Do you know who your ancestors were or would like to know who they were?

Question

Do you know who your ancestors were or would like to know who they were?

Answer 1

I know the names of a few thousand ancestors (I mean ancestors; if I include aunts, uncles, siblings, etc., it is many times more), hailing from the Americas and all over Europe and a few other places.

By DNA, I have ancestors from all the continents, Pacific and Atlantic islands, Carribbean and Mediterranean islands.

But, of course, the vast majority of them are unknown, so I would like to know who they were.

Answer 2

I have almost gotten back to the 1500's on my dad's side of the family.

Answer 3

yes i would love to. it would definitely answer certain topics like nature vs. nuture. plus,  it's amazing knowing where your blood came from. to find out you have ancestors from places all over the world or knowing what kind of occupations they held. yes. i would love to know who they all were.

Answer 4

I can't go back too far on my side - I know that my mom's dad was from Vita, Sicily and my dad's mom was from a town near Naples, Italy.

However, my husband's family came to the USA as far back as the mid-1600's on his mom's side.  On that side, they came from England, but his father's side was Scottish, stopping first at Ireland for one generation.

He has not made a definitive connection, but there is a strong possibility that one of his Scottish ancestors fought with Robert the Bruce!

On his mom's side, we have determined that one of his great uncles was one of George Washington's body guards in Morristown, NJ. while he wintered there during the Revolution.

He has also found out that one of his ancestors married a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, not uncommon during the early 1800's.

Back in NJ, some of his family were very prominent people in Madison - being a mayor, banker, etc., and even had a street named after him!!!

I found out that my grandfather on my dad's side was one of the laborers that built Route 22.

So while my ancestors were probably in the hills of Italy making and drinking wine, his were fighting for our freedoms here in the USA and back further for the freedom of Scotland!!  

Way cool, I think - and certainly something cool for our daughter to know about.

Answer 5

That would be mighty interesting. I am an African, Indian and chinese

Answer 6

I am of Spanish, Italian, Irish, British, French-Canadian, and Native American descent.

I know the most about my Spanish and Italian ancestry.  A few years ago, I went to Santander, Spain and was able to get a copy of my grand-father's birth certificate.  It was a wealth of information.  It listed, of course, his parents' names and the address at which they lived.  The bonus was that it also listed the names of his grandparents on both sides.  So I was able to learn the names of my Spanish ancestors back to my great-grandparents.  They were a family of stone masons.  When my grandfather came to America, he went to Vermont to work at the granite quarries.  There he met my grandmother who was of Irish and British descent.  I have the names of her parents and grandparents.  They go back to before the Civil War.

My Italian grandfather was born in Sao Paolo, Brazil but his family went back to Casserta, Italy.  When the family left for America, he was 18 years of age.  Unfortunately, at Ellis Island, my great-grandmother was denied entry because of eye problems.  My great-grandparents and their two other sons went back to Italy.  Because my grandfather was 18, the family decided that he should stay here.  He never saw his parents or brothers again.  I have documentation that traces his family back for the three generations preceding his birth.

My maternal grand-mother was of Irish, French-Canadian, and Native-American descent.  Her father was of the F-C and N-A ancestry.  He worked as a boat captain on the Erie Canal.  My maternal great-grandmother died shortly after giving birth to twin girls, one of whom was my grandmother.  Because he did not feel he could raise two girls on his own, he dropped them off at an orphanage.  My grandmother and her sister were adopted by different families and never saw each other again.  Until her death, my grandmother referred to her father as "that lousy Canuck."  Unfortunately, I've been unable to find records other than my grandmother's birth certificate.

Tracing your geneaology can sometimes be fun and sometimes be somewhat sad.

Answer 7

yes that would be so interesting

Answer 8

I don't know who they were.  I do know that I'm of German, English, Irish, French and Danish ancestry.  I have an Irish last name and that is all I know.  My grandmother was from England.

Answer 9

I know a lot about my ancestors from my mother's side(japan)

but from my fathers a i know very little(haiti)

Answer 10

I have traced my family from Cornwall, England around the world, into most English speaking County's and even a couple of Spanish speaking ones, I know what we did for a living, but do I know who they were, NO I don't think so.

Answer 11

Yeah,

I'm half black and half native american

Within that :

malaysian

mexican

nicaraguan

polish

japanese

Answer 12

Well all I know is my dad was born in Rome and my mom from a little town north of Naples (near Monte Cassino).  I know a bit about the grandparents and that's about it!  They don't seem to like to talk about their history. Anyone who is Italian knows there are some wild tales to tell from those days of old.  I'm sure that's true of all cultures however.

I sometimes wonder if knowing would change things. I mean I have such high esteem of my grandparents and sometimes best not to burst that bubble you are familiar with.  I know there were hard times for all, and so I know they (along with many others) came here for a better life, for them and for us, so that pretty well says it all!!!!

It would be interesting to know the geneology line I suppose but I'm not going to bother to dig back and try.

Answer 13

That would be fun. The diversity is great. Dads side would be  Irish, Scottish,and German. Mom would be African and Native Taino.

Answer 14

h**l yeah, I did the whole family tree thing. I think it's something everybody should do. Y afind out a lotta interesting things...and some ya dont wanna know...lol