Genealogy - Finding My History

The last couple of weeks I have been researching my family tree.  Ancestry.com has a free two week trial period.  I decided to see what I could find out in two weeks.  I wasn't disappointed.

I have more questions than answers now, but I am impressed that I was able to trace my genealogy as far back as I have.  My grandparents have all passed away now, and I want to find out what I can before it is too late.  After all, this is history!  The lives of our family, where we came from, what our ancestors went through and overcame, this is important to me.

My Family Tree

I discovered that I have a long line of European descent.  My ancestors, the best that I can trace, came from England, Holland, Germany, and Ireland.  I didn't pay for the international Ancestry.com (yet), but a couple of the family lines had already been completed by others and were public.  I was shocked to find one line that traced back to my 13th great-grandfather in England in 1476!  I knew I had an uncle that died in the Vietnam War, but I have discovered I had many ancestors that fought in WWII, WWI, The Civil War, The War of 1812, and even the Revolutionary War.  I have so far discovered that I had at least one Knight in my ancestry.  I have found three separate Coats of Arms and Family Crests.

I have hit some walls. I can't easily trace some family members.  Many of them lived overseas, or were born there, and I haven't been able to trace all the roots.  What I have found is that my family line is long, and I'll bet the stories were amazing.  I'm hoping to find some of them.

It's all fascinating.  I traced my husband's family back a little too, and have discovered that his family traces back to the 1700s right here in America before I find one that emigrated. I have only traced his mother's mom's side so far.

I would love to find out stories about my ancestors.  I plan to keep digging, even if I have to put my Ancestry.com account on hiatus until our finances straighten out.  I know that there are some free sites, but Ancestry.com seems to have the most expansive files. I have found christening dates and paintings done of former ancestors.  How amazing!  I will have a wonderful file for my children to explore one day!