A wild hair tickled me and I got the free subscription to Ancestry.com.
Is it just me, or is geneology depressing?
The first set of relatives I looked for was Jerry the Dead Technical Father and his kin. And how’;s this for a commercial, I looked on the family tree and there I was. I didn’t realize I would be on the family tree. I’m just an unnamed female profile because I’m not quite dead yet, along with Dave and the half-siblings Ive never met.
Also depressing? Ancestry.com thinks Mom is still alive. Suzan my short-term stepmother must be dead though: her generic female profile has a name.
From there, I looked up Jerry’s grandfather the opium addict. I found him but no mention of his sons tying him to a tree to detox. So, that was sad. I thought about adding it, just as a sort of tribute.
I searched for one of Gary’s great-aunts who had been entailed. I found his grandfather, along with loads of information. For example his grandfather owned a radio at one point. It’s there in the summary. Other than that, Gary was familiar with all the grandfather information. No news there.
That seems to be the issue, either the person is a mystery or you already know all the details. Plus, little things bothered me. For example, someone listed Jerry’s father by his nickname and had him married to my grandmother’s identical twin sister. So, not only do I not know the man, other people don’t know him either. Kind of sad.
7 responses to “Ancestry”
I think you have to go way, way back before it starts to get interesting or fun. Like: My great-great-great-great grandfather (who knows how great?) once owned most of South Carolina because he fought in the Revolutionary War on the side that won. (This is always key.)
Oh, and a distant aunt found the men who had murdered her husband and walked them back to the sheriff’s office with a shotgun pointed at their backs. She was later elected sheriff.
I, too, boast of many unknowns in my ancestry. And soon I will join them.
PS – Because a lot of people are picking up genealogy as a hobby, a lot of misinformation is being tacked onto family trees. My cousin’s daughter is dutifully adding on things that just ain’t right onto a tree I carefully researched years ago. So take what you read with a lot of salt.
Becs – But, are those intersting stories backed up by facts? I have several criminals on Mom’s side and I could find no criminal records.
Hattie -Hopefully not too soon.I thought of you yesterday when that Japanese tsunami pier washed up on the beach. They say the debris will hit Hawaii in 2015.
Did it work? The tree detox?
Mrs. Hall – Well, he didn’t die. It probably worked temporarily. I’m sure they untied him and then he went to find more opium.
see now, you have to know the ending to make the story alive. or just pretend you know. just as good.