Researching My Roots - Why I Began

 

 

I've been researching my family tree.

My dad passed away January 13, 2012 and it has been a very difficult struggle for me since.  My great-niece was born on November 9, 2012.  While I have no doubts that my dad can see and watch over little Isobel, I found myself feeling incredible sad that she would not know him.  Not know the kind of man he was, the sacrifices he made for his family, the hard work he did and the kind of person he was.

While crying (yet again) over the phone to my friend, Susan, she suggested I write the stuff down that I wanted Isobel to know.  Before I started writing, I had the idea that I not only wanted her to know about her great-grandpa but I wanted her to know about her great-great grandparents (my grandparents) and the kind of life they lead and where they came from.

You see, Isobel lives in new Zealand with her mummy and daddy, my niece and her husband (his homeland).  I won't get to see her much of my life and she won't grow up really knowing us.  So that lead to me wanting to trace her American roots so that one day, she will know about her grand-daddy's (my brother's) family.

While doing so, I have found some interesting things along the way - stories I will share here.  Not that I have a lot of readers but mostly for me to keep track of and hopefully share with some of my family.

Some of the interesting things I have found so far

• One of my ancestors was the third colonial governor of Georgia
• One of my ancestors was a pirate for a couple of years (also in the Royal Navy)
• One of my ancestors was the founder of New Hampshire
• I have ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War (both sides), the War of 1812, World War I and the Korean Conflict
• One of my ancestors lived a great portion of her life in an insane asylum
• Several of my ancestors were knights and ladies
• One of my ancestors was beheaded for treason, by Henry VIII

 It is quite fascinating and almost addicting once you start actually finding information.  Of course all this information has to be validated and that takes time and research but with the internet, it is so much easier to find good and reliable sources.

More to come   ....