Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I am Mary's granddautghter, the spitin' image of my father...

{My Mother's Mother..MY Grandma ...}

OK, so I mentioned previously that I work for a DNA testing company (for genealogy - not paternity) called GeneTree.

And, previously, I had only a glimmer of an interest in genealogy ... after all, what would it mean to me? Am I really interested in who married who and had a child that had a child that got married and had 16 children and then married again having 10 more ? (yes, I do...embellish..a little)

But as I am learning more about it, I realize that I don't have to look for or at those collateral lines - I can focus on just who I want to learn more about.

{My great-grandmother}

And who that would be are my immediate grandparents and great-grandparents. They had all passed before I was born, so I didn't hear the stories or know the names or the places..

{My great grand-dad}

And I feel as if I have missed out. A lot. A really really lot. A-lot. Lotta lotta lotta...

But I have been playing at doing genealogy and guess what? With the help of some amazing co-workers, I have tapped into documents, and marriage licenses, and draft cards (WW1 and WW2), census records and a whole world of information I didn't know I had available.

{my Mother's birth certificate - we never knew her father delivered her! At home!? Wowzer...}

And, get this, some have their signatures on them!

{this is my Mother's father - the one that delivered her?! He "left" the family and we had no information - then I found this WW1 draft registration with his signature..and went on to find a death certificate..again, no one ever knew what happened to him..but now we know what was the final chapter..}

So, now I am still not really into the whole who-married-who and who-was-a sister-in-law-to-whom..

..but I am very interested in searching for those who I should have known..and to learn about the times they lived, the locales, the fashions, the books, music and how they may have spent their days.

And, at work, I am now a contributing writer for the blog..so go take a look and leave a comment there if I have touched a cord..

And let me know here what you think..I'd love to know..


http://blog.genetree.com/

-me

aka

16 comments:

Unknown said...

The cord is touched! Great information...can't wait to share some of the Hanley side.....
Wilf.

Pearl said...

How fasinating! I would love to find out about my relatives. Very cool girl

Vicki/Jake said...

I started digging into my family past more awhile ago. Wow, there the stories lie...
I always knew about my dad's side, as they were sorta 'known' within the lds church. But my mom grew up in an orphanage and knew some of her family..sorta. Ya, more stories for me to tell sometime. I'll go see what else you've written too. And I love the pics of your greats. How cool about the home delivery..no midwife, wow.
Keep digging and sharing (O:

diane b said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
diane b said...

Gosh your great grandmother must have had strong genes as you look like her. I agree keep digging and keep sharing. What occupations did your ancestors have?

Karen said...

I just saw this on TV this week....being able to trace your background with DNA. Very interesting.

A Wild Thing said...

I'm still laughing about the prairie dog picture in the last blog...sorry, but I'm getting a real feel for the look here!!!

HA...HA...HA...

...girl, you crack me up, thanks for making my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

s

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Cool! I never got into this but who knows? I might yet.

.♥.

Vee said...

Oh that's great...I can see why you'd be interested. My limited subscription with Ancestry.com is not allowing me to view all that neat stuff.

I did find John's ancestral home following back only on the male side of his mother's tree. A big old castle in Scotland! He was impressed. My people must still've been hiding under rocks...getting nowhere on them.

RoeH said...

Stories about ancestors completely fascinate me. It's like they are speaking from the grave. I have put all of this histories and photos I can find online into a blog. It's a perfect place to do that. I'm always adding photos...histories I think I've about done all I can find. I do have some stingy relatives in Idaho that won't share and there may be something there but I don't feel like begging like a dog. I had it on an open blog and then found out people were stealing photos so I had to make it private. But if you'd like to see it, let me know and I'll let you on. I want to work where you do. Need a telephone answerer?

Vee said...

I'm back...you're doing great work over there...very interesting! February's theme is great. I didn't know that some things are free. Cool!

Jillian said...

I LOVE that song that you referenced in the title. Beautiful. Absolutely perfect for family history work. What fun :)

P.S. You'll have to check out my blog for this month too. I'm doing a giveaway (mainly to motivate me to keep posting on a regular basis!!)

Debby@Just Breathe said...

That is really interesting. I love those documents you found. Good for you, keep on going.

Unknown said...

Ummm. DNA...not sure I want to know. Something is really wrong with my
dad and his sisters. I hope they haven't passed it along!! If you're ever looking around and come along the last name of FRED, run the other way.( I think there were 10 brothers)

La Dolce Vita with LeAnn said...

Wonderful work...don't you just love how elegant their handwriting was on the documents. I have cousins who have done so much research for our family, love it when you find out you are the relative of an OUTLAW!

Little Penpen said...

Absolutely delightful!!! ~ So cool that you found out about your granddaddy~

Wanna see what I've been up to ??

 I always wanted a dollhouse. My dad was a carpenter and was asked by one of his wealthy customers to make a dollhouse for their daughter. I...