Does knowing your family tree really matter that much? Some I know think it not worth the bother nor all the headache and research that goes into digging up the past family members and what they did or didn't do. As it does not affect me now, why should I? Simply put, I could never understand that thought process. Of course your familial means something! So much about US, about we ourselves can be understood better with some digging into our past. And I started to delve into mine more than a decade ago, when I purchased Family Tree Helper on CD-rom.
Much has changed since then with the Internet and research material becoming so much more readily available. Ancestry.com has been a HUGE help as has Family Search. This, along with the cousins I found online, has increased my family tree by 500 %. Corroboration with European sources has made this fact, not just conjecture.
These two sites online are a mine and treasure trove of information!!! Family Search does not charge for their services, making it a great resource for us folks with little cash. Ancestry.com is a better resource in many ways and can be accessed free although they can be quirky and delete your info if you don't pay them after a certain length of time. i found this out the hard way. Fortunately, I printed most of my family tree before this and before losing some info during a computer re-build. So, I have some work ahead of me in adding these ancestors to my family tree again. Still, I get reacquainted with those long lost grandparents,uncles and cousins from the Celtic lands in Europe. THAT is worth all the effort one puts into researching!
My family was primarily European. Mother's side from Switzerland and Germany as well as England and father's side from The Celtic lands of England,Wales and Scotland. They moved very little in the 15th to 17th centuries but started to after that, especially during the Highland clearances and when Scotland and Wales were added to be part of the United Kingdom.Some of my family came over from the continent in the early 1720's and were here before the Revolution and Independence. That side came from Germanic and Swiss lands. The Gebhardt family were my kin from then and built up generations here in America, fighting in the Revolutionary and Civil wars here.
The other side of the family came exclusively from the Isles. I have no history farther back than 1525, with my ancestors living in Wales, Scotland and England. My great uncles are buried in Scotland, near Glasgow and others around the midlands of England and Wales for the most part. None were real city dwellers and most were poorer stock who worked as tradesmen and women. The last of my ancestors came over in the late 19th century with the others in the huge immigrant flood. As far as I see, none came through Ellis Island, arriving before those years. Some landed in Philadelphia and others in New England and New York. They spread out to Pennsylvania, Ohio and then West. A lot of us ended up in California in the early 20th century and then filtered out from there. So yes, I'm 100 % American by birth, but love my family history and all it entails. Especially my very Scottish name,Ross, and that of my father, and grandfathers before me!!! I love that Scottish heritage so much I just HAD to look into kilts and more of my family history!!! So I have been wearing those for the last few years and love it. And I have a full right to with my heritage and family history. Some would say I do not unless a full blood Scotsman and living there. Nonsense. i shall wear it where and when I want.
Another great thing about family history is medical knowledge and what we might have down the line as far as genetics goes.
Our family is not a very long lived one, usually making it till the upper 70's. but then again, as that is the average, all is well.
What I REALLY enjoy about the research is the distant cousins I have met through this. Some cousins on the east coast and Midwest have provided valuable information regarding the family and I have mined it well.
During the last few years I have inked myself with a few tattoos as regard my heritage and they have been all about celebration of that. Today, I added one that trumps them all in my opinion. This tattoo shows not only the Scottish Ross clan crest and motto, but flags of all the countries my family has hailed from since 1525. This design was partially general knowledge, partially mine and the rest of the best part from my artist, Doug Auld. he has been the only tattoo artist to ink me. Ever. And he is the only one i would ever trust to do this special piece anyway. It is on my right front calf, where any can see it when running or in a kilt. So, here is what was inked today, at The Parlous St Johns in Portland,Oregon:
Yes, this is a great piece of work and I'm so proud to wear it. For the rest of my life.
So, if you haven't researched your family tree....give it a shot and see what you come up with. Could be great fun. One never knows what they will find in the records.
Now, off to do some research and add more names to the family roll books!!!! Thanks for letting me share all of this!!!
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