Leave it to me to replace one addiction with another.
Shortly after I took a break from Facebook, I received an offer for two free weeks of Ancestry.com.
Hahaha. Haha. Ha. Ha.
Well a week later, here I am. I’ve traced both sides of my family (parentage only…the whole tree will take me probably the rest of my life) as far as I can go. But wow, the places I went…
Our two family names are Pierce (father) and Martin (mother). Here’s what I found.
I mapped my paternal heritage back to circa 1770, when my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Seth John Pierce, came over from Ireland and fought in the Revolutionary War, living out his life afterwards in Georgia. Fortunately, Seth’s wife, Millie Askew, had a much longer published ancestry, almost exclusively from England. William Askew is my 11th great grandfather.
On the Martin side, we go waaay back. As luck would have it, Scottish and Irish aristocracy kept careful birth and death records, and I hit the jackpot all the way back to the 15th century. Fascinating.
I find myself wondering what they looked like, how they lived, what their personalities were. They obviously had station and land. Why was this not passed down to me? I ask you. I ask Grandpa Martin, and the 14 Grandpa Martins who came before him.
As I read the forums and comments on the Ancestry site, I see that many families have an official genealogist/archivist. I am far from that, but now that I’ve got us mapped with parent sets, I’m looking forward to branching out on the tree and seeing who else we might be tied up with.
Terrific. Another obsession to get up at 4:30 a.m. to satisfy. Psh.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Lady Rat of Fink
I love this stuff! Seeing the Lords, the Ladies, the Sirs. I feel very important today.
We even have a General, a Lieutenant and a Captain in the mix, and a Laird! I only wish we could see photos. Oh well, more for the imagination. Thanks so much for doing the research, Bird. Can’t wait to find out what’s next!
Isn’t it fun? And cousins are next — I will likely have to pass the torch to one of the kids because that job will long outlive the both of us, hahaha
You’re welcome, Mave — you know I love the “researching” part of research!
Oh my!!!! Talk about a rabbit hole. It is a treasure hunt, a treasure trove but a time sucker. I bought a membership and stayed up late late late into the night searching the skeletons in my closet. Finally had to quit cold turkey, but I found lots of fun stuff that confirmed the family legends. Next I am going to do the DNA test. Just think, with all those British Isles juice flowing in you, we could be cousins a zillion times removed. But probably my ancestor was the chamber maid with pot in hand. Love you.
Right? Deep, deep, deep rabbit hole. I have to make myself quit and do other work; I totally get the allure of pulling an all-nighter to get just *one* more hint.
There was a detour through the Netherlands for one generation, but yep, mostly UK for us. And you, with that McGarvey clan…we could have had distant cousins dancing an Irish jig with each other in the 1700s!
Now bring me a pillow for my feets.
Love you and miss you!
I would rate it a little higher, but I like this genre – modern melodic rock in the vein of Anberlin, Nevertheless, Forever Changed, Search The City, and the latest Relient K album. I think it’s a solid debut with plenty of hooks. “Coast To Coast” is probably the standout track on the album for me. My one complaint is that there aren’t more tracks driving rock songs like &#er80;Fi22works.” I hope they last more than one album, because they show a lot of promise on their debut.
It was exactly this sort of trip for Ms Lizbeth that led to me taking her to Ireland and Scotland for her Birthday three years ago. She dove into the same hole and found out her “Delany” side of the family began in her ancestral town of KilKenny Ireland. Her, I don’t remember how many Greats Grandfather was a key architect that built St Canice’s Cathedral, completed sometime around 1225 AD. It was built on a site which has held Christian worship services since the 6th Century. What blew my mind was we found his grave site in the church yard…literally made me sit in the grass and take the enormity of that in.
Thanks for sharing your tree with us…I truly enjoy this stuff. I have never tackled my own tree…always feared I find that we were chemical dealers in Germany or some such horrid business.
It was like seeing an old friend, old friend when I saw the RtB notice in my mailbox…always a delight to here the stuff of your Fiendish mind!
Peace as you settle into the pace of another year of teaching!
Mavis and I so so SO want to make that same pilgrimage, Dave! How cool it must have been for Liz and you.
And you never know — maybe your ancestors engineered the perfect bratwurst, or were master brewers.
I’d be interested to know where your ilk are from, and if your last name is a shortened version of another, more ethnic name.
Glad to reconnect during my social media vacation! I’ll be back in Nov for sure. Hugs
How fun! I have lots of information on my Dad’s side of the family. They came over from Poland and I hope to get there one day and see it. My youth was full of homemade kielbasa from Uncle Paulie’s butcher shop and every time I open a jar of sauerkraut I think of my grandma.
My mom’s side has family down in Indiana and Illinois and there’s some records of activity in the Civil War.
As for Hettenvan, the name will die with H, his brother and cousin in the US. No male heirs to carry on the name.
Come back to Facebook, the Ragdoll Coalition and I miss you and the Jax pack. ?
That question mark is supposed to be a heart.
I miss you too, and the Dolls! The Jax Pack will be back!
What neat memories, and I’m glad you know so much about your dad’s side. What was your mom’s maiden name? Cousins, mayhap???
A lot of my relatives are from IN and IL as well.
Sad to hear that H will be the last in his line, but what what a way to go out, eh??
Mom’s maiden name was DePuy pronounced Dee Pew hehe. She thinks it’s a French name and when in France I did look in a telephone book and saw some DePuys. Who knows, maybe we are cousins far far far far removed LOL
I hope rehearsals and life in general is going well! Things are good here albeit HOT, we are having a heatwave. i come home from work bathed in the glistening glow of sweat.
Actually DePuy is her father’s name and that’s who I don’t have info on. Her mother’s side are the Cronks, Jenkins, and another name I can’t think of. Any Cronks or Jenkins in your past?