Dear Bjorn,

I hope this finds you well.  I must admit, Life caught up with me.  But I got your comment about our Ancestry and I can tell you this, my family is from Hessen, and someday I hope to visit Germany and discover much more about our family as we are sadly, a dying last name. 

I am on Ancestry.com if you want to find me there "Digging For Ancestry" is my handle there.  Hope to hook up with you soon.

Sincerely,

Tracy H

Breaking Down Walls..

This isnt really a post about Genealogy, but Im sure it will bend that way as it is undated history.  One of my relatives who I loved very much and enjoyed her time while she was on this Earth.. I wish I had got a chance to talk to her the way that I talk to adults now.  I was just a child when she passed away.  She taught me so much in the 12 years that I knew her, but so many unanswered questions now that she is gone.  There really is no one who can answer them.. and the one that is so private to most women of her time era, were her pregnancies..

Women just didnt talk about things like we do today, how its going, how does it feel, etc.  Or if there was trouble, did you have a miscarriage, did it hurt, etc.  I have been looking at photos of this woman, and in various photos over a 15 year time span, in the early 20's to mid 30's, she looked pregnant, using her hands to cover her obvious growing belly, but then, in later photos, there is no child, and then a massive gap between her 2nd and 3rd children.... almost 11 years.  In those years, I see the baby bumps, but no one can tell me that part of the story.  Just something that I've pondered and talked over with my own Mom, who doesnt have answers to these questions either.  We will never know, and always wonder...

Reading Others Work

Since getting all the Genealogy from my Grandmother, I have been putting it away, hoping to get to scanning all documents, mementos and keepsakes. I came across the Ellis Family Genealogy compiled and researched by John Plunkett of Florida. He did such a wonderful job in getting this book put together. It is my great hope to be able to do this for my family lines. Being a good researcher is key, but also being able to write and tell a story is another crucial part. For me, I struggle with writing, I am the artist sure, but mine is photography, scrapbooking, but never much for the writing, I have a lot to say, and a lot to tell as far as my families history, BUT, the words rarely come the way I want them to. But in that, the more I work at it, the easier it will come right?

Stevenson Genealogy

Stevenson Genealogy

This is my favorite place to order supplies. They offer a wonderful newsletter each month with helpful tips.  When I was just beginning I wanted a 15 Generation chart, and had no clue as to where I needed to look for them.  I found them here, and when I ordered, and received my package, one of the owners sent me a little note, wishing me luck on my research.  It was so nice to have that, and for all of my needs I come here.

Over the years I have collected memorabilia from various relatives, and Stevenson's Genealogy has various size page protectors, for photos, funeral notices, and paper items that need to be preserved. 

Click on the link above and you will be taken to their site, I have also added their free forms to my sidebar.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  If you have questions, they are also a great source to ask. 

Humbled by my Ancestors

Everyone has a past you just have to dig for it.. I have been using my gift membership to Ancestry.com nightly and getting so many records its just unreal.  Someday I hope to chart all of this on a great big chart, but for now, I am very happy with my going green/ paperless family tree.

Last night I decided to work on my Great Grandma Hastings family, and got about to 1340 A.D., and much to my surprise, I am a niece of King Henry VI.  Everyone has someone in their family that is famous, just sometimes its not the famous type you would like to have. 


I also looked for my boyfriend who has been told since he was a teenager that he is related to Outlaw Jesse James, he too wasn't quite sure how to take that, or to be real happy about it.  But I found it, they are distant cousins, just not so distantly, only by about 125 years. 


As I was digging for my own ancestry, a lot of the deaths were at Tower of  London, that gave me a very unsettled feeling.  Mostly sadness, I am sure it was due to the King, he seemed to be a very difficult man.  My own GGGGGGrandmother was beheaded by his order, and for that, just makes me sad, I am still working on trying to find out why she was beheaded, she was only 54 years old. 

In that time era, it seemed common place to find you guilty and then behead you.  Which I find ironic, since today's society its, you are found guilty, but then can spend the rest of your life in jail at the expense of others.  Maybe the King did have a point, maybe if you were truly guilty of what he said, off with your head, and be done with you.  But a lot of the crimes people committed were stealing food because they were poor, or not affording the taxes, and lastly, religious views, some wanted to remain Catholic, and others didn't, Hence the introduction of Protestants...

As I dig more into the how's and why's of my ancient family, I will post my findings.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask,

Tracy

Gifting MySelf

So, I have wanted a membership to Ancestry.com but with no job, and only one parent working, money is being spent conservatively.. so for my birthday, I bought a 6 month membership to Ancestry.  And for me, this has been a wonderful gift.  And my boyfriend is pleased that I'm getting so much use out of the membership. 

I have been adding census records, military records, and anything that they have to the already 1500 plus members in my family tree.  Very exciting stuff. 

I've been meeting distant relatives online, and working with them, sharing photos, today I got a photo of a GGGGrandfather, and it was from his service during the War Between the States.  I hope to look more into that part of his history, due to I want to determine which side he was on, where he was stationed, etc.

Medical Schools

If you have a relative that was say a Doctor in the early 1800's, where have you looked or will you look? I am looking for my GGGGGrandfather. He was a doctor in 1830's to his death in 1892.