How far back can you trace your family history?

[Tippiechick]

I have been able to go really far back on both of my sides.

I have found both sides to be First Families of VA. I have Rev. War, Civil War, War of 1812 vets in the family. I have also traced back to England, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, France all to at least the 1500s. I have found ties to the Tudors of England, Taliaferros of Italy, Campbells of Ireland and Scotland, and French royal ties linking to Catherine de Valois.

The strangest thing I have found is that way back when (we're talking early settling of Tennessee), I have tied my husband's family to mine. I have also tied my maternal and paternal lines to each other. It seems MANY of the families intermarried.

We still are having trouble on my paternal side, though. It seems NO one wants to talk about being Melungeon or having Native American roots, although I find it awesome.

There's a Melungeon thread on here somewhere. Seems like Carny's family is Melungeon, too. I carry a lot of the typical traits.

[Taualumna]

Originally Posted by SOPi_Jawbreaker

My mom's brother drew up a family tree. I don't remember how far back he'd gotten, but I think it was only maybe four generations. I think my brother may have a copy of that family tree, but it's all in Chinese. I think my paternal grandfather had written a bit about our genealogy in his journals, but once again everything's in Chinese. My aunt wanted to take the journals to China to get them translated, copied, and bound into nice books for us kids. However, my grandfather fought for the Nationalist Party, so there may be some stuff in there denouncing the Communist Party.

My dad's side has a genealogy chart too and I'd like to have it translated for me when I get married. I think it would be nice to have. I don't know much about my mom's side - my great grandfather (my maternal grandma's dad) was an orphan and was raised by a much older sibling. Also, I'm not too sure if these journals will tell the whole picture - are women actually listed in these charts, or are they given the title of "wife" or "daughter"? And do the women fall off the charts once they marry?

I think these charts/journals go back several centuries.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

The strangest thing I have found is that way back when (we're talking early settling of Tennessee), I have tied my husband's family to mine. I have also tied my maternal and paternal lines to each other. It seems MANY of the families intermarried.

I always thought the intermarriage bit was a little strange, too - have you ever heard of anyone with one Mayflower ancestor? Then I heard a lecture about intermarriage - there was only a small pool of people from which they could choose a spouse. Sometimes there was a long time between new people coming into a new area, so they did what they could.

The rest is pretty amazing - did you do all the research yourself? It's really fascinating!

[Tippiechick]

Originally Posted by honeychile

I always thought the intermarriage bit was a little strange, too - have you ever heard of anyone with one Mayflower ancestor? Then I heard a lecture about intermarriage - there was only a small pool of people from which they could choose a spouse. Sometimes there was a long time between new people coming into a new area, so they did what they could.

The rest is pretty amazing - did you do all the research yourself? It's really fascinating!

No. I cannot take the credit for most of it... I have used the Mormon site a lot. Good internet research has led me to find common ancestries with great researchers.

I am currently gathering info for DAR, S&DoftheConf., and Dof1812. I have multiple Rev. War veterans in my lines.

I am lucky in that most of my family followed the same pattern -- VA to NC to TN. Some went PA to TN. But, once they got into TN, they all settled in a two county area, where I was born and raised. So, going back over eight gens is nothing, b/c all of your relatives, records, cemeteries, etc. are pretty much in one place.

The trick has been to find that one person who first came to TN. After that, it's been easy.

Now, I am in the process of getting the actual paper copies of everything.

My grandmother was forced to do a school project in HS of a family tree. So, if I was stuck on verifying someone, I could usually find a sibling's info online. And, our area has had a lot of written histories, so it's not been as hard as I thought it would be. But, then again, I have been working on little bits here and there for about five years.

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

We still are having trouble on my paternal side, though. It seems NO one wants to talk about being Melungeon or having Native American roots, although I find it awesome.

That happened with my husband's side as well. They just narrowed down the tribe. His grandmother didn't want to talk about it and I believe it was her mother that was traded, so the wounds are still too fresh. Slowly but surely pieces are being put together though. Also, if you go back a couple of generations, it was something people didn't talk about because of prejudice.

[DSTRen13]

I have tried tracking down my family history before, but it's so hard separating what is true and what is rumor told so often everyone just thinks it's true ... Maybe I'll try again one day. As far as can be determined, my family on both sides has been in America since around the time of the Revolutionary War, and pretty much in Georgia ever since arriving. There's some combination of English, German, and who really knows what else all mixed together. (According to my grandmother, we are also part Creek and Cherokee. Every white family in the South will quite insistently explain any slightly darker ancestor as some sort of "Cherokee royalty". Amazing how many white Southerners have Cherokee royalty in their families.)

[sceniczip]

I think the farthest my grandmother got on my mom's side is like the 1800s. My dad's side would be more difficult. All of our names are really common too and I have seven different nationalities in me so it would be really interesting to find relatives. I'm sure we have some in Canada, France, Ireland, and Vermont that we never talk to on my dad's side. I'm also pretty sure there are still some in Yugoslavia (or whatever it's called nowadays) on my mom's side. I've always been interested in researching more but just haven't.

[christiangirl]

Not far on my mom's side, but my dad knows his side all the way back to the first male relative to make it to America. It stops there though...since he was given a slave name, we can't trace back the original surname to our ancestors in Africa. But we know what part of Africa he came from so maybe we'll hunt them down one day.

[ZTAMich]

1774 with an ancestor who possibly was from VT or elsewhere in New England. He appears in Oneida County, NY, by 1820. We do not know where he is buried (1843), but a daughter is buried in the old Quaker cemetery in North Bridgewater, NY. 6 steps down the family chart is ME! All this great research thanks to a Mormon relative.

[KatieKate1244]

On my dad's side: 1400s in Austria. One of my uncles did most of the research, and he used church (Catholic) documents. Supposedly one of my cousins found our ancestor's grave while backpacking through Austria 10-15 years ago.

On my mom's side: Sometime in the 1700s, Cherokee. My great-great grandfather was a storekeeper in Oklahoma in the late-ish 1800s and kept detailed journals, written in Cherokee (The Cherokee language is really f'ing hard). They were mostly business ledgers, but he also wrote family stories and history in them. Someone had read them to my family so we could get a general idea of what was in them, but last I heard one of my great aunts was working with Cherokee tribal officials to get the journals translated.

[XSK_Diamond]

Far enough back (actually farther) that I can join DAR and the Cherokee Nation if I wanted to. I don't think I want to, but I like having the info.

[DaemonSeid]

On my mother's side...

Grandmother - early 1800's slaves imported from Africa to Marlboro County South Carolina

Grandfather - mid 1800's plantation in Darlington South Carolina is as far as I got.

About 12 years ago, I met a white man with the exact same last name I had (mine is a very unique last name mind you) and was one of my patients, come to find out, he knew my grandfather when he was a kid (there was about a 30 year difference) before this man passed, he showed me a book showing me his family tree and this was in part how I was able to trace back his side.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

Every white family in the South will quite insistently explain any slightly darker ancestor as some sort of "Cherokee royalty". Amazing how many white Southerners have Cherokee royalty in their families.

LOL! This happened to my ex's grandmother. She thought for sure that her great grandmother was Cherokee, until she found out that the woman was part black! She said this explained why her great grandfather always referred to his wife as "my little quadroon."

On the same token, a lot of African-Americans use the Cherokee thing to explain why a relative has wavy hair or lighter skin; sometimes they use Native American blood to explain high cheekbones.Tee hee!

[KSigkid]

Not terribly far - I know quite a bit about my great grandparents coming over through Ellis Island, but beyond that I don't know much.

[RU OX Alum]

I can go back all the way to the early 1700's.

Not really tracing, but when I was France, I found someone who's grandmother has the French spelling of my last name, and I learned some neat things from him. Mostly about where we hid during the French Resistance, etc. It was interesting. I want to go further to find out exactly the time and circumstances that we got our name. I doubt any records that have any claim to authenticity, regardless of accuracy, are still at present time extant, though.