Genealogy thread

[PlopandShoot]

Reading Rudy and Pete going over family histories, I thought I'd start a thread to see if there was any interest in genealogy. It seems to me we have a ready access to people from all over the world. Perhaps people can ask, and then related/geographical/interested parties can PM each other?

I'll start, I am looking for my ancestor on my mother's side, named Eliza and married to a Robert Foster/Forster in County Tyrone, Ireland, married roughly around 1830. Their daughter Jane (my g-g-g-g-g- grandmother) was born in 1840 and married a William Mehan/Meehan. I am trying to track down Eliza's maiden name and any ancestors of hers. I have tried all the usual suspects (Proni and similar, ancestry sites, COTY, churches, etc..).

Anyone interested shoot me a pm...  

 

[Charles Lewis]

I had some of my genealogy research done for me.

One day, I got a call from a lawyer. One of my grandmother's first cousins had died intestate and he was trying to trace the heirs. My great grandfather was one of six children. Three emigrated to Canada (Alberta & Saskatchewan), one to Australia and two had stayed in the UK. The lawyer wanted 30% of anything we got out of the estate. I agreed but on condition that he shared his research. I ended up getting around £600 but, most importantly, a complete family tree showing all my Canadian, Australian and British family.

A bit later, I did the Ancestry DNA which pretty much confirmed what I knew about my ethnicity, However, I got a very strong match from a lady in Minnesota. Turned out that she had been adopted in Saskatchewan by an American couple as a baby. I queried this with one of my Canadian relatives who said that a family rumour suggested that one of my grandmother's other cousins had a baby while in the Canadian military. I told her that it was no longer a rumour.

Interesting stuff this genealogy.

 

[PlopandShoot]

I have found a huge extended family in Australia (My ancestor Jane's sister Rebecca, married a fella named John Kyle). Another sibling moved to Philadelphia, USA and a bunch to Canada. 

That is really cool about the Canadian connection and the rumour. Are those DNA tests worth the hype? 

[Charles Lewis]

13 minutes ago, PlopandShoot said:

I have found a huge extended family in Australia (My ancestor Jane's sister Rebecca, married a fella named John Kyle). Another sibling moved to Philadelphia, USA and a bunch to Canada. 

That is really cool about the Canadian connection and the rumour. Are those DNA tests worth the hype? 

For me the DNA test just confirmed what I already knew .... which is good I suppose. The big benefit are the matches and especially if you are unsure about parts of your family tree or if you are adopted.

[oleschwander]

7 hours ago, Charles Lewis said:

I did the Ancestry DNA

Are there more that one company? Can you tell which you used ..?

[Charles Lewis]

2 hours ago, oleschwander said:

Are there more that one company? Can you tell which you used ..?

Yes, there are several companies. I used Ancestry.

[Jillian Cain Photography]

Here's an interesting story of how they caught the Golden State Killer (California) using a distant family relative's DNA.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/27/golden-state-killer-dna-website-gedmatch-was-used-to-identify-joseph-deangelo-as-suspect-police-say/

[HodagMedia]

7 hours ago, oleschwander said:

Are there more that one company? Can you tell which you used ..?

There are a number available and one is somehow connected to National Geographic, and has a deeper anthropological background. Ancestry will try to up sell you sharing, but that's not a criticism, I think they all do that. Just pointing out, the test isn't the end. Some are better for tracking relatives, other for overall history. I don't pretend to know if there is any "best" service. From reading the reviews, many use the same technology, but they organize their database in different ways.

If you do a search for best DNA testing, you'll have to watch, because most of the first pages are actually referral sites and ads, pretending to be impartial reviews of the top ten sites.

I haven't done one yet, my Niece has. I haven't seen the complete report.

I've been asking people here, when I find out they are from Romania, if they know anything about the Klinger's and some other family names. You see during the feudal period Germans and Dutch migrated to Transylvania to work the land for the lords. Then because times were so bad, in the 1800s, they left for the United States. The country was swept back and forth and divided, by the end of WW II part was Romania, which then became Communist. So little information in or out, even if there were any distant relatives. Add to that, churches burned and records were lost.

Good luck everyone, here's hoping you have an easier time and can actually find more information.

 

[HodagMedia]

2 hours ago, Jillian Cain Photography said:

Here's an interesting story of how they caught the Golden State Killer (California) using a distant family relative's DNA.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/27/golden-state-killer-dna-website-gedmatch-was-used-to-identify-joseph-deangelo-as-suspect-police-say/

There was actually one local that used tests done in prisons and eventually matched a deceased convict to a local murder, through relatives DNA testing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/35-year-old-cold-case-murder-wisconsin-solved-using-dna-n1070181

35-year-old cold case murder in Wisconsin solved using DNA and genealogy, police say

[Studio 2]

A few years ago whilst researching my granddad (bandleader/violinist, Reginald Pursglove) I found someone online who had researched my family tree.  We have lost touch but I am left with a family tree going back to the 17th Century.  My lineage is the Pursgloves of Sussex and the first couple I have note of is John Pursglove (born 1691) who married Ann Briddon in Derbyshire.

Thank you for this thread, it's really interesting.

 

[Rudy Umans]

it turned out that I have 3 drops of blue blood (could be 2, but I stick with 3)

I am a Descendent of the Count Dirk van Brederode. This line started in the 12th century, but stops for me with my great grandmother on my father's side 

The maiden name of my great grandmother was still Van Brederode, but she married a Smit. They had a daughter, my father's mother, who married a shoemaker named Umans.

 

Dirk's place (of what is left of it) built in the 13th century

[PlopandShoot]

That's a nifty castle! I think the closest my family got to royalty was washing linens for them.  Below are some family (may not be accurate).

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

My mother was an avid geneologist, but sadly, most of her research was tossed when my brother acquired the house. Had I know he was going to sell the house within months of my dads death, I would've tried to take all her papers in addition to the photos. But that's a moot point. I was never really into the subject until I was contacted by a half uncle I had no idea I had. He never knew until he did a DNA test for his cousin who was into the genetic factors of geneology. My uncle is on the board of a massive geneological society back east so he'd done an entire family history then discovered he wasn't related to them biologically because he was the result of an affair my grandfather had with his mom. So I did the Ancestry DNA test too to confirm the DNA factor and sure enough, we were a match. took a lot longer to get my remaining uncle to do a DNA test to prove to him he had a half brother, but now they are in contact too. It's funny all the family secrets that are becoming unraveled by the technology DNA affords us. I discovered my mom had a twin brother who was either stillborn or died at birth too. Still in search of the documentation to back that up but that'll take a trip to Washington State to see the grave site and possibly find the birth/death certificates.

[Rudy Umans]

7 minutes ago, Sheila Fitzgerald said:

My mother was an avid geneologist, etc etc

Sounds like a soap opera Sheila!  "All my Children have One Life to Live"

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

This is the book he wrote (and sent me a copy of when he sent me the initial introduction letter telling me who he was). It was quite an interesting read. He changed everyones names since it was written before he knew us personally, but kind of strange when I got to the parts where he was talking about us and I knew exactly who each person was despite the name changes.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-My-Genes-Memoir/dp/0880823445/ref=sr_1_1?crid=53NXPKBTZ2D7&dchild=1&keywords=the+stranger+in+my+genes+by+bill+griffith&qid=1609269519&sprefix=the+stranger+in+my+gene%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1

 

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

Yes, I've sometimes felt my life paralelled a soap opera. LOL

[Thijs de Graaf]

As for the family of my Mother (Mijts), I have it easy. My grand grand grand grand grand cousin (or grand grand grand grandnephew? ) in Belgium has figured out the family up to eleven generations and made a website (in Dutch). 😐 I don't have to do anything anymore. I am very grateful to him. http://www.mijts.be/

[k_t_graphics]

On my mothers side we have her cousin a genius Sheldon type. Just found out recently because he died a few months ago. His info is in Wikipedia. But anyways, over all aren't you guys worried about scammers using this detailed info some how? If it was me I wouldn't be so detailed in sharing your family history with the world.

Also where was this cool info regarding my cousin when I was a little girl when my former BFF use to brag about his great grandfather, being this cool WW1 warrior riding on some pure white war horse? ugh.....

[Steven Tritton]

Can read my story here...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/steven-tritton/my-family-tree-was-full-of-surprising-fruit_b_9616328.html

 

[PlopandShoot]

2 hours ago, Steven Tritton said:

Can read my story here...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/steven-tritton/my-family-tree-was-full-of-surprising-fruit_b_9616328.html

 

That is very cool!

[Charles Lewis]

3 hours ago, Steven Tritton said:

Can read my story here...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/steven-tritton/my-family-tree-was-full-of-surprising-fruit_b_9616328.html

 

That's a great story.

I've some extensive research on my own family tree and have traced my mother's side back to 1690. As a history graduate and then an auditor by training, I was meticulous about finding evidence and not just taking the word of others. So I'm pretty confident in my findings. I am also confident in saying that I have found nobody from the royalty or nobility, nobody who was rich and no celebrities. I have found agricultural workers, masons and glaziers and a possible prostitute. The phrase 'common as muck' comes to mind when I think of my ancestry. 😄

[PlopandShoot]

21 minutes ago, Charles Lewis said:

That's a great story.

I've some extensive research on my own family tree and have traced my mother's side back to 1690. As a history graduate and then an auditor by training, I was meticulous about finding evidence and not just taking the word of others. So I'm pretty confident in my findings. I am also confident in saying that I have found nobody from the royalty or nobility, nobody who was rich and no celebrities. I have found agricultural workers, masons and glaziers and a possible prostitute. The phrase 'common as muck' comes to mind when I think of my ancestry. 😄

Much the same, which is why I am currently stuck in the late 1700's. Until I see the actual (photocopy of the) written record I don't count it.  

A decade or so ago, I began a belated interest in finding out and discovered I could get my Irish citizenship because of him and my grandmother. Now I have a Canadian passport and an Irish one as well. 

[stevemart]

6 hours ago, Rudy Umans said:

Sounds like a soap opera Sheila!  "All my Children have One Life to Live"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brederode_Castle

After the defeat of the Geuzen at the Battle of Haarlemmermeer, Haarlem had to surrender to the Spanish soldiers in 1573 after the Siege of Haarlem. As a result, the Protestant Lancelot van Brederode was beheaded and the castle was plundered and set on fire. Following this the castle was threatened by encroaching dunes. In 1579 Holland loaned the lordship to a side branch of the van Brederode family. In 1679, Wolfert van Brederode, last lord of Brederode, died, and the ruins became property of the States of Holland and the Dutch Republic. Ever since, the ruins have been property of the State. In the 19th century the ruins were one of the first buildings to be restored by the government, and they became the first national monument of the Netherlands.

[anne-tipodees]

3 hours ago, Steven Tritton said:

Can read my story here...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/steven-tritton/my-family-tree-was-full-of-surprising-fruit_b_9616328.html

 

G;day Steven, hope you are having a happy Christmas in the heat?. I kept this article to ask if you are related, kept waiting for the right time.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/nell-tritton-alexander-kerensky-saved-from-stalin-hitler-history/12472416

 f.