WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I KNOW WHO I AM...SORT OF

Have you seen the new show on NBC called Who Do You Think You Are? It's on Friday night and I really enjoy watching it.

It's about knowing who you are. Who you really are. Your past family. Your genealogy.

Well, it's not really about YOU. It shows different stars discovering their heritage and how they go about finding it.

I've been working on my own family tree for a year now. I find it very interesting. I have found out some things I never knew about and a few things I thought were true really wasn't.

Like my mom's mother always told us she was almost 100% Irish. I had no reason to believe that was not true.

However, I have gone back to the 1600's and found out she is part French and part German but no where have I found any Irish in her.

I found out I am Irish though. On my dad's side. Both his grandmother and grandfather came here from Ireland.

I have been using Ancestry.com to locate information on my family. You do have to pay a monthly fee but to me it has been worth it.

I've found out I can apply to be a Daughter of the Revolutionary War. I'm proud to know my family member fought to make The United States a free country.

I got copies of my grandfathers World War I and World War II registration forms. It was very interesting to see his own handwriting.

I have copies of paperwork that shows my ancestors fought in the Civil War.

All these things, make me want to learn more about our history and the people back in those times.

I'm sure lots of you have worked on your own family tree and what I would like to know is, have any of you used any other programs. Have any of you hired anyone to do the research for you?

I would love to chat with anyone who could give me a little bit more information on where to find information on my own family history.

Don't forget to leave a message here. Every message you leave me until the 22nd will be an extra entry to my giveaway.

TIES TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR

I've been working on my Family Tree and just found out that I have family who fought in the Revolutionary War.

When I found that my ancestor, Peter Dumm who was born on Sept 27, 1754 and died on April 20,1837, was actually in the war I was very excited.

To think that one of my own ancestors fought for our freedom makes me feel very proud.

I was thrilled when I found out some of my family had been in the Civil War but this is even more exciting to me.

I also found several family members who came over to the USA from other countries. So now, when I go to New York I have several names to look for when I visit Ellis Island.

I love doing this research. It's so fun when you finally stumble across some new information. Though at times it can be frustrating when you keep hitting dead ends.

Have any of you found family members that were also in the Revolutionary War? If so, maybe our family members fought together. After all, it really is a small world.

FAMILY TREES

Have you ever wondered about who was in your family before you were even born? Were you related to someone famous? Or even, just wanted to keep track of your family history?

Well, I have. I have been wanting to do my family tree for years. My cousin had started one on my mom's side of the family but I never had anything on my dad's side.

There are many different types of tree's you can fill in. You can add photos, medical history, birth, death and marriage dates. All sorts of information.

I heard that my cousin's son started to add all the information that my cousin had on a site called Geni. He sent me an invitation to join and I did.

We have been uploading all sorts of information on our family. It's so fun to read what information other family members have. Some pictures of my family that I've never seen have been uploaded.

So far we have family that we can track back to 1812 on my mom's side. How fun is that. Almost 200 years ago. Then on my dad's side so far it goes back to 1882 which is 126 years. Then the family started to come from other countries and it gets harder to find.

So far it looks like my ancestors come from Ireland and England.

To find information on your family you start with yourself and work backwards. Add your mom and dad. Then your grandparents and then their parents and so on. Along the way you add brothers and sisters and their children.

It's great to watch how big your family gets.

On Geni at http://forum.geni.com/?email=jk51958%40yahoo.com you can set up your own family tree and they walk you through the information you need to get started.

Once your tree is big enough if anyone else has any family that they are related to they can contact you and see if it's your family also. Then your tree grows and grows. There really is no end to how big it can get.

Give it a try. You may find you enjoy it as much as I do. Even if you don't do it on line. You can keep track of your family by hand also.

If you have done your family tree, tell me about it. How far back did you get? How long did it take you?

Oh, no, the family trees in the pictures above are not my family. I just got those photos off the Internet to show examples of how your records could look.

See you when I get home in a few days.

Hugs,
Joanne