Family History

“A family history tells the history of your family and may include several generations.”

SUNDAY 09 August 2009:

This could cover eons (or at least two hundred years) with ease.

Yes, I am a genealogy/family tree addict.

Recovery is not possible; but “ah-ha” moments are quite rewarding, despite many late night sessions that only leave the researcher more confused.

What have learned about my ancestors since I began this journey through time in earnest?
First, no one has a “simple” family tree.
Second, you never know where your investigations will take you.
Third, you never know where leads will come from, or who will help you find a missing link of data you have spent years searching for.

I will not intentionally repeat (here) what I have posted through my research on my family-related “blogs”. What I will hopefully be able to do, is ‘flesh-out’ the information so that it will make sense to you the reader; and possibly help me to come up with other methods of breaking through “brick walls” between early ancestors, and THEIR UNKNOWN ancestors.

Topics that are rambling around in my mind recently are such things as:

Melungeons. (check spelling — CAA)
Sephardic Jews.
French Huguenots.
Americanized Germanic/Jewish Surnames.
Origins of family traditions.
Pennsylvania to Georgia “Wagon Road”
Native American physical features.
(Possible) Royal Families’ Ancestral connections.
French (Huguenot) Surnames.
Scottish surnames [some thought to be descendants of Sephardic, French, and German peoples].
Native American surnames.
German/Jewish Surname origins.
Sephardic Surnames.
“Black Dutch”.
Tri-Racial Isolates.
Protestant religious beliefs.
Spanish Inquisition.
Expulsion of Huguenots from France.
Portuguese settlers in the ‘New World’ (the first seemed to have sailed with Sir Francis Drake, to the Americas, about 300 years ago).

So how does does this relate to present day?

It is where I and my family came from.

Whatever happened along the way does has a bearing as to how we feel about individual freedom, government activities, religion, preserving history, importance of families, surviving during a rough economy, and whether or not we worry about acquiring material wealth.

And yes, there are secrets lurking — Native American heritage, name changes, mysterious ancestors who had more than one family (polygamy), rogues, heroes, artists/musicians, outlaws, plantation owners, indentured servants, farmers, politicians — and those ancestors yet to be found.

This is a journey, and the mountain of data can only be understood if gathered at a pace where it can be digested, and verified by a paper trail (official documents, or photocopies) — thus far the Internet has been a great, easily-available resource.

[...MORE to come -- CAA]