Fascinating. One of my cousins did a family history after she retired from her job as a teacher. She found several Indian women as our ancestors. She also travelled west and met relatives we had never known about. Nobody famous, but a wealth of material. I always wamnted to get her to write it down. Sadly, she now has Alzheimers and is in a nursing home. My father had a trunk owned by his great great grandfather when he came thru Ellis Island from France in the late 1800's.

Family history can be facasinating and makes a wonderful hobby. However, in a few cases, you may make enemies when you get too close to uncovering a "skeleton in the closet". I found two in my history and these did not make for enemies, but were deeply hidden and were difficult to discover. One was a out-of-wedlock birth due to events in the Civil War and the other was a justifiable homicide.

On the brighter side, I found:

o Ancestors who married 3 times because of outliving their mates.

o One of my g---Uncles was on hand at the surrender of Borgonne (sp?) at York, Va (end of the Revolutionary War) He also knew of Baron DeKalb, a mercernary who came with Lafayette to aid the new US.

o I found a g---father who was in the war of 1812.

o My g-g-grandfather was in the Seminole War in the Floridas under Andrew Jackson, and later was a Captain in the Black Hawk War.

o I found disagreements between father and sons about church doctrine in the 1830s. They were Baptists and the Baptist church split in the 1830s.

o Since I was able to trace my father's side back to a plantation in VA in 1735, I found this was a good way to connect to early American history. It gives a new perspective to our country's history.

An ancestor on my father's side sailed from Ireland on his own ship. When he got here, he sold his ship and bought part of what is now the Chicago Loop. It was swamp land then. He sold that land for fifty cents an acre and kept none of it. That's the business expertise from our family genes!

One of my ggGrandfathers came from England and was an "Old school Baptist" minister. He was asked to head a group of local militia in New York until they could post an officer there in the war of 1812. He kept the British from invading.

Interesting as my grand folks came from MO etc and I have connections back to Andrew Jackson thru the Baker/Jackson side. Some of my relatives also came from England. Several my DH's relatives are traced back to the Revolution area also --Daniels
Wish there was a forum to do geneologically.

Both of my Parents had very interesting heritage. My Father's side were Missionaries from Stratfordshire, England and settled in Virginia in the 1600's. Later settled in the Republic of Texas.

My Mother's side were Choctaw Indians in Mississpi. But, eventually were forced to take the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. They were constantly being attacked by the Comanche Indians. I am a registered Choctaw Indian.

Gayle