I have always been interested in the history of my family, but have never really done much with it. Recently, my niece went through Ancestry.com to put together a family tree under the free trial period. It got me interested, so I went through and started poking the bear. Here's what I found, in shortened terms-
I can trace my paternal Grandmother back 23 generations to the early 1400's. The 21st generation back were a pair of first cousins married- their fathers were brothers.
I had a step-grandpa named Justin Case, and another named Charlie Brown. Both were married to the same Grandma- my Great-Grandma on my paternal Grandfather's side.
My paternal Grandfather's side fizzled out when they immigrated from Canada, because I didn't spend $30 to access World records, as opposed to English records.
My paternal Grandmother's family came over from England in the early 1600's, at some point between 1613 and 1639.
My maternal Grandmother's family came over from England in 1620- on the Mayflower. Not just 1 relative, but 10 so far. This line is listed as my pedigree- a direct line from them straight to me. They were:
John Aldan - crossed as the ships Cooper, and decided to remain in the colony.
Priscilla Mullins - crossed with her brother and parents. Soul survivor of the 1st winter in the colonies. Later married John Aldan.
John & Priscilla became the ancestors of Luna West.
John Howland - crossed as a servant to the Governor.
Elizabeth Tilley - crossed with her parents, aunt, and uncle. Sole family survivor after the 1st winter in the colonies. Later married John Howland.
John & Elizabeth became the ancestors of Jabin Bosworth.
In 1773, Jabin Bosworth married Luna West. They were 9 generations directly back from me. The name Bosworth was my family name through to my Great-Grandma, who was born a Bosworth, and married a Brooks.
At some point, my Maternal Grandmother's family inter-married, but they were at least 3 generations apart from being immediate family, so at least there's that going for them.
Thus far, we've come across some unique names, including:
Experience
Desire
Royal (twice)
Ransom
Lucretia
Ebenezer
Ichabod
Jabin (twice- this was a Mayflower descendant)
Attaresta Melista
Philemon
Mindwell
Theophilius
Thankful
Mercy
Deliverance
We found French, Canadian, English, Dutch, Jewish, and more floating around.
I'm really surprised at just how far back I'm able to go. In fact, the hardest part is getting past the previous 3 generations. Finding people alive who remember real names, birthdates, etc. That was the challenge. Once I had those, it was pretty easy going, unless the family tree crossed the border, then they stop.
Once I fluff out my HUGE family tree, I may spring for the extended records and see if I can reach back further.
On my Paternal Grandfather's side, I am currently 6 generations back, but have some leads to go further.
On my Paternal Grandmother's side, I am currently stuck at 23 generations back, which is when the family immigrated from France to England.
On my Maternal Grandfather's side, I am currently stuck at 6 generations back. I am hoping to find out a bit more that will hopefully push be through to more generations.
On my Maternal Grandmother's side, I am currently 14 generations back, with more leads to go further.
All in all, it's been easy so far. Once you push past the more recent generations, the chances are high that you'll discover someone has already done some of the work for you in researching their own family tree.
You do need to try and verify what you find- when you find a common name, some history gets mixed up with each other, so you have to pay attention to birth year, parents, children, death dates, and more.
I'm LOVING it, though.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
100 Years of Girl Scouting!
Over the weekend, Gillian and I helped the state celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouting with a few other girls from her Junior troop. There were a lot of fun things going on around town, and we got to do some neat things. We are currently selling our cookies, as well. You can read more about that here.
We started the morning off on the lawn of the state Capitol building. We were early, and it was certainly not very warm at 28 degrees and WINDY, but the girls still had a great time as we waited.
There was a parade of thousands of scouts walking towards the Capitol building, and it ended with all of us gathered around the steps of the building to do a group sing-a-long.
Afterwards, our group headed to the state historical museum, where a brand new exhibit on the history of scouting had opened up. The exhibit was great, but Gillian didn't want to leave. We wound up staying there, while the rest of our group moved on to the next event.
After a while, we caught back up with the group in time to do some out door stuff- by then, it was a balmy 45 degrees, so it had warmed up considerably. While the girls ran around, us adults rested a bit, before wrangling them up.
We moved on over to the local Girl Scout Council shop, where they were doing a craft in the upstairs, and a photobooth in the entrance way. Gillian was tired by then, and opted to sit out of craft time, and laid down for a bit.
Next, we headed over to a large, locally owned pet shop. It's a really fun shop to visit- we've stopped in before just to look around. There's a large water fall outside, and it recycles into a 'river' that enters the shop, and is filled with Koi inside. They have all sorts of pets- including pets that are not for sale. The shop has a huge tortoise and an equally large iguana in neat enclosures. Neither of these fun pets are for sale, but they are great for the kids to see.
After leaving the pet shop, we headed down to a local pizza place to grab dinner. By the time we finished, it was time to get on one last bus, and head back towards downtown to the local minor league ball park.
Radio Disney was there to entertain, while we waited for it to be dark enough for a special fireworks display.
All in all, it was a great day. We all got to see and do things we normally don't get a chance to do, which was a lot of fun.
Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
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