Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to know what paperwork the person claiming to trace family back to 1100 has. That made me laugh so hard.

If you have any family lines that tie into aristocratic families, you have family records and church records and histories of the peerage.

Yes, I know. I have aristocratic British family which I can trace to the exact point the family split in two during the English reformation - those who stayed Catholic were basically disinherited (my side) and those who converted to Church of England were able to keep their land and wealth. This was in the 1550s.

That's about as far back as records go.

So what I say stands - those claiming to have evidence from 1100 are talking out of their arses.

My father's paternal family can be traced back to 1600s Germany (they came to the United States, Pennsylvania in particular, in the 1690s as part of the first waves of German immigrants and stayed in the state until my father's generation started moving around the country). I have seen in person graves for every generation going back to the very early 1700s. It's extremely difficult to perform researches prior to the late 1600s due to the 30 Years war in Germany between Protestants and Catholics where many churches and all parish records were destroyed.

My mother's family can also be traced back to the late 17th century via the various strands. Most lines go back to pre Revolutionary America and then just fizzle out. They were mainly English with some Scottish and Scots-Irish.

We don't have any recent immigrant, ie post Civil War, ancestors that we have found. Not that it means anything. All my ancestors were farmers and small town people who lived quiet lives.

Anonymous wrote:I’d like to thank the PP who mentioned the Famous Kin website. My DS figured out that he and John Cena are (very, very distant) cousins, and this has made his year.

Any site like that for us who are Slavs or not English or German?

I’m surprised at how many PP’s can trace so far back.

My great grandparents were typical early 1900 immigrants and arrived via ship from Italy as well as Eastern Europe. I’ve tried to trace and found some surprising revelations, but eventually I hit dead ends, especially when it comes to tracing family before they immigrated.

I can't.

I spent a lot of time a few years ago on Ancestry.com and using other resources.

I could only trace my mom's side to her grandparents on her mom's side, and not past my paternal grandfather. Seems to be a lot of crime and flying under the radar there on my paternal grandfather's side.

At one point, I could trace my dad's side back to the 1000s in Europe. But then, I did 23 & me and found out my "dad" is not my father. So I have no clue about my paternal ancestry.

Basically I know who I've met at this point, and that's it.

Dh got back to the 1400s with his dads side. Mom's side was 1800s (I wonder if a Pp is right about Italians). I'm adopted but did do some tracing once I got some info. Mom's side couldn't do much because of the Holocaust. Dad's side was 1800s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to Genghis Khan.

If you feel comfortable sharing, how did you find out?

I think they're joking.

i dont think so- if you know someone named baig or chughtai or an indian mirza, there's a good chance they know how they are related at least Babur and you can extrapolate form there.

Descent from Genghis Khan in East Asia is well-documented by Chinese sources. His descendant Timur had 43 wives.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Didn't realize so many people were into genealogy.

On my dad's side, just my grandparents. And I only know the country and region that they came some, as well as a vague understanding of the ethnic origin. (They spoke one Eastern European language, but lived in what is now a different country, and on my grandmother's side had a last name suggestive of a different ethnicity.) They were Soviet refugees and my dad had a sort of messed up family life so doesn't like to talk about it. In any event, they were peasants as I understand it.

On my mom's side, I bet I could ask her for evidence of her grandparents. I have a vague sense of the regions they were from. From her telling, they were slightly richer than other peasants and proud of that? In any rate, good enough to get through all the famines and wars and all.

No plantation owners, and no kings, dukes, famous authors, etc. Farmers, coal miners, day laborers.

The speaking one language but living in another area is an interesting clue. If you talked to an eastern european historian, they might be able to tell you something about that. During the Stalinist period, there were while ethnic groups he made move from one region to another due to his paranoia, which created a lot of difficulties on both ends of the equation. And even before the revolution there were similar problems with paper brokers moving people like pawns on a chess board.
If you are curious about Soviet Russia, I think my favorite book is mastering the art of Soviet cooking, which is basically a family memoir across the entire soviet period. It really gives a good sense of what ordinarily people had to deal with and an honest appraisal of the attraction as well and the problems with the system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to Genghis Khan.

If you feel comfortable sharing, how did you find out?

I think they're joking.

i dont think so- if you know someone named baig or chughtai or an indian mirza, there's a good chance they know how they are related at least Babur and you can extrapolate form there.

Anonymous wrote:Back to Genghis Khan.

same on my mom's side plus Hazrat Umar and back to Abu Bakr & the Prophet saw on my dad's side and that is where our particular family tree stops with the direct lineage. Im sure if someone put in some work there is more info about Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Abu Bakr and i know that there is more info on the Holy Prophet saw. I can actually name the ancestors who lead up to Timur, or actually i think are his cousins/conteporaries but i dont know which grandson of genghis khan is my ultimate ancestor. Just know they got some land or something from Timur. Im sure my grandmother knew but she passed away 10 years ago, or the record keepers from her hometown .

I am really into genealogy. I've been doing it on and off for 30 years. The farthest back I can go is about 1800 which is a 3rd great-grandparent for me. This is because all of my ancestors are Ashkenazi Jewish, and records are more difficult to find much earlier than that. Last names weren't used (unless wealthy/well-known) until about 1800 give or take, and there are no church records. They moved around a lot, etc.

Having said that, I know at least the first name of all 16 of my 2nd great-grandparents. And there are still records to be found in Europe. Some are being digitized and put online as we speak. I also like to dig deep into each person's life even if I cannot go back very far. I also go wide - with grandparents' siblings, great-grandparents' siblings, etc. I love learning how my family fit into history - it's amazing. I have learned so much about history and my family. I have also connected with lots of distant cousins around the world - even if it's just a brief email or a Facebook friend.

We recently had my son's Bar Mitzvah, and his third cousins were there (not because of my genealogy; my husband is friends with his 2nd cousin). I looked at the picture of my kids and his kids and thought, "Wow, their great-grandfathers, born in the late 1800s, were brothers. Could they have guessed that their great-grandsons would be celebrating a Bar Mitzvah together?"

Anyway, the answers to this question have been interesting, even the ones who say they have no interest. Because I am so fascinated with it, it baffles me that others have zero interest in it. But I know that is the case. My sister has little interest in genealogy, and other genealogists say the same thing about their families. We have concluded that each family has one person who is the keeper of the stories. I like the responsibility. And every once in awhile I find out a neat fact or find a cool photo that even my sister thinks is interesting. Happy hunting!

I’d like to thank the PP who mentioned the Famous Kin website. My DS figured out that he and John Cena are (very, very distant) cousins, and this has made his year.

Wow. Didn't realize so many people were into genealogy.

On my dad's side, just my grandparents. And I only know the country and region that they came some, as well as a vague understanding of the ethnic origin. (They spoke one Eastern European language, but lived in what is now a different country, and on my grandmother's side had a last name suggestive of a different ethnicity.) They were Soviet refugees and my dad had a sort of messed up family life so doesn't like to talk about it. In any event, they were peasants as I understand it.

On my mom's side, I bet I could ask her for evidence of her grandparents. I have a vague sense of the regions they were from. From her telling, they were slightly richer than other peasants and proud of that? In any rate, good enough to get through all the famines and wars and all.

No plantation owners, and no kings, dukes, famous authors, etc. Farmers, coal miners, day laborers.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to know what paperwork the person claiming to trace family back to 1100 has. That made me laugh so hard.

If you have any family lines that tie into aristocratic families, you have family records and church records and histories of the peerage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have hit a wall in 1800s with DH family on ancestry. com. Its as if Italians are not into making family trees on there

I don’t have much on my Italian side either and I would never ever trust the random trees on ancestry—people are crappy researchers. If your family emigrated in the 20th century, they likely had to identify their home village and a contact name in the old country on the ship manifest. From there, your best bet is likely Catholic Church records that are maintained by parish. I’m not aware of any good site that really does a good job with digitization or the Italian parish records. One of my relatives went to the village and visited a couple church grave yards until they found the right one.

You might have success with digitized records that are not indexed online. You can visit a family history center to do the research. Some records are only available to onsite visitors not remote users of family search.