GENEALOGY - VERY OFF TOPIC (OT)

I am very interested in Genealogy and wondered if others were also?  Maybe some people would like to look into it.  CAUTION: It can be addictive. 

I have been working on both Perry and my family histories for several years.  The age of computers has started an upswell of interest.  I started doing it because I missed my Grandmother who passed away in 1976.  I wanted to know about her life in MN and her parents in Norway.  I never had an interest when she was alive, and I have missed so much.  My Mother, and her generation, never thought to ask questions.  I truely boggles my mond that immigrants would leave all that they knew and come to a new land.  They came with a dream and a prayer.  What strength it must have taken.  I have family who lived in sod houses and in holes on the ground while the house was being built (using the wagons for coverage).  Perry and I have traveled to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota and Iowa to meet new family.  It has been a blast. 

I also use what I have learned to cope with life now.  I reference back to the struggles they went through when I am down. I think it is a wonderful learning experience for children to have.  They would also learn about US history in reference to the family. 

I also have reference guides and books that might help other people.  Just let me know if I can help.  BTW- My family is Norwegian and German (from Russia).  Perry is British and German. 

Hey sweetie-
I will let Mike know.  He is always trying to get info on his family. Irish and Portuguese.

Send me a pm with your address, if you are interested.  I subscribe to Family Tree and Ancestry magazine.  They often have articles about different ethnic groups and websites.  I am pretty sure I have seen both Irish and Portugese.

Sorry you are hurting.  That sucks the big one !

A great place to start is Cyndislist.com.  She has links to everywhere and everything.  I will put some articles in the mail to see if Mike is interested.  The best place to start is with what you know.  Then it is much easier to jump 'across the pond' and look in Ireland.  At least his is in english.  I have a devil of a time with old Norwegian and Latin.  Oh and Gothic German.

( ;pl  That is from my cat walking on keyboard to say HI! )

Hey Leann, On my Mom's side of the family we date back 5 generations in the same county. 8 generations born in the State of California There are very few that can say that. But, on my Dad's side it is the opposite, anybody with any information that was truthful, died years ago. And my Dad Mother was one of 18 children all born at home in this country and were at least 1/2 native American. I know a little about her but only what she told me.

I had one Aunt come through Ellis Island from Ireland.

My Great Grandmother (on Mom's side) Came part of the way from MO on Covered Wagon and the rest of the way by stage coach.

I have some wild stories about my family, like my Great Grand Father was sent to prison for murder but was pardoned by the CA governor 20 years later....And that's is just some of my families history.
Our family tree is one of rich character but with  few branches! LOL
HUGS
JOY

 When I looked at the research that had been done on the families, it was before computers/Internet and only on the men.  My sisters and I thought the women definately needed to be brought forward.  They are the hardest to find, but did so much of the work at the homesteads. 

My grandmother's cousin, which I discovered, came on the Lusitania one voyage before a German U-boat sank her!!  Once I got a copy of the manifest, my cousin taught a history class on her grandmother and that voyage.  I also have several families criss crossing.  Grandmothers family marring grandfathers family. 

Man, I could talk forever on this stuff.  Thanks for your stories. 

On my mother's side, my Great Grandparents were Fred and Cecilia Kirkman from Germany.  They both came over as young children and married here.  They had 10 kids.  Every 5 years we go back to Nebraska for a family reunion.  They have 6 big binders full of history and stories about all 497 direct decendents of Fred and Cecilia.  It is fascinating and I could spend days and days and days reading the stories.  Each family is responsible for updating their "section" every 5 years by providing photos, stories, and birth and death notices to the "history keeper" which changes every 5 years also.  My mother had the binders 7 years ago and handed them off at the last reunion.  I spent a whole entire weekend just browsing!

Would like to start on me papa's side soon.  Pops was born in County Cork, Ireland and was the youngest of Andrew and Josephine's 14 children.  I've got so many relatives from that side I wouldn't know where to begin!

You are lucky.  I wish I could get some family members to take some responsibility.  But I guess I am a control freak, and like to do it myself.  There is such a rush of enjoyment when I find a paticularly hard relative.  My father's side had 18 children (haha beat ya) and has reunions in North Dakota and Washington every 3 years.  Perry is really enjoying the trips with me.  Last summer in ND, we just drove the roads (dirt/clay) and stopped at any cemetery we saw.  So many fields, so little time.  It can be hard when the address is a range and township and plot number.  But we do enjoy ourselves.  One person on Dad's side, took on the task and published a 2 volume book of Fredrick and Christina Miller.  It is quite hufty.  But as you know, the tree is constantly growing and changing. 

Let me know if you need and sites to go to fro research.  I also have magazine articles for reference.  And state by state reference guide.

Oh man, I feel a trip coming on for next year. 

Well, lets see here.  We have a couple of branches on our tree that are so twisted they are strange.  It involves my mil.  Her mother used to baby sit for this man that have 5 kid 4 boys and one girl.  Well, her mother ended up marrying this very kind man.  Well, when they married my mil was herself married and had a child. She ended up divorced and then ended up marrying one of the step fathers sons.  She and she had a child and he decided b4 the child was born he did not want kids!  So she gave that child up for adoption.  Then she married another one of this step fathers sons.  He was 10 years younger than her.  She had 2 kids with him.  Then in my digging I found the son she gave up for adoption.  He was with us for 3 years and was dianosed with colon cancer and passed away.  So so sad.  But that is a really strange looking tree.
I need to get a new program.  I lent mine to someone and never got it back from either.
Liz

Okay, when my grandmother died (young age) my grandfather married her sister (also a widow).  They did not have any kids together, but raised her 3 boys with his 15!!  Brady bunch on steroids.

Where was your mil family from?  That is pretty twisted.  Oh, my sister and I found a lost brother 2 years ago.  He is older, in his 70's.  We never knew about him, but he knew about us generally.  We are still letting him contact us when he is comfortable.  Not pleased that our parents kept this info from us.  But it was another place and time. 

I think I am on my third program .  Last one, I gave away, was Family tree maker.  It would not do some reports that I thought was important- like family group sheets.  I am currently using Legacy- deluxe.  And my new mission is to get organized.  Too many post a notes floating around.