Generations

[Brian D]

I have really never cared much about my lineage. For many years I knew only my maternal and paternal grandparents. That was it. Nothing beyond that. I did hear when I was a child that we had some Native American in us. I think for the most part a lot of Americans can say that. What I found recently surprised the heck out of me.

My niece has been doing research for years. She posted her findings on Ancestry dot com website. I would help her as much as I could and when I could. Two weeks ago she discovered an amazing fact and posted it with updates on the website.

For the most part, we can trace my paternal grandfather back 2 generations to my G-G grandfather. Same on my maternal grandparents, only 2 generations.

But... on my paternal grandmother side, we found a path that took us 10 generations. Yep, all the way back to 1570 New England. This was the Native American side that I had heard about but knew nothing. My niece has confirmed her findings with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. I personally have not confirmed, but my niece is very meticulous about her research.

This is something to write home about. I was tickled pink to see the lineage path all the way back to 1570. Some of the people in my linage are Eunice Mauwee (5th gen) and her grandfather Gideon Mauwee (7th gen). Also Eunice's grandson Truman Bradley. Eunice would be my maternal G-G-G-G grandmother and Truman my maternal G-G grandfather.

Wow!

 

[jssailem]

Nice Brian. I too have dabbled in the genealogy pool. Ancestry can be addictive. The leaf thing can lead you down the wrong path... But on the other hand learning about the folks you never knew can be interesting.
Wow Schaghtioke Tribe. Do they have casinos? You may be due some boat money.

 

[Brian D]

Deep in the back of my mind I thought the same thing. However, not in my character to pursue anything like that. But, who knows, I could be eligible for a council seat. LOL

About the green leaf thing, so true. And there is a possibility that this lineage is not accurate. But it is better to have false hope than no hope at all.

 

[jssailem]

Or at least a feather.. One of the interesting discoveries, I have an uncle who at 24 was a cowboy in Arizona. He was among the posse that arrested Geronimo. It was a story I had heard as a child, but then to find links to the news reports and associate the names with the reports kept me up late nights following the trail. Only wish someone in the family had saved his six shooter.

 

[uncledom]

....But it is better to have false hope than no hope at all.

aahhhh hope, the death of reason

 

[Leeward Rail]

About the green leaf thing, so true. And there is a possibility that this lineage is not accurate.

The trick is to doubt the info. Much of the transposed stuff in databases can be wrong.

A UK census record, entered into a database, has a great great great grandmother of mine, as being born in a nearby town in England. In fact, the original documents show it was Sicily and her listed as a foreign national.

Spend the time to get copies of original documents, and trust nothing until you have proof. Otherwise you spend a lot of time following wrong branches. Ask me how many people in Lancashire have the same names, in the same towns, with similar birthdates.

If you have a local genealogy society near you, they are a great resource on how to avoid errors.

 

[Kermit]

The trick is to doubt the info. Much of the transposed stuff in databases can be wrong...
...If you have a local genealogy society near you, they are a great resource on how to avoid errors.

Why let the truth get in the way of a great story?

 

[justsomeguy]

Someday, we'll all be brown.

 

[Brian D]

@Leeward Rail, my niece has been researching this for the better part of 10 years. Probably more. She is very meticulous in collecting documents and cross referencing those documents. Yes, there is the possibility of someone a hundred years ago making a clerical error, but that is why she cross references everything she gets. However, I still have to leave a little room for errors, but right now it is looking more like the errors are very minimal.

I have contacted the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to see if there is a possibility the linage is correct. I have no other motive in this other than to say that finally I can say I know where I came from. Very interesting.

 

[jssailem]

So Brian. Are you going to do the DNA test thingies as well?

One of the issues I have discovered, the Census info can be a source of error. It appears they confused spellings, or did not hear the answer given by the interviewee, or the made it up so they could move on to the next person in the tenement building.

Further during times of national stress (wars, flu outbreaks, and depression) the folks used a variety of living arrangements to survive. One of my relatives, as a young girl in the 1800's, went to live with a family and worked/lived as a house maid. She was listed in the census as a daughter, yet there was no family relation. Examining the history of the time, I believe she was an indentured servant to a family in Chicago area.

 

[Leeward Rail]

my niece has been researching this for the better part of 10 years. Probably more. She is very meticulous in collecting documents and cross referencing those documents.

I more or less assumed that, based on your initial post.

My comment was meant as a warning to people who may see this thread, and get sucked into the perceived ease of using something like family tree maker, and little green leaves magically showing up.
My transposing error example was just one of many that I ran into with the commonly used ancestry company's databases.

As your niece knows from experience, family tree research can be very time consuming to do correctly, in spite of what "ancestry" wants you to believe. I've lost track on how many years I've been researching our tree.

DNA is the new "thing" now. Evidently it even helps you find serial killers in your family. hehe

 

[jssailem]

In a recent discussion, a friend did 3 different DNA tests and got 3 different results. Makes you wonder what is happening with the tests. Then of course there is the question what is happening with the DNA information. Maybe it will be used with the "DEATH PANELS" that were discussed on the news over the past several years.

 

[Leeward Rail]

Someday, we'll all be brown.

We can only hope. Then maybe more people will be less rascist.. but i doubt it. Humans will find other excuses to create a "them" category,
Years ago, there was a Oprah episode where she had KKK members on, and introduced them to their black relatives. Brilliant.

It appears they confused spellings, or did not hear the answer given by the interviewee, or the made it up so they could move on to the next person in the tenement building.

Oh so true. Even more so with new arrivals. The english speaking guys at the dock would have no idea how to spell many of the names, or even understand what they said.

To make it worse, many people changed their names. My Grandfather arrived a "Mynko"..... then promptly changed it to "McGee" so he could get hired for jobs (and try woo the daughter of a farmer he was working for)

 

[Brian D]

Yeah, caution is not thrown to the wind here. It can go either way, I am or I am not. No big deal.

 

[Leeward Rail]

a friend did 3 different DNA tests and got 3 different results. Makes you wonder what is happening with the tests.

In the dog/pet DNA testing world I suspect many are just not tested... They just send out fake results and bill for it.

For human testing I would guess that while there is a margin of error, some labs doing testing for family tree research are likely not bothering to be rigorous. Who's to say they aren't accidently mixing up the DNA samples ?

Heck there was a crematorium here that got nailed for stuffing the wrong ashes into bags/urns.

 

[Leeward Rail]

Yeah, caution is not thrown to the wind here. It can go either way, I am or I am not. No big deal.

The cool part is you getting lucky enough to find a researchable line that goes to 1570.
Many times the records are lost/destroyed.
I have a branch in eastern europe. Multiple wars, the USSR etc. have hampered researching that branch.

 

[Brian D]

Yeah, my Korean wife says that her family register cannot be trusted beyond her grand parents. Too many people have put themselves on affluent registers.

 

[Will Gilmore]

My Grandfather arrived a "Mynko"..... then promptly changed it to "McGee" so he could get hired for jobs

Did he not know that being Irish would make it harder to get a job?

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[DaveJ]

Unless a DNA test is done....do we really know who our fathers are? How come there's a bunch of red haired kids in some neighborhoods? Hmmm.....

Cheers
dj

 

[Leeward Rail]

Did he not know that being Irish would make it harder to get a job?

- Will (Dragonfly)

lol. He WOULD have been better off with an English name here, but almost any name from Ireland, England, or Scotland would have helped a lot. Polish, Ukrainian, etc not so much. Many immigrants who settled the prairies from eastern Europe were farmers.
The good thing is, the city was such a melting pot back then, that it was not as big a deal as it could have been.

I do know, most of the cops here then were all big Irish guys. My dad told me stories, about them walking a beat in the winter with their buffalo coats and fur hats.

It was mostly done in pursuit of that girl, but alas, he never did marry her.
Instead, he married a German girl. Frankly, that amazes me. He spoke Polish, but was born in Galicia. Galicia ceased to exist after WW1.
I'd love to have been a fly on the wall, in their house, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939