How far back can you trace your family?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

To the Mayflower, John Alden I believe. Probably could keep going from there.

Originally Posted by Red October1984

I know I've got family back on the Mayflower...I just don't know names.

If you don't know the names then you don't know it goes back to the Mayflower. You only know what you can show. Get off yer lazy butts and do some research!

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Oh, and thank you for stepping up and giving your family name. I respect people who are willing to come out from behind the internet wall and show themselves.

I think my relatives fought the Campbells at some point. Proper clan wars.

My late uncle apparently did a lot of research into our family before his death, I've never asked about it directly (like my Grandad's history as a submariner!) but really should. And soon, for you never know when tomorrow will be too late.

[WernherVonTrapp]

My family came to the US sometime around the Irish potato famine period. My family (clans) hail from the counties of Cork and Munster in southern Ireland (yeah, we were southerners too). Great grandparents have served in the GAR during the US Civil War (we have the honorable discharge papers), the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Armistead

The 22nd had a wonderful history. They have the honor of being the farthest to the front during Pickett's charge. He kept a detailed CW journal that we have, along with his sword, uniform and pistol. He was wounded twice, but returned to service. His worse injury being a sabre slash to the achilles.

Well there IT IS.! You don't need to fly any reb flag at all; Just put out the sword with your hat on it in honor of your avatar namesake Gen. Armistead. A small stone wall would be a nice touch too. My forbears were at Hastings (1066 and an allday brawl) with Willy the Bastard of Normandy himself. To get rid of his own thugs and exert control over his new holdings, William dispersed his own treacherous knights with land grants and swiftly built the Tower of London. My forbear, a Flemish squire, was granted the Saxon Bishopric of Witney near present day Surrey; yup, its in the Domesday book Sailor Steve, The family retained the name Witney and eventually arrived in Canada. My sister still has the middle name Whitney.

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I'm told that "Bradfield" goes all the way back to the Saxon invasion of England in the 400s, and was originally "Brodfeld". I haven't done the research myself, so it's just hearsay at this point. Someday I'm going to buckle down and give money to Ancestry.com and do some serious looking. I know nothing of my mother's family past her mother, and I've promised my daughters that I'd look into their mother's antecedents.

But not today.

Oh, and thank you for stepping up and giving your family name. I respect people who are willing to come out from behind the internet wall and show themselves. Same goes to Armistead and several others here.

My wifes aunt married a Farrah of the Polly line.

My wife and I spend all day exploring her ancestors land. She hadn't been in 25 years and boy did we get lost. The maps were crap and no phone signal. We road around dirt roads for a few hours. We finally saw an old black man farming and he gave us directions " go down and turn by the big cedar tree, bout fo miles. Anyway,we found it. We were looking for the original 1700's cabin, lucky a distant relative was mowing. He purchased it and had it restored as historical as possible.

We had never met this man, just had some family relations. He said "go on up and look, I leave the door open so anyone can go in." He was old and full of stories. He reminded me of "Big Fish" in that movie. He told us to come spend the night anytime, that he kept plenty food and drinks in the barn. He says he's never spent a night in it. The family had let it go, he had money, so he purchased it from another family member and restored it. Sadly, when he had someone bulldoze a grown over field of brush, they pushed the oldest graveyard in a gully, but he restored it the best he could.

[soopaman2]

As far back as I have ascertained from great grandparents as a child.

My family came from Sicily to New York City post ww1. (1919-1921)

Before that is hard to find out, as my family last name was changed by the ignorant, unable or unwilling to spell or even care, rednecks at Ellis Island.

My last name was reduced to the region my great grandparents came from. If anyone ever seen the Godfather, it was a similar situation to him being named Corleone, rather than Andolini.

So my past beyond arrival in America is foggy.

[AVGWarhawk]

I will have to take a look at my family tree but I believe I can trace back to the 1600 hundreds. Perhaps earlier. We hailed from Germany.

[Armistead]

One mistake people make in researching is ignoring the genealogy forums and services from whatever nation your family stems from. I joined one in Germany, but couldn't read German, but finally got help. In doing so was able to go back to the 1500's.

[Wolferz]

That's the problem for many of us American mutts. The records of our forbears were either burned, bulldozed or just plain lost in the sands of time.

[Clean Sweep]

I don't have a really "exciting" family history, as we came over in the late 1800s.

My maternal grandfather's grandmother came from Ireland.
My maternal grandmother's grandparents from Spain.
My paternal grandfather's grandparents from Germany.
My paternal grandmother's grandparents from France.

So that would make me fourth or fifth generation American?

All we do know is that on my paternal grandfather's side were nobles back during the German Empire days, and then eventually were members of the Waffen SS during WWII (thankfully we have no affiliation to them).

Other than that we were poor Irish farmers, Spanish pilgrims, and apparently once they came to America, doinked a few Native Americans and so there's Tunica Biloxi tribe in my heritage somewhere.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

That's the problem for many of us American mutts. The records of our forbears were either burned, bulldozed or just plain lost in the sands of time.

Probably because so many fled here with little time for paperwork! Of the three lines I've traced, no one came willingly. My great grand mother left the 'Ozarks' of Bavaria at the turn of the century and knew when to do so. Married in the temple in Brooklyn, she lost track of the rest of the Koenigs back in the fatherland-disappeared as of 1945. History is often written by the timely bugger-outers not just the winners.

[soopaman2]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Probably because so many fled here with little time for paperwork! Of the three lines I've traced, no one came willingly. My great grand mother left the 'Ozarks' of Bavaria at the turn of the century and knew when to do so. Married in the temple in Brooklyn, she lost track of the rest of the Koenigs back in the fatherland-disappeared as of 1945. History is often written by the timely bugger-outers not just the winners.

Alot of people fled here out of desperation and were more than happy to leave Europe behind, they never thought their past as important, only their future.

My family arrived under duress.

The term WOP for italians applied to my family, it means "without papers"
No bull. Alot of Irish arrived the same way, and were equally as despised, must be why we get along so well here in the states to this day,.

My last name was changed. They accepted it out of gratitude. A new name a new start. That was a mere 90 years ago.. I always found that amazing.

I ould love to be able to go back further, but Ellis Island was not too stringent on record keeping.

[Armistead]

Here's a few pics I took this weekend. After driving for a few hours up and down numerous dirt roads we found the 1800's grave site. About 8 years ago they sort of cleaned it out, removed 40 trees. The actual site goes deeper in the wood. Most the larger ones are marked with family names, but about 50-75 simple rock headstones, most belonging to slaves.


A few slave headstones


They're actually 3 family cemeteries on the total propery, one from the 1700's at the original cabin, the larger near the plantation{above pictures} and one from the early 1900's.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Here's a few pics I took this weekend. After driving for a few hours up and down numerous dirt roads we found the 1800's grave site. About 8 years ago they sort of cleaned it out, removed 40 trees. The actual site goes deeper in the wood. Most the larger ones are marked with family names, but about 50-75 simple rock headstones, most belonging to slaves.


A few slave headstones


They're actually 3 family cemeteries on the total propery, one from the 1700's at the original cabin, the larger near the plantation{above pictures} and one from the early 1900's.

Good stuff. Did your forbear shoot at that wicked but inventive Scot, Maj. Ferguson, killed at King's Mtn.? I own a Ferguson rifle and Zane Gray wrote a book of the same title. Prefer my two-band Enfield and Colt Navy though. Perhaps I could march my 14 Tenn. brigade on that road... unpaved is easier on the feet than McAdamized especially on one of our too-real 20 milers with packs in the heat. We'd only hep o'selfs to a few ears o' corn!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Good stuff.

Not to be mean, but there's really no reason to repost all the pictures, or any of them, when they're on the same page. Cutting the pictures and just leaving relevant words works just as well, and takes up a lot less space.