Sharing my excitement!!!

[Elijah'sMommy]

OK, I'm sure ya'll will think I'm a dork after reading this (for those of you who don't think so already) but I am really into genealogy. My fiancee is black (it is very difficult to go back too far due to lousy record keeping and general disregard for them), and I had gotten back as far as I could, which included a photocopy of a typed will from a John Murphy releasing my fiancee's great (times a bunch) grandfather and grandmother from slavery upon his death. Occasionally, I check Google for their names as they are extremely unusual. Imagine my surprise to see a listing of someone else's research on their family that includes their names, and several generations forward, my fiancee's great grandmother! As part of the url, I noticed what appears to be a first initial & a last name. I look that up on Google and find the someone by his last name set up a news group. Looking into the postings of the newsgroup, I find he has posted the opening paragraph of this same will that we have a copy of! Unfortunately, this was posted back in 1996, so I'm hoping the email address is valid. I'm so excited to find someone who may have some more information for us!

[justinenycole26]

That is awesome! I hope he is able to find out more about his ancestors.

[ocvachick]

That is awesome, I feel your excitement. I have about 100 photos of my family that date back to the War of 1812. My great (many times back) grandfather served and a photo was actually done of him. Its my prized possession. Keep us posted about this new information :)

[Elijah'sMommy]

Speaking of pictures, we have one of great-great-great grandfather (well, actually his mother had it) and he saw the picture and goes, "Who's the white guy?" Funny when his mom told him it was his g-g-g gf! He had light hair & blue eyes, but,yep, he was black!

[fatesfaery]

OK, I'm sure ya'll will think I'm a dork after reading this (for those of you who don't think so already) but I am really into genealogy. My fiancee is black (it is very difficult to go back too far due to lousy record keeping and general disregard for them), and I had gotten back as far as I could, which included a photocopy of a typed will from a John Murphy releasing my fiancee's great (times a bunch) grandfather and grandmother from slavery upon his death. Occasionally, I check Google for their names as they are extremely unusual. Imagine my surprise to see a listing of someone else's research on their family that includes their names, and several generations forward, my fiancee's great grandmother! As part of the url, I noticed what appears to be a first initial & a last name. I look that up on Google and find the someone by his last name set up a news group. Looking into the postings of the newsgroup, I find he has posted the opening paragraph of this same will that we have a copy of! Unfortunately, this was posted back in 1996, so I'm hoping the email address is valid. I'm so excited to find someone who may have some more information for us!

I don' think you're a dork at all. Well, maybe we're both dorks.....I love genealogy too.I subscribe to about 20 genealogy mailing lists, just hoping there's someone else out there who is researching the same families.
I've found pictures of my gggg-grandmother and my ggggg-grandfather, and quite a few not so many greats. I've met really nice people from all over the country that are distant relatives.I've learned things that I never would have dreamed.
You do have a unique set of problems in your research. There are ususally no records, or records containing first names only. I have the same problem with an ancestor who was an indian, individual records don't exist. If you have a will that states slaves were to be freed, you may also want to check the county/parish and state records wherever the will was filed. In South Carolina, even if a slaveholder released a slave in his will, the case had to have the courts permission for the slave to be actually freed.Other slave states may have been the same.
Have you tried this site to help with google searches? http://www.genealogy-search-help.com/ It lets you be more specific so that you don't get so many randon hits.

[tsquared]

That is great...........my brother loved doing the geneology thing..........

[Angel Lips]

thats great, hope everything works out and you find out some information

[suprtruckr]

that is so kewl

i've personally, been able to trace mine from my son back to 1650 but i have cousins thats traced it all the way back to william wallace, braveheart ;) but i'm one of those "gotta do it myself peeps"

congrats and hope you have continued success

[DAVESBABYDOLL]

I hope you find out all sorts of interesting tid bits. :D

[MamaFairal]

That is awesome..isnt geneology fun?

[Elijah'sMommy]

fatesfaery-Thanks for the info, I'll try there. Thanks for the encouragment, everyone! The email hasnt bounced back as undeliverable, so I'm hoping...I have my grandfather's family traced back to the early 1700's a few generations in Germany before they came to America, and you're all right-there are some amazing stories. Next, I have to try to get my grandmother's family traced back some more, the farthest back I have is my grandmother's granfather, who fought in the Civil War, was captured several times and held at Andersonville. He escaped using the Underground Railway and the first stop from Andersonville was a lady named Almeda. My grandmother was named after that woman. I could go on & on (hmmm...I already have :D )
Thanks again, everyone!

[amysusi]

that is so kewl

i've personally, been able to trace mine from my son back to 1650 but i have cousins thats traced it all the way back to william wallace, braveheart ;) but i'm one of those "gotta do it myself peeps"

congrats and hope you have continued success

Then we should be enemies, LOL! I come through the line of the king that was after him (Wallace). I can't remember the name at the moment, and looking through my files I can't pick it out either.

Geneology is so exciting, and then you come across some super interesting stuff. I found that I have alot of royalty in my tree from England, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Holland, France, Czecoslovakia (sp), Hungary, and Belgium. And that nursery rhyme Old King Cole? He was a real person, and I'm related to him too!

I wish you continued success and lots of excitement!

[suprtruckr]

Then we should be enemies, LOL! I come through the line of the king that was after him (Wallace). I can't remember the name at the moment, and looking through my files I can't pick it out either.
edward I also regarded as edward the longshanks

[ladybugbhb]

cool!
my grandfather has traced ours back to jesse james!!
it hink it is so cool to loook into it. i just wish i had the patience to dig past where he got to.

[fatesfaery]

Wow...I had no idea so many people here were interested in genealogy.
One of my mom's maternal lines traces back to a 17th century german princess. I've had several people say that one of my dad's paternal lines can be traced to Robert the Bruce....though I haven't seen evidence of it. Another of his lines can definitely be traced back to scottish royalty.
I seem to spend most of my spare time looking for people who hid from census takers and named their children the same names that ten or so of their cousins named their children. I've found at least five different spellings of my maiden name, often with children of the same family spelling it differently.
And I never knew the meaning of frustration until I tried a google search on the name Council.

[Crick]

I would do mine but I'm afraid of the skeletons I'd dig up. LOL. Looks like you've done a lot of hard work and research!

[amysusi]

edward I also regarded as edward the longshanks
Longshanks!!!! Thank you!

My mom told me last night, that My gramma found more stuff recently, particularly, the branch she was looking at was kicked out of Ireland way way way back when!

Robert the Bruce is in my tree to!

[suprtruckr]

I've had several people say that one of my dad's paternal lines can be traced to Robert the Bruce....though I haven't seen evidence of it. Another of his lines can definitely be traced back to scottish royalty.
LOL you aren't related to me are you? :p robert the brcue and wallace fought together for a bit

[caides_mom]

i have been trying to fnd information on my mom's family. her and all her brothers and sisiters have passed away and it like they took all that was there with them

[joni1269]

That is a great feeling when you get stuck for awhile! It is just me, or does this stuff come in spurts?

Congrats! I hope that email is valid. Keep us posted.

[schsa]

If you know what state and county the slaves were released, then chances are the local county library will have additional records. After all, slaves were considered property and people did keep track of their property back then.

It's an ugly side of our history but there are records and with luck you might be able to find the ship that they came over on from Africa.

My Great grandmother was the niece of President William McKinley and we have pictures of the ancestral "ruin" in Ireland. It was a home at one time but the picture is a pile of rocks.

My mother's family predates the Civil War and my father's family arrive in Charleston, SC in 1777, which makes us "new people" as far as Charlestonians are concerned.

[nanajoanie]

My sister is into geneology and found out there are criminals in our family from over 300 years ago. I used to find this stuff boring til she discovered some awesome facts. But bummer, no royalty in our family. Hope you have fun with your ancestors :cool:

[callsheb]

i dont think you are a dork either I started 10yrs ago several members of my husbands family he never knew about. Also i started last year the first family reunion they have had in who knows how long so i know the excitement you have found. Good luck and keep up the work never know what you will find

[menanamama]

OK, I'm sure ya'll will think I'm a dork after reading this (for those of you who don't think so already) but I am really into genealogy. My fiancee is black (it is very difficult to go back too far due to lousy record keeping and general disregard for them), and I had gotten back as far as I could, which included a photocopy of a typed will from a John Murphy releasing my fiancee's great (times a bunch) grandfather and grandmother from slavery upon his death. Occasionally, I check Google for their names as they are extremely unusual. Imagine my surprise to see a listing of someone else's research on their family that includes their names, and several generations forward, my fiancee's great grandmother! As part of the url, I noticed what appears to be a first initial & a last name. I look that up on Google and find the someone by his last name set up a news group. Looking into the postings of the newsgroup, I find he has posted the opening paragraph of this same will that we have a copy of! Unfortunately, this was posted back in 1996, so I'm hoping the email address is valid. I'm so excited to find someone who may have some more information for us!
funny how "small" the cyber world can be isn't it. glad you got some good news.