How far back can family histories be traced? Not for us, but for other people.

Started by alfred russel, July 20, 2009, 09:53:43 AM

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PDH

#15
July 20, 2009, 11:11:37 AM
Quote from: Valmy on July 20, 2009, 11:10:19 AM
Quote from: PDH on July 20, 2009, 11:08:23 AM
At my last look, I traced my family history back to December of '02.

102?  Is your ancestor Trajan?
Who was he, some insurance salesman from Sheboygan?
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
"I'm pretty sure my level of depression has nothing to do with how much of a fucking asshole you are."

-CdM

Queequeg

#16
July 20, 2009, 11:13:36 AM
IIRC The oldest traceable, believeable geneologies belong to the descendants of Arasces, founder of the Parthian Empire in the early 3rd Century B.C.  The Bagratunis and various other Georgian and Armenian families can trace themselves back to him.
Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."

HVC

#17
July 20, 2009, 11:13:48 AM
It would be a bitch tracing my family on my mothers side. They have three different surnames that they changed with what seems like no discression. My aunts and uncles have different last names (maiden in the case of the aunts). Same follows for their aunts and uncles.
Being lazy is bad; unless you still get what you want, then it's called "patience".
Hubris must be punished. Severely.

PDH

#18
July 20, 2009, 11:14:03 AM
In other news, who the fuck cares?
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
"I'm pretty sure my level of depression has nothing to do with how much of a fucking asshole you are."

-CdM

Valmy

#19
July 20, 2009, 11:16:01 AM
Quote from: PDH on July 20, 2009, 11:11:37 AM
Who was he, some insurance salesman from Sheboygan?

He was Hispanic...so I think he was a janitor or something.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

jimmy olsen

#20
July 20, 2009, 11:17:00 AM
Quote from: Valmy on July 20, 2009, 11:16:01 AM
Quote from: PDH on July 20, 2009, 11:11:37 AM
Who was he, some insurance salesman from Sheboygan?

He was Hispanic...so I think he was a janitor or something.
RACIS!  :mad:
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
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DontSayBanana

#21
July 20, 2009, 11:18:17 AM
Not sure how far back they *can* be traced, but ours is done back to the late 900s, although we only consider it reliable as far back as the early 1100s; we've got family records going back to the 1300s, and then my great-grandmother took a trip to Ireland in the 90s to actually check headstones and got it a little further back.
Experience bij!

Valmy

#22
July 20, 2009, 11:19:47 AM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on July 20, 2009, 11:18:17 AM
Not sure how far back they *can* be traced, but ours is done back to the late 900s, although we only consider it reliable as far back as the early 1100s; we've got family records going back to the 1300s, and then my great-grandmother took a trip to Ireland in the 90s to actually check headstones and got it a little further back.

:blink:

Wow.  That is some pretty impressive genealogy-fu.

Are you descended from the O'Neils or something?
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Caliga

#23
July 20, 2009, 11:21:43 AM
IIRC the cat is Scottish with a clan name, so that explains it.
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

HVC

#24
July 20, 2009, 11:37:03 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on July 20, 2009, 11:17:00 AM
Quote from: Valmy on July 20, 2009, 11:16:01 AM
Quote from: PDH on July 20, 2009, 11:11:37 AM
Who was he, some insurance salesman from Sheboygan?

He was Hispanic...so I think he was a janitor or something.
RACIS!  :mad:
Indeed. How dare Valmy limit his career to janitor. He might have been a fruit picker, or a theif too



:P
Being lazy is bad; unless you still get what you want, then it's called "patience".
Hubris must be punished. Severely.

Grey Fox

#25
July 20, 2009, 11:43:53 AM
How would one go around & trace is ancestry in Europe?
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Barrister

#26
July 20, 2009, 11:47:02 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 20, 2009, 11:43:53 AM
How would one go around & trace is ancestry in Europe?

Depends where in Europe.

Britain is pretty good for this - you can go to individual Church parishes where births and deaths were recorded.  Headstones will often also give names of children or parents, as well as years of birth and death.

Other parts of Europe are much worse for record-keeping.
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

DontSayBanana

#27
July 20, 2009, 11:47:49 AM
Quote from: Caliga on July 20, 2009, 11:21:43 AM
IIRC the cat is Scottish with a clan name, so that explains it.
MacDonald/Gunn, yeah. Also, said great-grandmother was almost running the Pennsylvania Historical Society at the time anyway, so she had some ways and means to go about it.

@GF: Check municipal birth and death records, some grave markers will indicate other members of the household, and then you start messing with anecdotal evidence.
Experience bij!

Caliga

#28
July 20, 2009, 11:50:12 AM
:yes: dunno about Clan McDonald, but Clan Gunn does indeed go WAY WAY back if I remember Scottish history correctly.
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DontSayBanana

#29
July 20, 2009, 11:52:50 AM
Quote from: Caliga on July 20, 2009, 11:50:12 AM
:yes: dunno about Clan McDonald, but Clan Gunn does indeed go WAY WAY back if I remember Scottish history correctly.

Yep. We've traced ourselves back to Norway, but the trail goes a little cold at that point- vikings weren't the world's best record-keepers. ;)
Experience bij!
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