Has there ever been a point in your research, where you thought...?

Question

"I'm really lucky!"

Answer 1

Yes, I think I'm very lucky! I can trace one of my lines back to 975 A.D, and another interesting surname is incredibly rare (Grotha).

Answer 2

Every  time I find out something new about one of my ancestors, I think "I'm really lucky!"

Answer 3

yes  great feeling. But there is always this one part of my family tree that just isn't there. Two very unusual last names but many different spellings. and they just don't show on any census!

Answer 4

Yes.  This genealogy thing has found now cousins for me and helped me reunite a two sets of first cousins who never even knew the other existed until this past weekend.

It also helped me realize that I was lucky that so many of my ancestors emigrated when they did.

Answer 5

I haven't thought I was lucky, but guided by God to resources that were beyond my own luck.  I've been able to trace my family history back into the 1600's on several lines and learn details about these people I call family.  I feel they connect me to them and them to me.  I've also went one step more and tried to connect my family with me now by writing a personal history.  I also try to get them excited about doing family history work.

My research has been both for the good and bad.  I uncovered one great-great grand father who was arrested for murder, but never served time because the lawyer plead insanity (smile) of the person he was involved with in the crime.  I've also uncovered a great legacy of people who were out doing something positive when it counted.

Luck no, providence yes.

Good luck in your quest.

Answer 6

I love this thing called "Genealogy"!!!

It's a great way to have my relatives "visit".

I invite them when it's convenient for me.

They only stay as long as I want them to.

When I want them to leave, all I have to do is turn off the computer.  

No cooking.

No cleaning.

They never ask to borrow money.

And, they entertain me!!!

I have been blessed to have known my maternal great grandmother, my maternal & paternal great-aunts and uncles.

Thirty years ago, I  tape recorded my great aunts and uncles answers to a series of questions, which have been my most valuable tools in my search.

I don't consider myself "lucky" to have been able to do this research for the past 32 years.

It's part of my destiny; the path I was suppose to take along the road of "life".

It's who I am.

And for that, I am truly, grateful.

To all in this section, good hunting!!

Answer 7

You're doing good! Keep it up!

Genealogy is ongoing. It is not instant but like peeling layers of paint. You gradually find things and put them together with other things in your family tree. Use as many sources as you can and keep a record of where you found each thing. That will save you from retracing your steps. Sometimes you get frustrated. So take a break for a while and go back to it later. Start a log of everything in a notebook to take with you to libraries and such. Most of all, have fun!

Answer 8

Many people kinda have to start from scratch.  I have been lucky in that I have a cousin who has done 25 years of research on one line and a great-aunt who has done just as many years on another line.  Between the two, I not only have a lot of research sources that really help me, but I also have them to talk to and get first hand knowledge and benefit from their experiences.  That has really helped me a lot for the lines I have where I did need to start from scratch.  I DO wish that I had started early like you did.  I really wish I could have taken notes with my grandparents and great-grandparents.  I have one grandparent left living and she can't remember anything anymore.  I was 21 when the last of my great-grandparents died and I was not into it back then.  If only.........

Answer 9

I'm a novice at this, but was fortunate enough to have a brother and a sister who independently did a lot of our genealogy.  My daughter asked me to do it so we could pass it on down to my grandkids.  I have had such a wonderful time doing it.  

I discovered I had four separate direct ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, and in the Civil War, one great grandfather was a Yankee and the other a Reb, one great great uncle who just disappeared, one Quaker ancestor who was so obnoxious to the British soldiers they burned his house and barn with all their contents (one of MY ancestors being obnoxious? NOT!), one who drowned, one who opened a mill (flour), one who died in an accident at a sawmill where he worked,  and on and on.  It's so fascinating to read about them.  All these stories I've found make them so real to me.

And the trivia you find out about.  Did you know that for a period of four years we had a state named Franklin? True fact.  Look it up.

And some of the names! Permilla or Permilia, Micajah, Ephraim, and so on.  

Isn't genealogy a wonderful hobby?