Sunday, February 01, 2009

How to Trace Your Genealogy

Do you know your family tree? How far back have you traced your ancestry? Do you enjoy genealogy research?

Thanks to research done by some of my relatives, I have identified two of my Civil War era great-great grandfathers. My direct paternal, great-great grandfather (my paternal grandfather's paternal grandfather - know what I mean?) was John Tubbs, who fought in the Civil War with a volunteer Pennsylvania unit. He was at the First Battle of Manassas. And my granddad used to tell me stories about he sat on his grandfather's knee to hear stories about the Civil War. That kind of thing makes history incredible for me!

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Then there's L.E. Jones, another Civil War era great great grandfather, who rode with the 9th Virginia Cavalry, a unit that was reportedly involved in a plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. One of my prized possessions is the parole my g-g-grandfather Jones signed, allowing him to return home at the end of the war.

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Watch this video titled "The Joy of Genealogy"...



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While I know some information about those two great-great grandfathers, the rest of my family tree is still incomplete. I have, for instance, been able to trace George Tubbs, Sr. (John Tubbs' great grandfather) back to the Revolutionary War era. I don't know what side he fought on, though. :-) Hopefully, the right one - i.e., the American side. (Sorry to my English friends). :-)

Feel free to share some of your genealogy findings in the comments section of this post.

And if you're looking for a resource to help you begin or improve your genealogy research, consider this guide.

Take care and Happy Researching!

3 comments:

Kieran said...

I was able to trace my family back to 1570.

Brian Tubbs said...

Wow! That's awesome, Kieran. Haven't gone that far back yet. But I hope to do so....some day when I have more time. :-)

Anonymous said...

When my maternal grandfather passed away in 1992, I gave my grandmother a small blank notebook and asked her to write for me a short history of her life and the life she and my grandfather shared. Four years ago, I came back across this notebook and decided to 'Google' the name of my great-grandmother just out of curiosity.

What I found through that one casual search has turned into a true passion for me. On that first night, I learned that an ancestor, William McGaugh, fought under George Washington in the Virginia Militia, that we have a direct family connection to Pocahontas, and that another ancestor was possibly the basis for the character Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter."

I have long been interested in the middle ages in England but until then, had very little interest in American history. However, finding these connections to the history of our country has ignited a true love for the early history of our country.

No one else in my family had been interested in genealogy and it has been wonderful to share what I've found with the rest of the family and see them become interested as well. I've also been able to locate cousins my father didn't know existed as his grandparents left Tennessee to move to Mississippi and the family lost contact.

Finally, my research has created a real interest in the history of our country in my nine year old daughter as I am able to relate the founding of our country to her with those she is related to.