Genealogy/Family History poll

[author_by_night]

You don't have to be remotely interested in genealogy or family history to take this poll. In fact, if you're not, I'd love to hear from you. Before I throw it at you, let me explain the purpose; I'm trying to explore why some people are more interested in genealogy/family history/heritage than others, particularly when it comes to certain areas and age groups.

You can also stick to the comments (especially if you've clicked "other" at least once) or do both. There will probably be a corresponding LJ post about this. If anything's personal, feel free to PM me instead OR answer anonymously.



[Poll #1939547][Poll #1939547]

Comments

[vivaciousmuse.livejournal.com]

I'm really fascinated in genealogy, mostly because I love history and am just interested. When I was a kid my dad bought me this replica NYC newspaper for the morning after the Titanic sank. There was a list of passengers that didn't make it, and I noticed one of them had our last name, which I think was where my interest in knowing about my ancestors started. Turns out I was indeed related to this guy. Ever since then I've always wondered-- what kind of lives did my ancestors live? What did they see? Where did they go? It's like a novel unto itself.

[molliemole.livejournal.com]

Learning about my own ancestors makes history come alive. What did they do during the Revolution? How did they survive hard times? Only recently did I learn that my gg grandfather died in a prison camp during the Civil War. All of this makes history more real to me. And I think it does for everyone who gets involved in genealogy.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I love the IDEA of genealogy but all my ancestors were born in Poland except my parents and so many records there were destroyed during WWII. Also, most important records were kept in churches which burned down during the war. My parents didn't give me a whole lot of information about their parents so it's difficult to know how to even start.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Were your parents the only immigrants (assuming they left Poland), or were there older relatives involved?

I'm not familiar with the records kept on immigrants in all countries, but some, if you're lucky, will have places of birth/origin and relatives' names.

The other option is to get involved in DNA research, although it's still a relatively "young" field when it comes to genealogy, especially. But it's one way to find out some useful information, especially when there aren't any records to be had (although I wouldn't discount the possibility that there might be some records of your family in Poland...they just aren't well catalogued in that part of the world, at this point). Plus, you might be able to hook up with some distant relatives that know more about your family, either through their relatives talking about family history more, letters, pictures, books, what have you.

ETA: D'oh, I misread your comment (I'm a bit sleepy) concerning your parents. If your parents are no longer living (and they don't have any other family members) and you have no clue what their parents' names were, there are ways of finding it out - their birth certificate, if it exists, for example.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

My parents were both born in the US. It was my grandparents who left Poland and yes, I do know their names. I have found my maternal grandmother on the Ellis Island records website but can't seem to find out where my maternal grandfather entered North America. A lot of times the names were terribly misspelled as well and it was all hand written rosters, obviously.

The records I can't get are my grandparent's birth records or much of anything else. That's what was destroyed during WWII so I think we're up against a bit of a dead end.

Both my parents are deceased and I have one living uncle who has been of some help but he doesn't really know much either.

[ms-geekette.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, did your grandparents get Social Security? (You can check for them on the SSDI - Social Security Death Index, if you're unsure.) I'm pretty sure they had to list their parents' names if they applied for that. Also, if they applied for citizenship that may also be on that paperwork (I know less about immigration paperwork, so I'm not 100% sure). Death certificates can also have parents' names, but that information is only as good as the knowledge of the person providing it (i.e. it can be wrong).

That's the main downside with genealogy...a lot of stuff is available for free these days, but there's still some potentially useful stuff that costs $$$$. Unfortunately you can't always tell if it will be useful before you shell out the dough. And I'm also annoyed that some things I spent a little bit of money on 10 years ago are now available online for free. XD A lot of US Federal paperwork will never be put online for free/ever though (like, I don't see that happening with SSN applications anytime soon), so at least you know you won't be paying $25 or so for something that will be online in 5 years.

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. On my dad's side, the immigration (from Italy) is comparatively recent and the resources I used to find out about my mother's family just aren't there.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Yes, see what I wrote to ms_geekette above.

[quinns-crossing.livejournal.com]

I wanted to find out more about my great-grandfather and his side of the family. I did track down some descendants of his many siblings...some of them live just a few miles from us and we never knew! Some of it was also TMI and very sad, such as men going to war and returning home with PTSD, mental illness, substance abuse problems, etc. Those are real-world issues in many families. Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

I've always been fascinated by my family history and I want to learn more about what ancestors I happen to have. Some I know consists of my great-grandfather being a known doctor and a great-grandmother being an opera singer. The rest, I can't remember....

[mollywheezy.livejournal.com]

MY dad's side of the family has the family tree traced back to 1630 when they came to America from England. MY dad has this roll of parchment in his top dresser drawer which always fascinated me as a child. It's just the names with no other info, though.

On my mom's side, my great-grandparents were the immigrants (from Germany).

I love to scrapbook, so I wish I had more memorabilia from ancestors. I have really neat things from my grandparents, but that's as far back as it goes.

I'm interested in looking into it more, especially if my dad would give me the parchment family tree which has yet to happen, but I have a time shortage, so it's on my list of projects. ;)

[aggiebell90]

I always love to look and see the history of my family and where I came from, but I don't really have the get-up-and-go I need to actually look for the information. When my dad was alive, he found a lot of information about his and my mom's family, although he came upon a roadblock in Sweden in the 1800s (I think--may have been the 1700s) because my ancestors were farmers and the records weren't very good. I still have access to all of his work and all of the photos of my great-great grandparents, etc that he found. Maybe, after the kids have all moved out (so, like, in another 12 years or so), I'll try to continue from where he left off. But right now, I'm too busy taking them to scouts/school functions/karate/church/etc/etc/etc...

[parsimonia.livejournal.com]

My Dad's going to do the National Geographic's DNA test soon, and I'm looking forward to the results.

In recent years, I've become more interested in my genealogy. My French-Canadian side's always been of interest, as they can be traced back the farthest to immigrating in the 1600s. But I know nothing except names and dates of those people. And what about all the women marrying into the families that shared my last name? My aunt's convinced we might be part First Nation, but if that's true, it would be far enough back that it would've likely been covered up by a christening and a Catholic name.

I also don't know much about when my Irish ancestors arrived, other than sometime during the famine, and I'd like to know more.

[lynn82md.livejournal.com]

I'm mainly a history buff and like to learn about the history of my family. I also want to understand my cultural background and there had been interest within the family (my mom's mom is currently searching up her relatives and my dad's parents did it years ago)

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

I've been searching records for 45 years+.

In the early days, you made an appointment to go to the National Archives and sit in front of a Microfilm reader. Scrolling through roll after roll of film until you found something in or around that county. The internet now, is a wonderful thing! :)

My interest was/is two parts. First, we know that my Grandma's Grandmother was half or full-blood American Indian. But with the conditions in Missouri during the Civil War, (burning of the courthouse and records), the early death of her husband, and her hatred and denial of all things, "Indian", no information can be found. She only appears in one Census - 1910. Prior and after is a dead end.

Second, I never knew who my natural father was. It was through a 46 marker DNA test and a lucky find of a genealogy DNA comparison website, that I learned his name and found a half-sister. I was 60 years old. Here's a good lesson: he went by his middle name, from early childhood on. So, all the searching I did, concentrated on that, as his first name, since I didn't know he had a "first name".

And if there is a third, then it is just plain curiosity now that I'm an old, retired guy! :o)

[annie-jaye.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by my family tree, although I don't know much about them. I know my Mom's Dad's side of the family originally came from Germany in the 1770s but I don't know much more than that. Also that we're related to some distant writer, but I forgot who. My dad's side of the family is a bit of a mystery. According to my dad (and my grandpa swears its true as well) a outlaw was drinking Chamble'(Sp?) one day when he decided to settle down, and change his name to Chambliss. Then his sons had a fued later on and one changed their last name to have an "e" instead of an "i." That makes it hard to track, I can't even get past my great grandfather on his side. One his mother's side, her father ran off before she was born and she had her step-father's last name until she married. So it's kind of hard to find stuff. I do try though.