Genealogy Blog Family History

More Family History CoolnessPosted by Administrator on December 3rd, 2009

I am fortunate to have parents who love family history. And even after over 30 years of hearing their stories about pilgrims and Civil War heroes, they still manage to bring up some that I’ve never heard before. I knew my great-grandfather was an outlaw and then an oil man in Southern CA (I guess the oil industry hasn’t changed much:). I knew my great-great-grandmother came as a pioneer from the Hawaiian islands to the desert of Northern Utah. I knew some of our forebears were among the passengers of the famous Mayflower. And still others of our ancestors were closely related to William Wallace of Braveheart fame. But this new goes farther back and may be cooler. 

According to some recent family history by my father, our family ties back to a line of Viking kings. Instantly, my head is swimming with images of men in horned helmets ransacking helpless villages and plundering all the food and loot they can find. At least they’re very manly- there is something undeniably manly about having the blood of Vikings flowing through your veins. And to be related to royalty is pretty good, too.

Then my dad dropped another one on us: we can trace our lineage back to Charlemagne- the Charlemagne. For those who snoozed through Ancient History 101, Charlemagne was the king of the Gauls who was known for his Solomon-like wisdom and his prowess in battle. Oh, and did I mention he was giant for his time, towering benevolently over his subjects. More manliness! 

So I was thrilled to find out just how much awesome manliness resides in my family lines and in my DNA. Kings, warriors,… oh, and pilgrims are cool, too, I guess.

Family history treasure trove out of the bluePosted by Administrator on November 17th, 2009

From out of the blue, I have happened upon a treasure trove of family information from my father’s side. Last night, I just happened to be talking to my little brother about learning more about our genealogy. We know our father’s family comes from England, Scotland, and Prussia. We know some of them immigrated to America aboard the Mayflower. But as far as names and dates, we were clueless. There was a Cherokee princess in there somewhere, but that was about it.

As result of our conversation, my little brother happened to bring it up when he was talking to our father this weekend. That’s when my father, who has done a substantial amount of family history, passed him a file of hundreds of names and dates. In one fell swoop, we were able to get better acquainted with several generations, where they were born, where they were married, and where they died. There are uncles and aunts in there, too. 

Sometimes, to get started, I guess all you need to do is talk about it. Parents and grandparents can be an invaluable resource in getting started. Sometimes your questions can spur something they had forgotten. Something is bound to come up. Pretty cool, huh?

WWII POW records go online, fill in the storyPosted by Administrator on September 4th, 2009

For family history buffs interested in more than birthdates and death dates, ancestry.co.uk now lists the records of over 100,000 British POWs captured during World War II, allowing genealogists to learn where their ancestors were held and any escape attempts.

Were your relatives involved in a real-life "Great Escape"? You can find out at this site, thanks to lists compiled by German authorities under the 1929 Geneva Convention. You can also find out if a relative died while a POW and how they died.

This is just the latest in a multitude of online tools that help family history buffs piece together who their ancestor’s were and what they lived through.