19, 2009) | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 1083 Registered: 11-2003 |
Is ansestry.com considered the best of the pay sites and is it the most comprehensive? I haven't checked any libraries yet to see if they have it but I'm thinking about just purchasing it myself and trying it out. I need to either fix my printer or buy a new one before I pull the trigger on a pay site. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3811 Registered: 01-2005 |
I hate to plug Ancestry.com because I think they charge too much, but, yes, they are the most complete and accurate site of all of them. Most important is the US Census reports which you can search by name. They did the index, which was not done by the Commerce Department. | ||
Chuck_g Member Username: Chuck_g Post Number: 39 Registered: 01-2009 |
Don't forget: there was no Poland for about 130 years. My grandmother insisted her parents came from Poland and it wasn't until I was about twelve I discovered there was no Poland when they came (1914). Years later, I discovered everyone who controlled a given region renamed everything. The towns had three or more names, depending on whether it was in German, Russian, or Polish hands. It was only with the the advent of Google that I had an easy time of it. They came from the Russian partition and the name they called their hometown was the Russian name and the Poles have since renamed it. Once that was settled I had my starting point. | ||
Mashugruskie Member Username: Mashugruskie Post Number: 429 Registered: 09-2006 |
Don't forget Genealogybank.com and Footnote.com. I found a TON of documents pertaining to my family on both. They charge, but you can buy a few days and that's all I needed (along with a late, long night). | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3814 Registered: 01-2005 |
The web site of the LDS (Mormons) is the best FREE search site, but beware; I've found many errors and inaccuracies in their data. http://www.familysearch.org | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2247 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hey Ray, do you have a Jason Downing b. Ohio circa 1985-86 in your family tree? | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3816 Registered: 01-2005 |
No, no Jason, but a lot of my lines have drifted off in the mid 20-th century, so he may well be in the line but I don't have the connection. And there are branches of the line in Ohio. |
