Genealogy anyone?

I haven't had anything to do with the research but my mother's side of the family has traced our lineage back to around 1550 (don't recall the exact date) in Scandinavia. 20 years ago they had a hardbound book printed with the entire line. It's brought to the family reunion every year for everyone to look through. I love looking through that book. There are family crests, painted portraits of family members and then photos starting in the late 1800's.

The surname back then was Ostrander. When they came to the "New World" (Canada) in the late 1600's they added an "H" and made it Hostrander. That's my late grandmother's last name.

Fascinating stuff!

 

Im a Myers but no relatives in the Berks, Pa area from what i know. Far as i've checked my family has been in this area (SJ) since the 1800's

 

When I first read the title of the thread I thought who the hell wants to talk about that? Then I realized what it really meant.

 

I was very interested in my lineage when I was younger, well before the internet. My father gave me the family bible for his side of the family, that's where records were kept on his family. I didn't have to do much research on his side, it was all right there. My great great grandfather was in the civil war for the north. He survived the war and was buried at the family plot, he died from being old (good for him) .

I could write a short story here but he was the most interesting to me from what I could find out, that's why I chose him.
Good thread

 

My great grandfather came over on the boat from Scotland to work in the coal mines. My grandmother traced my family tree back to the 1500's. The church kept REALLY good records over there.

Nobody has bothered to trace my maternal side...but same deal...great grandfather came over from Germany.

 

I've traced my ancestors back to 1685 in Bavaria. Johann Georg Friedrich Kapp came from Bavaria to the US on the Pennsylvania Merchant in 1732 and they settled in Berks Co., PA. My great great great great great grandfather Andrew Kopp (they changed the spelling during his generation) was a well regarded gun smith, Birth: 13 Oct 1781, Stouchsburg, Berks Co., PA, Death: 1875, Frankstown Twp., Blair Co., PA.

No Myers/Moyers/Meyers in our family tree though.

 

Family name only goes back a few generations. It was changed when the people where kicked out... ie... reason for French folks in Louseranna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians

My Dad's side is Mikmaq. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi'kmaq

 

Almost all my family is in Maine other than the few cousins, aunts/uncles, etc that moved away.. .some in Canada, a few in Connecticut and then a random few all over.
I joined up with the Air Force when I got done high school and ended up here in AK. Got injured, they said I was useless to them after almost 12 years so I became a disabled vet and decided to stay here in AK.
I like AK, though being so far from everyone isn't always fun. I have thought about selling it all and moving back.

 

OK... so how do you actually do the lineage when the information that you know is scarce? I only have information on my grandparents, so my family history is minimal.

 

Mines common.....1850 potato famine in Ireland......threatened with the draft into the English army, my forebear hired himself out as an indentured servant in the US, to work on a farm for seven years about 15 miles from here...haven't moved far.......as far as genealogy in Ireland is concerned...its bad......poor records, etc

 

I just found this thread. How could I have missed it!!! My consuming hobby is genealogy. I can glaze the eyes of anyone in about 20 mins of talking about family research but I have also been known to get people hooked on it as well. My mother got me started on it in the 90s. She was making trips to Salt Lake City to the big library there and now does most of her research on-line. As she was researching my family, I started researching Campinspecter's family and although I haven't found a crossing link, it is interesting to find that the two family lived at one time only 20 miles apart in Suffolk, England. For us in North America, 20 miles is right next door but in that time period it might as well as been 200 miles. I know the first time I found that the family had moved to another town, I got quite excited until I realized it was only a 1/2 mile down the road.

With my research, I found out a lot about history that I didn't know before. Although history in school wasn't as interesting as some other subjects, it is now quite helpful to know what happened in the time period you are looking for family. It was probably these events such as the 1850 potato famine in Ireland that Lousyweather mentioned and the Civil War in the US as My IS Heats my Home mentioned that got our families displaced or moving to another country. As any researcher will tell you, you spend a lot of time looking for where they didn't live, when they weren't born, who they didn't marry but when you find a person and their history, it is like striking gold. Eureka is still a very good word for the excitement generated by the find.

No Myers/Moyers/Meyers in Maidencreek, Berks PA links in any of the trees I have researched so far.

There are lots of free sites available for researching but a subscription to Ancestry.com is really worth it if you really want to research a lot in a short time.

Does anyone want me to post links for Canadian and UK resources? As Wildwest so kindly offered, I also don't mind helping someone out if they are interested in looking up family.

This is exciting finding other researchers!!!