On my mother's father's side I got back to 1845 in Italy with the birth of my great-grandfather. I do have the name of his father, but no dates to go with it. On her mother's side, my second great-grandfather was born in 1808. But all of these ancestor's lived in a country that did not unify as Italy until 1860. Good luck searching records.
On my father's side of the family, his mother was born in Pennsylvania with both of her parent's immigrating from Polish Russia (no date established) and Polish Austria (1888). I found my great-grandfather's and great-grandmother's parents somewhere around 1850, but no exact dates. On the paternal side, my great-grandfather was born in Polish Russia around 1860. There is no info further back than that. My grandfather arrived here in 1913.
When I got to my ex-husband's family, what a revelation. Now, my only interest in this is for my three sons. I had a great relationship with my mother-in-law that continued even after my divorce from her son (which irritated my ex no end).
Once when we were talking she gave me some old family photos. We got to discussing her family coming to America from Ireland, her father in 1888 and her mother in 1890. Her parents married in 1901. She mentioned that her mother was a distant relation to Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and I have yet to work on that connection.
But, she also mentioned that my husband's father was related to President Warren G. Harding through his grandmother Barbara Capitolia Harding. And so, that has been the connection I have spent hours trying to sort out. Do you have any idea how many Hardings are out there?
First let me tell you that my ex-husband and President Harding were third cousins twice-removed. And that is where the difficulty lies. So many irrelevant names to search through. But finally, after much perseverance I found the common ancestor, Amos Harding 1766-1839. Among his many children were two sons, George Tryon Harding b. 1790 was my ex's 4th great uncle. His brother Benjamin Franklin A. Harding b. 1802 was my ex's 3rd great-grandfather.
Three generations later: Warren Harding is born in 1865 and my husband's grandfather is born in 1880. And here he is, William Frank Hammond, Sr.:
I have to say this is absolutely fascinating. My in-laws were separated when my husband and I started dating, so I really never spent much time talking to my father-in-law when we visited in Chicago. And I know that he never got on with his older sisters so I am not sure how much info he would have provided about family history. But interesting that my mother-in-law had some knowledge.
I just wish I had spent more time talking with my ancestors when they were still around to tell me stories of their early lives, though my Polish grandfather never did want to talk much about it. I really should start writing down notes of what I remember and keep it with the family tree.
Have you ever researched your family?
P.S. I just read that there are over 35 million descendants of the folks on the Mayflower. Wish me luck, lol.
Genealogy is interesting and absorbing. It can also have a practical side in that you and your sons could acquire european citizenship. One never knows ; maybe your sons will want to make investments in Poland or Ireland or even relocate.
ReplyDeleteThree of my cousins have relocated. Paris, France; Bristol, Englan; and Basel, Switzerland. My oldest son has talked about it too.
DeleteI hate typing on my Kindle. I constantly have spelling issues.
DeleteI find this so interesting and I wonder if you have Jewish blood in you because many ancestors that were from Polish/Russian area in the 1800’s and were leaving at that time was due to the persecution that the Jewish people were dealing with at that time. Your other side came from the Austro/Hungarian empire so it would be fun to find out if your family is from the Polish side or Austrian. I bet your mom in law talked with his sisters because men don’t normally talk about ancestry ...maybe:) that is so cool that your children can claim a President in their ancestry. I have my mom’s ancestry dating back to the late 1600’s and they ar all from Germany and all from a certain area...they didn’t travel much. My dad’s side is much more complicated due to name changes and screw ups on how to spell the names. My grandmother died in 1919 I. Childbirth and, apparently, from her side, we are related to Liberace and Gene Krupa! Hahahaa, that would be fun to find out
ReplyDeleteAll of my dad's family are Polish, with his father coming from the Jewish ghetto of Lodz. My maiden name has Ashkenazi roots. I am guessing that the family converted to Christianity at some point, which may be why my grandfather had little use for the Catholic church. My grandmother's side was from the southern part of Poland that belonged to Austria at the time of immigration. Spellings from this part of the world are enough to make your head spin. Although my mother's family is Italian, their roots are in tbe Tyrol of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
DeleteIt really is fascinating! I compiled a big genealogy for my mom, before Ancestry.com - I used to go to the Rhode Island Historical Society on my lunch hour and copy records. Now that both parents are gone, and no kids (or nieces or nephews), there’s not much point in further study. I don’t think I’d find much outside of English and Native American (maternal) and Irish/Scottish (paternal). Pretty boring!
ReplyDeleteI had my DNA done by Ancestry and they link you to all sorts of folks whose DNA matches yours and some also have family trees where you can see common ancestors. Even with my limited family on both sides I have several matches, mostly on my mother's side. Long, lost, never knew they existed cousins, lol.
DeleteThere are members of my family who have been doing this kind of research. It has never really attracted me that much. However, I do agree, we should ask our ancestors before they disappear. I find there are lots of things I would like to know from my parents.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in your researches
Just want to get back to the Mayflower person on my ex's side at this point. On my side, there is one link on Ancestry for a maternal great=grandmother who apparently worked in a textile mill in Bavaria. But I would have to upgrade my membership to search that out.
DeleteI never have, though I've been curious. I know that my father's parents came from Russia/Lithuania and my mother's from Austria.
ReplyDeleteYou would likely encounter the same issues I have when it comes to finding old records. It is quite fascinating though.
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