Comment

Comment by Tom Lawrence on December 1, 2010 at 11:44pm

The question was asked, "Does it all mean anything to you?" I've been tracing my family and my wife's for several months, knowing there is a mountain of work yet to do, and I am fascinated by the implications of some of the data I've found. The research is a tremendous lesson in history and geography both, and I pore over some of this information and wonder what life must have been like for many of these people during the various time periods I've looked into. It's still an amazing journey for me, and I expect it will continue to be amazing.

Comment by eric goughnour on March 9, 2010 at 1:09pm

ya i looked up that site for the show and its an expensive process but may well be worth it

heres a link to some indexes that may help ppl:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~quick/surnames.html

Comment by Gregory Garland on February 26, 2010 at 3:07pm

Wow. I have been away from the community for a while and had not realized people had joined this group. This is the first group I have created, so if there is anything I need to do let me know.

Comment by Jared J. King on February 25, 2010 at 1:55pm

Has anyone been inspired by the recent "Faces of America" special on PBS? Last night's episode focusing on Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen Colbert, Maryl Streep, Eva Longoria, etc, was really amazing to me. I've been stuck with mine at a couple of different points and not sure where to go, but I've gotten some wind in my sails after seeing what they found for each of them.

Eric, I'm stuck there. I have access to Ancestry.com for free at the local library, and I've been really disappointed with what they've had. I'm looking in Ireland and Alsace-Lorraine. What country(ies) are you currently looking in?

Comment by eric goughnour on February 25, 2010 at 1:11pm

hello i just joined and im doing some overseas research, does any one have any good links or resource ideas?

Comment by Sean on February 16, 2010 at 4:04pm

I have gone back about two hundred years down one branch of the family, less on another. There are some limits on what I can do. The majority of my ancestors were Irish peasants. For a long period, ending in 1850, the British attempted to break the clans, and one of the ways to do so was to forbid Irish Catholics from learning to read, write, or keep records. So tracing your familyin ireland back past 1850 is tricky at best.

Yes, I think of their hardships and difficulties quite often, their struggles and their efforts.

Comment by Gunnar Langemark on February 11, 2010 at 5:04pm

What I mean is: Do you ever think about what your ancesters' lives were like? Does it bear any significance, what their fights in their lives were, and how they coped with difficulty?

I ask because my own genealogical research is revealing quite a great deal - also about myself.

Comment by Gunnar Langemark on February 11, 2010 at 4:48pm

How far back can you trace your ancestors?
Does it all mean anything to you?