Genealogy? Any of you traced your family history?

[Cooterpoot]

I've been working one side and I'm down to the 1400s and have hit a dead end. Been pretty cool.

[OLJWales]

When I did mine, all it said was "Assorted Crackers".

[Pancho]

My folk came here from Germany in the 1850's and a few survived the yankee barn burning and livestock killing in the civil war and then produced the rest of us.

[BrunswickDawg]

Yes, and confirmed I come from a line of moonshiners, adulterers, tavern keepers and a murderer. You can learn some crazy stuff and it can be fun and enlightening - especially if you happen to able to find real info about the lives your ancestors led.

My 4x great grandfather was one of the first white settlers in what is now Union County, Georgia. He was there before Cherokee Removal and the 1830s land lotteries that gave away their land. His cabin is still standing in Blairsville. One of his sons moved to Missouri after serving in the Mexican War. Before serving under Quantrill and riding with the James and Younger brothers in the CW, he bought a farm. That farm was literally next door to property my wife's grandparents bought in the 1970s after they moved to Missouri from Kansas. I found this out after we were married (I'm from GA, my wife is from MO and went to the W, we met in MS).

[basedog]

Yes, on my dad's side, started back in 1743, Scottish.

[trob115]

Have traced back on my Mom's side all the way back to the 1600's. Two of my great grandfathers signed The Declaration of Independence. On my Dad's side, it's been more difficult to track due to all of the Native American ancestors.

[was21]

Have done a good bit on both sides but more on maternal side. Paternal side immigrated from Germany in mid nineteenth century so more difficult to trace. By the way, if you're going to "brag" on some of your relations you also need to own up to the horse traders and horse thieves as well.

[preachermatt83]

I got kinda obsessed with it for a while. Maternally, was fascinating. My great grandfather, who actually died the year I was born, actually killed his father. He apparently walked in the house one day and his mom was in the floor beaten up really bad. So he went out to the wood pile where his dad was and said “you will never touch her again” and then proceeded to axe him! And his grandfather came here from Germany stowed away on a boat which landed in Galveston. He lived to be 109 years old.

[Mjoelner34]

Traced my paternal grandfather's side back to Ayton, Scotland in the 1500's. Found that my first ancestor from this side came to the new world in 1622. My paternal grandmother was a McLeod who traces back to the Isle of Skye and supposedly the McLeod's are of Nordic origin.

ETA: I started this search looking for Confederate veterans (Yes, if I were from the north I would have been looking for Union veterans) and found several dozen. I then kept digging further back to find any Revolutionary War soldiers. So far I have found a grandfather who was a Colonel in the Georgia Militia and whose brother-in-law was a signer of the U.S. Constitution for the state of Georgia. My grandfather with my surname is listed in the database as a Patriot. He was too old to fight but is listed as a patriot because he "furnished a horse and wagon to the war effort in Lancaster County, VA". My surname grandfather from the next generation was too young to fight but his older brother was in the 3rd Continental Dragoons under George Washington's cousin, William Washington, and fought at the Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse. I am currently putting together all of my documentation to join the Sons of the American Revolution. https://www.sar.org/

I think some of my relatives from my mother's side wore red during the rev war. Her side is almost exclusively English where my father's is Scottish and Irish.

[Coach34]

Great-Great Grandmother came over on a boat from Sicily in the 1800's and landed in Nola. Mom's side is German/Sicilian mutts

Dad was adopted so tracing that is much tougher

[DownwardDawg]

Shit no!!! Don't want pawpaw to go to prison for all those Sullivan Hollow crimes!!

[FriarsPoint]

Ulster Scot. Probably came over in the first great migration in the 1700s under James I. More than likely lowland scots from the SW of Scotland. Those were the majority of Scots that made up the Ulster population. As far back as we could go was 1800 in the states but know we had relatives here before that. I’m sure like most, landed in Pennsylvania, moved south into the Carolinas. Went west after the revolution. Ended up in Marshall county and then the delta after fighting against the Yankees.

[Mjoelner34]

Shit no!!! Don't want pawpaw to go to prison for all those Sullivan Hollow crimes!!

You not kin to the Sullivan's too are you? Pappy Tom's youngest was my great-great grandpa. His fourth oldest is also my great-great-great grandpa.

[Cooterpoot]

To this point I've found a Scottish Lord in the 1400s, the wife of U.S. Grant, and a famous agriculturist who fought for the south at Ft. Sumpter. It's been pretty cool.

[parabrave]

You not kin to the Sullivan's too are you? Pappy Tom's youngest was my great-great grandpa. His fourth oldest is also my great-great-great grandpa.

Did you spend your summers at Eagle River?**

[DownwardDawg]

You not kin to the Sullivan's too are you? Pappy Tom's youngest was my great-great grandpa. His fourth oldest is also my great-great-great grandpa.

I sure am. My grandfather on mothers side is a direct descendant of Wild Bill Sullivan. Wild Bill's great grandson.

I have a ring shaped mark across my nose from drinking moonshine from a mason jar. Thing is, I don't think I've ever drank anything out of a jar and I certainly don't drink moonshine. My mother has it too.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I?m a descendant of Marquis de Lafayette on my moms side. My great grandfather on my dads side was killed in a dispute with a baseball bat and another of my ancestors was killed by a mad dad after his daughter was ?ruined? by said ancestor.

[mudbugs]

Traced about 11,000 ancestors so far. Tons of fascinating stories and tall tales, from four ancestors on the Mayflower to how history books were re-written after the civil war, removing southern contributions to American History leading up to the Revolutionary War. Look up Captain Benjamin Merrill of the Rowan County, North Carolina Regulators.

[PikeDawg15]

On my dads side , one of my great grandfathers came from Lancashire, England in 1676 to America

On my moms side , one of my grand grandfathers came to North Carolina from France in 1817 when he was 5 years old , his father probably was a veteran in the French army during the napolean of wars but can?t find anything about it

[Santiago]

I have gone back as far as Noah, but getting some good leads toward connecting to Adam.

[mparkerfd20]

I've done mine some in the past. I stumbled upon familysearch.org recently and was amazed. I was able to trace a lot of my tree back to the early 300s and one side even before Jesus.

[Offshore Dawg]

Went back to the 1100's on both sets of grandparents to Scotland & Wells. Have coat of arms for both sides of family which made it easier.

[Santiago]

Wondering if anyone had this issue.... Found on Ancestry DNA that I have a good percentage of Norwegian, but nothing on maternal side was found in that direction so far, from talking to those on that side researching genealogy. My dads side seems to dead end with indentured servants a couple hundred years ago. So the assumption I make is that is the Norwegian Lineage. But yet to connect it.
Anyone else using the DNA and discovering a nationality you did not know about?

[Commercecomet24]

Been using family search for years. I've traced both sides back to before the third century. Norse ancestry(some of those Viking names I can't pronounce,lol). that migrated to France and England on dads side. Scott and Irish on moms side and also found out descended from Robert De Bruce. Stuff is fascinating

[RocketDawg]

Have traced back on my Mom's side all the way back to the 1600's. Two of my great grandfathers signed The Declaration of Independence. On my Dad's side, it's been more difficult to track due to all of the Native American ancestors.

Are you related to Elizabeth Warren?

[RocketDawg]

Related - any opinions on which is the best DNA site to use?

[trob115]

Lol I hope not.

[R2Dawg]

I've been working one side and I'm down to the 1400s and have hit a dead end. Been pretty cool.

Wow that is a pretty good trace. That is something I might get into when I retire and have a little more time.

I will say this, my mom has a close relative that did it and she says my mom's side of family is related to founder Patrick Henry. My grandmother was a Henry.

[Saltydog]

Look, some of you guys shouldn't give your DNA to any of those services. Don't you know that's how they've managed to track down numerous criminals? There's some shady characters here so just sayin'.......

[PikeDawg15]

Look, some of you guys shouldn't give your DNA to any of those services. Don't you know that's how they've managed to track down numerous criminals? There's some shady characters here so just sayin'.......

Yep , never did that but have family books that I can look at

[SailingDawg]

I did a little family tree from what my family knew but never paid for a service. Then came familysearch.org. Once I entered my existing tree the site began to guide me through information that already existed.

(We already knew) my maternal grandmother is a direct descendent of Daniel Boone. So that takes us back to the 1400s or so, with a lot of sheriffs and Lords.

My maternal grandfather is Russian. His father worked for Czar Nicholas but was stationed in Japan at the Embassy. He sent his wife and young children to California. My grandfather is STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON high school, where a lot of immigrant fathers lived. We know some names of Russian descendants but not much information. The great grandfather never came to the States and we don't know if he died under suspicious circumstances or not, only that it was an accident.

My paternal grandmother is a Lamb descendant and there's quite a bit of English, German roots there.

My surname, Gault, has the least information about our descendants. A father and son brought their wives over in 1852 or so. They were in New York State awhile. The older wife died at some point. They came to Lamar County Alabama (where Adam and Eve themselves farmed) and bought land. Father remarried. Both fought in the Civil War for the South. There's a Civil War sword somewhere in the family but the wrong cousin got ahold of it. They also owned slaves on their farm. I don't know how I feel about that because they certainly weren't wealthy. I think just about all farmers had slaves working for them because I can find no trace of a giant mansion with acres of property that they managed. ANYHOO, when I try to go into Ireland to find more information it's a dead end. The older wife was English so maybe i need to go deeper there.

If you're a north Mississippi Gault we're not related. There's only a few of us Lamar County/Lowndes County Gaults around as far as I know.

[Dawgology]

Yep. On my mom's side. Discovered my grand uncle (5x) was the one and only U.S. Grant. I tried to claim the Book of Secrets at the Grant Library on campus by birthright but was denied.

[Bothrops]

Mississippi has a lot of Scot/Irish and native American ancestry

[OLJWales]

Mississippi has a lot of Scot/Irish and native American ancestry

Yep. Loved my trip to Longford County Ireland where my ancestry on my dads side come from. Visited the grave site of A Bishop buried in 1420's that shared my rare last name. Didn't realize my family name was just concentrated in one county and not spread throughout Ireland.

[bobcat91]

If you ever get the chance, go to the Family Seach site in Salt Lake City. It's incredible and the folks there are super nice and very helpful.

[Cooterpoot]

If you ever get the chance, go to the Family Seach site in Salt Lake City. It's incredible and the folks there are super nice and very helpful.

A huge chunk of my info came from an affiliated group in Jackson.

[Commercecomet24]

If you ever get the chance, go to the Family Seach site in Salt Lake City. It's incredible and the folks there are super nice and very helpful.

This.

[FISHDAWG]

It was done before I was born since the oldest male in each generation on my fathers side inherits a family coat of arms... my wife's side it much more interesting... she's a cousin to Reese Witherspoon and Ray Walker of the Jordanaires.... James K Polk signed our property deed when her family originally purchased... and her family was run out of Scotland when her ancestor Red Cummins fought and lost to Robert the Bruce... we have seen the old family castle (Uquart Castle) on the shore of Loch Ness ... and recently sold some of the property to Tennessee for Cummins Falls State Park.... not sure why she decided to slum it with me

[HeCannotGo]

You not kin to the Sullivan's too are you? Pappy Tom's youngest was my great-great grandpa. His fourth oldest is also my great-great-great grandpa.

Looks like I've got a couple of uncles or cousins or both on here. My paternal grandmother was a Sullivan twice over: her mother was a Sullivan who also married a Sullivan. Thus, I'm afraid my family tree doesn't fork as often as it should.

I've been to a few funerals at Sardis Church near Mize. At the last one I went to about five years ago, the preacher (not a Sullivan) was about 30 years old. He told a story about his mother warning him as a child not to be caught in the Hollow after dark.

Went to a family reunion a few years ago and enjoyed seeing the long sheets of butcher paper listing the descendants from each of Pappy Tom's wives.

For those unfamiliar with the lore of Sullivan's Hollow, the family patriarch had 11 children with his wife. He had another 11 or so with his common law wife at the opposite end of the Hollow.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/mississippi/sullivans-hollow-ms/

[TUSK]

https://previews.123rf.com/images/jeancuomo/jeancuomo1611/jeancuomo161100031/65975232-tall-tree-with-no-branches-in-an-autumnal-setting.jpg

[Commercecomet24]

Looks like I've got a couple of uncles or cousins or both on here. My paternal grandmother was a Sullivan twice over: her mother was a Sullivan who also married a Sullivan. Thus, I'm afraid my family tree doesn't fork as often as it should.

I've been to a few funerals at Sardis Church near Mize. At the last one I went to about five years ago, the preacher (not a Sullivan) was about 30 years old. He told a story about his mother warning him as a child not to be caught in the Hollow after dark.

Went to a family reunion a few years ago and enjoyed seeing the long sheets of butcher paper listing the descendants from each of Pappy Tom's wives.

For those unfamiliar with the lore of Sullivan's Hollow, the family patriarch had 11 children with his wife. He had another 11 or so with his common law wife at the opposite end of the Hollow.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/mississippi/sullivans-hollow-ms/

Isn't it Sullivan's Holler lol? Was told the stories about it when I was just a youngun years ago.

[Catfish]

Isn't it Sullivan's Holler lol? Was told the stories about it when I was just a youngun years ago.

22 kids, somebody was doing some hollering at each end of the hollow.

[Commercecomet24]

22 kids, somebody was doing some hollering at each end of the hollow.

Got that right.

Actually have a lot of friends from mize and that area.

[Mjoelner34]

I sure am. My grandfather on mothers side is a direct descendant of Wild Bill Sullivan. Wild Bill's great grandson.

I have a ring shaped mark across my nose from drinking moonshine from a mason jar. Thing is, I don't think I've ever drank anything out of a jar and I certainly don't drink moonshine. My mother has it too.

My grandma told me when my dad was 4 or 5 and acting up, all she had to do was look out the window and say "There comes Wild Bill" and he would run hide under the bed.

[Dawgpile]

I've traced my dad's side back to the 1500's (Scotch-Irish) and my mom's back to Charlemagne. Lots of doctors, judges, landed gentry and old, old royalty. Pretty cool, but wondering where all that 'generational wealth' went...

[Mjoelner34]

I've traced my dad's side back to the 1500's (Scotch-Irish) and my mom's back to Charlemagne.

Now that's damn cool!

[Dawgpile]

Now that's damn cool!

I know, right? However, I've read that statistically speaking it isn't that uncommon, like the 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Had an ancestor on her side sign the Declaration too.

[Jack Lambert]

Back in the 70's and 80's the Mormon church went into every county in the United States and recorded everyone who ever lived there, where they moved from and who was born there. They have done it in Central and South America. They have done it in Europe. One day they will have all the former Soviet Union. Some country's they will never be able to do. They also offered DNA test for every member to see where thier families came from. The church did all the hard labor and now everyone can use it. Each church has a genealogy center available to it's members. They do allow non-members to use it.

[DownwardDawg]

My grandma told me when my dad was 4 or 5 and acting up, all she had to do was look out the window and say "There comes Wild Bill" and he would run hide under the bed.

Yep!! He was wild and crazy!!

[DownwardDawg]

https://previews.123rf.com/images/jeancuomo/jeancuomo1611/jeancuomo161100031/65975232-tall-tree-with-no-branches-in-an-autumnal-setting.jpg

Lol. That's about right!

[Todd4State]

https://previews.123rf.com/images/jeancuomo/jeancuomo1611/jeancuomo161100031/65975232-tall-tree-with-no-branches-in-an-autumnal-setting.jpg

Roll Tide.**

[Ranchdawg]

I haven?t ever traced my ancestry back further than when my ancestors originally came to the MS gulf coast. Descendant of two brothers that settled the Ms gulf coast. I have a book that was published by the Ms gulf coast genealogical society and written by Nap Casbry(sp).

Pretty interesting story: One of my ancestors lived on what is now Cat Island off the Ms Coast. He lived a very meager existence. One morning he awoke and looked out and there was parked the most potent navy of that time, the British Navy! They were staging for the battle of New Orleans. They captured my ancestor and tried to get him to be a guide to New Orleans or show them a short cut to New Orleans via the Bay of St. Louis. After convincing the British that he didn?t know of such route and his route to the mainland took him to Gulfport/Biloxi. The British released him and replaced some of the livestock that they had taken.