Genealogists--check in!

[maize]

Sunday mornings are my  time to work on genealogy stuff, I thought I'd see who else is tracking down their family history. Any mysteries you are working on? Any recent discoveries?

 

My mom confirmed last month through records research that the line that other folks were saying was our line wasn't really--the family they have a particular ancestor attached to isn't his family. But we have no idea who his actual parents are. This is maybe five generations back, close enough that we're going to see if we can solve it with DNA. My mom's already been tested but I just gave my great-uncle an Ancestry.com test kit to send in. 

 

We've got a couple of other mysteries we are also hoping to solve with DNA. The one I've spent the most time on is my grandmother's grandfather. Almost all we know about him is that he was Swedish. Grandma has tested with both 23andMe  and Ancestry, and we've transferred her results to Family Tree DNA and Gedmatch. Lots of Swedish cousins showing up, but the closest match isn't responding to requests for information. Ancestry just recently started marketing their kits in Sweden though so there may be a lot more matches soon.

[Alessandra]

I have to get back to genealogy.

 

My biggest question is about a person who has the same last name as I do. In family papers, I found his detailed biography, handwritten in the 1930's and signed by his daughter, dob, lots of details, that exactly match someone in ancestry and other online records. I presume he is a relative -- why else would we have his info? I found his house in a historical society website, found his grave, etc. I found lawsuits on Google. Found his bio in a history of Colorado pioneers. I am searching for his naturalization papers, no luck so far. So this guy is documented, but related -- how?

 

Another relative --actual ancestor -- is slippery. He has a marriage date and place in Family Search, no idea where this came from. I have read, meaning going through every single record for a wide time period, not just used index, but I cannot find record. I go to photos of original records whenever possible, not transcriptions. This guy also slipped past the 1910 census. I got a map and read the census. Guy is listed in a directory, so I think I have his address. Super frustrating, because I think he may have been living with someone else that I need to track. But, by happenstance, I found my only photo of him in an old edition of Boot and Shoe Recorder. Thank you google! So I started reading issues Boot and Shoe Recorder cover to cover, lol. Also found some of the places he lived are still standing and got photos from real estate sites.

 

At some point I am going to have to start paying for records, as some things I know exist are not digitized.

[KarenNC]

I have worked on ours off and on for years--started when I left my job to stay home after our daughter was born and I needed something for mental stimulation (love babies but they aren't great conversationalists!). Things have been on the back burner for the last couple of years but I've just started back up and hope to get some good research time in while waiting to pick up my daughter from her summer camps. Both are very close to public libraries, including one branch which houses a big regional history library and has an account with Ancestry that I will be able to access while there.

 

I have a few ancestors that I've about decided either hatched from eggs or were dropped by aliens, as they don't seem to be connected to *anyone* else with the same surnames! We haven't tried any of the DNA kits yet.

[JFSinIL]

The last male Hood on my mom's line refuses to do the DNA testing that is needed to unravel all the Hoods that lived in Tennessee way back when - I have traced back my 3rd great-grandpa to 1820 but then there are too many lines of Hoods in the area to know which were his folks.  Almost all the Hood lines have done the DNA testing...except for one.  We could belong to an existing line - but will not know unless I can get my mom's cousin to test.

 

Another of my mom's line of Holberts seems to emerge out of the ether in Virginia in 1830....

 

Don't get me started on which of a few different Fisher men in Delaware was my 3rd great-grandpa's father in 1794.

 

At least one line one my mom's side I can fully document back to Hingham, Eng. in the 1630s....:-)

 

At least I can poke back and look for relatives - so much of hubby's line is far more recently arrived but from Poland.....neither of us read Polish. 

 

I feel a little bad that a few great-great-great-great grandpa's I can trace, but the grannies from the same time I know little or nothing, and some grandmas even more recent do not even have a maiden name.   I hate that I feel a lot of connection to a Holbert or a Beal or a Fisher at the expense of an equally important but more anonymous ancestor.simply because I have found stuff on a Holbert, etc. but not on a Clark or Edgar or Palmer (etc.)

 

One set of great-great grannies I do have old photos of each.  One looks like  sour puss, the other a sweet little old lady.  In my grandma's writings she notes how her grandma told her (she was a late life surprise baby) that she had ruined her mother's life by being born.  I assumed it was the sour-puss who told her that.  Then in discussion with my aunt, she recalled how nice and sweet her grandma was, despite the stroke that had frozen her face, and how nasty the sweet-looking (in photos) other grandma was.  So photos can be deceiving!

Edited June 12, 2016 by JFSinIL

[ikslo]

It's been a decade since I did any research. You all are making me want to dig my files out.

[wapiti]

23andme is having a father's day sale ($149), though oddly the offer was only in an email I got, not just when I go to the site.  I bought one for dd15 because I want to check methylation, etc. and it'll be interesting to see how close she is to ds's genes.

Edited June 12, 2016 by wapiti

[maize]

The last male Hood on my mom's line refuses to do the DNA testing that is needed to unravel all the Hoods that lived in Tennessee way back when - I have traced back my 3rd great-grandpa to 1820 but then there are too many lines of Hoods in the area to know which were his folks.  Almost all the Hood lines have done the DNA testing...except for one.  We could belong to an existing line - but will not know unless I can get my mom's cousin to test.

 

Another of my mom's line of Holberts seems to emerge out of the ether in Virginia in 1830....

 

Don't get me started on which of a few different Fisher men in Delaware was my 3rd great-grandpa's father in 1794.

 

At least one line one my mom's side I can fully document back to Hingham, Eng. in the 1630s....:-)

 

At least I can poke back and look for relatives - so much of hubby's line is far more recently arrived but from Poland.....neither of us read Polish. 

 

I feel a little bad that a few great-great-great-great grandpa's I can trace, but the grannies from the same time I know little or nothing, and some grandmas even more recent do not even have a maiden name.   I hate that I feel a lot of connection to a Holbert or a Beal or a Fisher at the expense of an equally important but more anonymous ancestor.simply because I have found stuff on a Holbert, etc. but not on a Clark or Edgar or Palmer (etc.)

 

One set of great-great grannies I do have old photos of each.  One looks like  sour puss, the other a sweet little old lady.  In my grandma's writings she notes how her grandma told her (she was a late life surprise baby) that she had ruined her mother's life by being born.  I assumed it was the sour-puss who told her that.  Then in discussion with my aunt, she recalled how nice and sweet her grandma was, despite the stroke that had frozen her face, and how nasty the sweet-looking (in photos) other grandma was.  So photos can be deceiving!

 

 

It sounds like you want your cousin to test for y-chromosome matches, but don't discount the power of autosomal DNA testing--you will find matches with shared ancestors in the 1800's easily. If your mom is still alive can she test? I recommend doing the Ancestry.com test then transferring the results to Family Tree DNA and GEDMATCH, that way you have multiple places to find matches.

[maize]

Ancestry.com is also having a Father's Day Sale for their DNA testing service: https://order.ancestry.com/ng/signup/?offer_id=O-23539&rtype=85&o_iid=72022&o_lid=72022&o_sch=Web+Property#/review/

[scoutingmom]

I do some... a lot less since having kids and homeschooling. I've been trying to find out where in Ireland an ancestor came from, but been tryinb for years and my dad tried for years before that. I did determine that he had a sister.... and that sister maried his wife's father, so she is my great great great aunt and my step-great great great great grandmother.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Renai]

I will be picking back up in the fall probably. I had to let it go for a few months when I was finishing my grad degree last year. 

 

One thing that has happened in the meantime, is that I received a copy of my dad's father's social security application. Unfortunately, the names of the parents were crossed out because it hasn't been 120 years yet. It is frustrating, because to us it is obvious the parents have died because we can't find them anywhere on a census with my deceased grandfather. There are too many Dunklins to try to figure out which family he belongs too. We just know it's not a white family, and that's just not enough information, lol! So, we're stuck on my dad's side because those grandparents died before he was born. The census bears that out. I found a census that has my granddad living with his sister and her child. And the trail dies. Dad's mom's side stops at his great grandparents.

 

We have traced my mother's lineage to the 3rd greats on both sides. My grandmother had a wealth of information - pictures, obituaries - that were really helpful in the beginning to make connections. Her oldest uncle (over 90) just recently died last year, and she was able to ask him a bunch of questions that I added to the tree before he passed. Anything before this gets very difficult as the birthdays are around the Civil War time and they lived in the south. Last names had the potential to change often. And, it seems some people's deaths weren't recorded either, as recent as the 1920s. 

 

It's all an interesting puzzle.

[Junie]

Doing genealogy has really made history come alive for me.  I've found (Mayflower) pilgrims and (Creek) Indians, Quakers, Huguenots, Swiss Mennonites.  I've having difficulty tracing an ancestor born in Ireland.  Dh's family had a brush with royalty.  (A many-generations-back uncle married a king's granddaughter.)

 

The relative I'm really stuck on, though, is a few generations back.  A several-generations-back grandmother claimed to be the aunt of a Civil War admiral.  I've found some hints that it's true, but I just don't have proof.

[AimeeM]

I gave up.

 

My mother's side is easy to trace. Cuban, mostly.

 

My father's side is what i gave up on. He is one of 7 or 8 siblings, almost all of whom were separated in the mid-70's due to neglect/abuse and placed in foster or adoptive homes all over the place. I'm running into brick wall after brick wall. 

[JFSinIL]

It sounds like you want your cousin to test for y-chromosome matches, but don't discount the power of autosomal DNA testing--you will find matches with shared ancestors in the 1800's easily. If your mom is still alive can she test? I recommend doing the Ancestry.com test then transferring the results to Family Tree DNA and GEDMATCH, that way you have multiple places to find matches.

 

The Hood lines that have been documented all use the male line for testing.  I am clueless about anything else.

[Janeway]

What is odd is, my grandma has always had this attitude like she is so refined and great. I thought she was great, but after Grandpa's death, I started to see the cracks in her. I am trying to find the best way to word this. She started showing a side of her that was not so great. And then she would openly make remarks about being too good for Grandpa and she never would have married him if it had not been for the war. And how any problems any of us have, including her own kids or grandchildren have must have come from Grandpa, not her side. She thought her grandmother was a music teacher and came from a wealthy family. And so on, other similar stories I heard. BUT, not only have I had a hard time tracing her side, but, it looks like her grandma was working as a servant girl at only 13 yrs old. And then did not get married until close to 30 years old and was listed as a "spinster" in the marriage record and her dad was a coachman and there was no sign of a mother. I do not think someone who was a servant girl at 13 yrs old was likely some well-to-do well educated music teacher. That was the late 1800's. On the Danish side, just forget the research. I cannot find anything.

[KarenNC]

 And then did not get married until close to 30 years old and was listed as a "spinster" in the marriage record and her dad was a coachman and there was no sign of a mother. I do not think someone who was a servant girl at 13 yrs old was likely some well-to-do well educated music teacher. That was the late 1800's. 

 

"Spinster" just means she was unmarried rather than widowed when she got married, doesn't have anything to do with her station or job.

[mommymonster]

My mother-in-law's great-grandfather is a thorn in my side. I have the rest of my family and DH's family traced and tied up with pretty bows -- at least enough so I can sleep. But MIL's GGF is a stinker! We know his name, but neither his birth nor death date. He lived in Poland, which is tough. However, I found another genealogist-family member who speaks Polish and she even has ALL the church and civil records that remain... but Karl's birth and death is NO WHERE. The entire family wife, kids, and Karl's siblings emigrated to both the U.S. and Australia at about the same time, but there's no record of Karl emigrating. We're guessing he either died around then, or did something very naughty. If it were *my* family, I'd tend to think more along the naughty lines, but DH's family has consistently been solid citizens (for hundreds of years... sigh). It's very embarrassing to not be able to tell my MIL about her GGF...

[Janeway]

I will say though, on my grandpa's side, the one my grandma thought she was better than, within a few generations, were Knights, and even, a little further back, a few kings and some other such royalty. 

 

I also run in to dead ends on the Irish branch. But, I do not have any memberships right now. I just take what is free when it is there. We did do the DNA testing though.

[gaillardia]

I had some luck digging into the national archives, digging into various state's records, county records, find a grave, google searching using a name (which sometimes has lead me to a family website).

I've been digging in my husband's line and found a link to the first wife of his gg grandfather, which gave the name of her father (WOOT!!!) because it was a marriage certificate. This was in Ontario. I didn't know anything about her except her children's names. 

 

Someone once told me that the only person who cares about my family history is me. I disagree!!! I love reading your stories.

 

My mother had told me that one of my dad's gg grandfather's was in the French and Indian War. I found records that he was an Iroquois spy and later put in for disability since he had waded through swamps and snows and suffered all manner of infections and frostbite and later was crippled. What a story. I can't find the name of his wife who received the disability benefits after his death. So, this information is about 2 years old, I don't know if I've shared it before or not.

 

I get frustrated with ancestry dot com and tend to use other genealogical sites and records more than theirs.

What can you tell me about 23andme? I don't know anything about it.

[La Condessa]

My mom and sister and I have been searching for a grandma who's daughter was illegitimate. They were German Bohemians, so the records are in a Czech archive, but written in a mix of German and Latin in the old gothic script. There was no father's information, and the mother's name (according to grandchildren's birth records) was Anna Maria, or Elisabetha, or maybe Maria, Spitzke (not an uncommon surname there). We found the daughter's birth record, which had her mother as Anna Maria and an address number, where she was apparently living with another family.

 

So we looked up every name combination of Anna, Maria, and Elisabetha Spitzke born within the right age range to have possibly given birth to the daughter. We followed up on every one of them, finding when and where they died, if they married, etc., and none of them fit. We checked death records for old women who died in the adult daughter's home and tried to match them by age to one of those we'd found earlier, but couldn't.

 

We went back to the grandkid's birth records and checked out the godparents. We searched the records after the daughter's birth to see what else happened in the house she was born in (we couldn't look before, because there were no addresses earlier). We found that around the time the mother and daughter moved out, a Joannes Spitzke and his wife began having children there. He was also one of the godparents listed, so we followed his family back to see if he was a brother of our ancestor. His father had an earlier marriage with a daughter Anna Maria Catharina, who was exactly the right age to be the Anna Maria who died in the adult daughter's home and was listed as 'household member' instead of wife, widow, or daughter.

 

We believe we've found her, and it's so neat to see that dead end now crowded with parents and 14 siblings!

[Liz CA]

My dh is into this. If I wanted to give him a DNA kit as a birthday or Christmas gift, which ones are dependable /respectable? I've heard 23andme mentioned; evidently there is also a kit by ancestry. Recommendations? What is the cost, procedure and how long does it take to get results?

[wapiti]

I only used 23andme for medical purposes and only have one family member so far with results, so I don't know what specific info it offers for connecting family members.  The procedure is:  order test kit online (father's day sale is $149, regular price $199).  They mail you the kit.  You spit into a small plastic tube and mail the tube back to them.  Then in a few weeks they email you that the results are available.  Then you log in and download your results/look at the online reports.

 

Last year, I think it took 2-3 weeks to get the results after mailing the tube back.  They'll say to expect 4-6 weeks, or something like that, but it was quicker for us.

[Maus]

I research in spurts, but did lots before I had kids.  Most of my paternal lines were done by my late father, who was a professional genealogist, but I did tons of research on my mom's German-Russian line.  They were "Volga Germans," who lived in a village south of Saratov called Messer.

 

Sometimes I attempt my husband's Cherokee line, but I just get frustrated.  I was able to get it back far enough to verify he is a direct-line descendant of a Trail of Tears survivor, as verified on the Dawes Role, which let his family officially be recognized as Cherokee Nation members.  Can't get it past that guy, though.

[HRAAB]

I need to start again.  I haven't touched family history since my mom passed away (15 years ago).  She was the genealogist in the family.  Her side was pretty well documented back for several generations - thanks mostly to her LDS relatives.  My dad's side was proving difficult.  I need to dig out all her records.  It just seems like such an insurmountable task, yet it was important to her, and I would like to carry on.

[maize]

The Hood lines that have been documented all use the male line for testing.  I am clueless about anything else.

 

 

 

 

I get frustrated with ancestry dot com and tend to use other genealogical sites and records more than theirs.

What can you tell me about 23andme? I don't know anything about it.

 

 

My dh is into this. If I wanted to give him a DNA kit as a birthday or Christmas gift, which ones are dependable /respectable? I've heard 23andme mentioned; evidently there is also a kit by ancestry. Recommendations? What is the cost, procedure and how long does it take to get results?

 

 

I'll share what I know about DNA testing. Not an expert, but I have been on this path for about a year and have used all three of the major testing services (there are a few other services out there, but these three are the most commonly used):

 

https://www.23andme.com/   autosomal testing only  

This is the most expensive of the three for autosomal DNA analysis, $199 regularly and $149 on sale (sales happen periodically); it has advantages if you also want health information from your DNA but is not the best for genealogy purposes. Data cannot be transferred to Family Tree DNA but can be transferred to GEDMATCH and to the new MyHeritage DNA genealogy service. 23andMe supposedly has the most accurate ethnicity estimates of the major services.

 

https://www.familytreedna.com/ y-dna, m-dna, and autosomal testing

One of the best in terms of services and tools for comparison, price is $99 regularly but periodically on sale for $79 for the Family Finder autosomal service. This is the service that is most often used for Y-DNA (male line) testing. Autosomal results can be transferred from ancestry.com, also if you have a family member who tested several years ago with and older version of the 23andMe service those results can be transferred, current 23andMe results cannot. Results from the National Geographic DNA project can be transferred to Family Tree DNA. It looks like Family Tree DNA results will be transferable to MyHeritage

 

http://dna.ancestry.com/insights/011C8D12-F250-4E8E-93A2-F423D9B1478D

Often recommended for those who want to get the most bang for their buck as results can be transferred to Family Tree DNA for free (there is a $39 fee though to unlock all matches on FTDNA). Regular price is $99 but periodically on sale for $89, $79, or occasionally even $69. Largest database of tested members, but you will have to pay for a subscription to the site to be able to fully benefit by having access to member trees of DNA matches.

 

https://www.myheritage.com/ recently announced that you can upload results from any of the three services mentioned above for free matching, further expanding opportunities to connect with relatives who may have tested through a different service http://blog.myheritage.com/2016/05/myheritage-is-adding-free-dna-matching/

 

Another free site where you can already upload results from any service and compare is GEDMATCH https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php

 

Y testing follows the direct paternal line (son to father to grandfather to great-grandfather) and Mitochondrial testing follows the direct maternal line (son or daughter to mother to grandmother to great-grandmother). Autosomal testing tells you who you are related to and approximately how close or distant the relationship is, but not which line. Combined with traditional research, it can be a very powerful tool. For example, the poster who is trying to figure out which Hood line their family fits into: if you (or your mother) do an autosomal test with, say, Ancestry.com, you will get a list of matches--people who share DNA segments with you. You can search that list for people who also have the name Hood in their family tree, then examine their family trees. You can also request a list of shared matches--people who have matching DNA segments with both you and the person you are comparing to; with this list in hand you can compare the family trees of the shared matches to determine where there might be a common ancestor, with a good chance that that common ancestor is also your common ancestor.

 

I admit that it quickly becomes complicated, but it does provide a way to break through brick walls when records aren't sufficient.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I recently found out that my great grandmother had 4 children and maybe some miscarriages by the time she was 29 in 1890.  After that she wasn't on any census.  We discovered she was put in a mental hospital. We suspect it was postpartum  depression.  She lived into her 80's.  So sad.  What medication could have done to help her. 

[Ellie]

My mother's family has been on the Outer Banks of NC since the late 1600s/early 1700s. Have not been able to track them across the ocean. We are obviously Western European, just based on how we look. Pretty sure I have indigenous peoples ancestors, and probably Black, as well, because the South, but there's no proof, AFAIK.

 

On my father's side, I have ancestors in Williamsburg pre-Revolutionary War, but to my knowledge, no one has tracked *them* across the ocean, either.

 

I've just decided that since I have ancestors in the early colonization of Virginia and the Carolinas, I'm a GRITS on both sides, and that's good. :D

[Renai]

A fun fact I learned while researching was that my great grandmother was older than we thought when she passed. Even the SSA has the birthday wrong. The SSA has the birthday as being in 1902. I was just learning about census records and such 4 years ago (on ancestry.com), and found her on a 1900 census, and she was already 2-3 years old. Thus, she was more likely 98-99 years old when she passed. We all thought that was cool. She was a neat woman.

[maize]

I recently found out that my great grandmother had 4 children and maybe some miscarriages by the time she was 29 in 1890.  After that she wasn't on any census.  We discovered she was put in a mental hospital. We suspect it was postpartum  depression.  She lived into her 80's.  So sad.  What medication could have done to help her. 

 

This happened to my husband's great-grandmother as well, it is so sad. Her husband put her in a mental hospital and then divorced her, the family believe she was suffering from post-partum depression.

 

We've come a long way with mental health treatment.

[Liz CA]

I'll share what I know about DNA testing. Not an expert, but I have been on this path for about a year and have used all three of the major testing services (there are a few other services out there, but these three are the most commonly used):

 

https://www.23andme.com/   autosomal testing only  

This is the most expensive of the three for autosomal DNA analysis, $199 regularly and $149 on sale (sales happen periodically); it has advantages if you also want health information from your DNA but is not the best for genealogy purposes. Data cannot be transferred to Family Tree DNA but can be transferred to GEDMATCH and to the new MyHeritage DNA genealogy service. 23andMe supposedly has the most accurate ethnicity estimates of the major services.

 

https://www.familytreedna.com/ y-dna, m-dna, and autosomal testing

One of the best in terms of services and tools for comparison, price is $99 regularly but periodically on sale for $79 for the Family Finder autosomal service. This is the service that is most often used for Y-DNA (male line) testing. Autosomal results can be transferred from ancestry.com, also if you have a family member who tested several years ago with and older version of the 23andMe service those results can be transferred, current 23andMe results cannot. Results from the National Geographic DNA project can be transferred to Family Tree DNA. It looks like Family Tree DNA results will be transferable to MyHeritage

 

http://dna.ancestry.com/insights/011C8D12-F250-4E8E-93A2-F423D9B1478D

Often recommended for those who want to get the most bang for their buck as results can be transferred to Family Tree DNA for free (there is a $39 fee though to unlock all matches on FTDNA). Regular price is $99 but periodically on sale for $89, $79, or occasionally even $69. Largest database of tested members, but you will have to pay for a subscription to the site to be able to fully benefit by having access to member trees of DNA matches.

 

https://www.myheritage.com/ recently announced that you can upload results from any of the three services mentioned above for free matching, further expanding opportunities to connect with relatives who may have tested through a different service http://blog.myheritage.com/2016/05/myheritage-is-adding-free-dna-matching/

 

Another free site where you can already upload results from any service and compare is GEDMATCH https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php

 

Y testing follows the direct paternal line (son to father to grandfather to great-grandfather) and Mitochondrial testing follows the direct maternal line (son or daughter to mother to grandmother to great-grandmother). Autosomal testing tells you who you are related to and approximately how close or distant the relationship is, but not which line. Combined with traditional research, it can be a very powerful tool. For example, the poster who is trying to figure out which Hood line their family fits into: if you (or your mother) do an autosomal test with, say, Ancestry.com, you will get a list of matches--people who share DNA segments with you. You can search that list for people who also have the name Hood in their family tree, then examine their family trees. You can also request a list of shared matches--people who have matching DNA segments with both you and the person you are comparing to; with this list in hand you can compare the family trees of the shared matches to determine where there might be a common ancestor, with a good chance that that common ancestor is also your common ancestor.

 

I admit that it quickly becomes complicated, but it does provide a way to break through brick walls when records aren't sufficient.

 

Thank you, Maize. I copied everything onto my computer so I can decide later. :hurray:

 

 

[KarenNC]

A fun fact I learned while researching was that my great grandmother was older than we thought when she passed. Even the SSA has the birthday wrong. The SSA has the birthday as being in 1902. I was just learning about census records and such 4 years ago (on ancestry.com), and found her on a 1900 census, and she was already 2-3 years old. Thus, she was more likely 98-99 years old when she passed. We all thought that was cool. She was a neat woman.

 

 

It's very interesting the things one comes across. I have come to the conclusion that some census takers must have been drunk (or their informants were!). One of my husband's family in the 1880 Alabama census had ten children, the youngest one's name was listed as "Finally." In 1890, he was Timothy. I can just hear the informant saying, "the children are Mary, John, ......., and, finally, Timothy".  lol  

 

My great aunt Edna was listed in the 1930 census as a 10 year old boy named Edward!

 

 

One thing to watch out for is that it wasn't uncommon in earlier generations for families to re-use names of children who died young. In my husband's family there was an instance of two children, both named John C. (possibly Christian), who died as toddlers by drowning in a spring near the house. One boy was born in 1803, died 1804, the other born 1810, d. 1811. There are headstones in the family cemetery for both boys.

Edited June 13, 2016 by KarenNC

[KarenNC]

This happened to my husband's great-grandmother as well, it is so sad. Her husband put her in a mental hospital and then divorced her, the family believe she was suffering from post-partum depression.

 

We've come a long way with mental health treatment.

 

I wonder if this happened to my great-great-grandmother. She was there in the 1880 census, but by 1900 I couldn't find her though her husband remained listed as married. It took a while, but I finally found her in the state mental institution, where she was for at least 24 years until her death. Her last known child was born in 1890. I'd love to figure out a way to access her admissions records.

 

It's such a shame that the majority of the 1890 census records burned!

[maize]

Here's a blog with good information about DNA testing: http://www.dna-testing-adviser.com/dna-testing-blog.html

[mommymonster]

I wonder if this happened to my great-great-grandmother. She was there in the 1880 census, but by 1900 I couldn't find her though her husband remained listed as married. It took a while, but I finally found her in the state mental institution, where she was for at least 24 years until her death. Her last known child was born in 1890. I'd love to figure out a way to access her admissions records.

 

It's such a shame that the majority of the 1890 census records burned!

 

My great-great grandmother committed suicide due to post partum depression. Interestingly, it made the local news and so we were able to find the newspaper reports from her death. The reporters indicated it was a case of "sleep walking" (during the day) into a lake. Truly tragic. I don't know about PPD and genetics, but PPD has been significant in pretty much all of the women in our family. I'm so glad there are effective treatments now available.

[scoutingmom]

My gg-grandfather and his sister were both in asylums at some point. His sister it looked like maybe 2 short stays (about 6 months each). My gg-grandfather it sounds like he was in and out (and at times in jail) for most of his adulthood. We were able to get patient records for a few of his stays and it is interesting reading.

 

One time he escaped by hopping the fence (using a box or something) of the airing yard. He had periods where he was hurting other patients and put in restraints. Other times he was quiet but didn't do much. The last asylum he was in, he was an early inmate, and the asylum was mostly built by the early inmates. He died in an asylum cutting hay on a hot day.... so it sounds like they sort-of worked him to death.

 

The provincial archives where the asylums were had the records we got.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[maize]

My great-great grandmother committed suicide due to post partum depression. Interestingly, it made the local news and so we were able to find the newspaper reports from her death. The reporters indicated it was a case of "sleep walking" (during the day) into a lake. Truly tragic. I don't know about PPD and genetics, but PPD has been significant in pretty much all of the women in our family. I'm so glad there are effective treatments now available.

 

My great-great-grandmother was all over the local newspapers for running off with her husband's hired man.

 

(Don't think my parents knew that particular tidbit when the named me for her  :tongue_smilie: they did know she had been married six times, but didn't know the stories of each of her marriages)

[Hypatia.]

I just started with genealogy in the last month or two, it's been really interesting. On my dad's side I've traced back to one that has links (still need to see the lineage traced) to 2 of the Magna Carta security barons, which I thought was neat.

 

Speaking of likely PPD or PP psychosis, I also traced back to my 8th great-grandmother on my maternal side. :(

http://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bishop-alice-martin.htm

[gaillardia]

I just started with genealogy in the last month or two, it's been really interesting. On my dad's side I've traced back to one that has links (still need to see the lineage traced) to 2 of the Magna Carta security barons, which I thought was neat.

 

Speaking of likely PPD or PP psychosis, I also traced back to my 8th great-grandmother on my maternal side. :(

http://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bishop-alice-martin.htm

That is really horribly sad and very disturbing.

I found information on my father's side back a few generations on his g grandfather, blew me away, that had to do with slavery, information was right there on the census. I was shocked, had no idea. No one ever mentioned it of course. I felt ashamed and saddened but I was told that my middle name was after "the help" who had done so much for the family.

[Tita Gidge]

These family stories are amazing. So interesting!

 

My daughter and I love to watch Who Do You Think You Are. She wants so badly to buy the subscription to Ancestry.com.

 

Both sides of her family are first generation immigrants, so I told her she'll have to become a celebrity and make her way onto the show to if she wants to dig deeper. Because that website won't be much help to us.  (Can someone confirm that this is actually correct - it's just America, maybe North America, right?!)

[Renai]

These family stories are amazing. So interesting!

 

My daughter and I love to watch Who Do You Think You Are. She wants so badly to buy the subscription to Ancestry.com.

 

Both sides of her family are first generation immigrants, so I told her she'll have to become a celebrity and make her way onto the show to if she wants to dig deeper. Because that website won't be much help to us.  (Can someone confirm that this is actually correct - it's just America, maybe North America, right?!)

 

There's a package that includes international as well.

[KarenNC]

These family stories are amazing. So interesting!

 

My daughter and I love to watch Who Do You Think You Are. She wants so badly to buy the subscription to Ancestry.com.

 

Both sides of her family are first generation immigrants, so I told her she'll have to become a celebrity and make her way onto the show to if she wants to dig deeper. Because that website won't be much help to us.  (Can someone confirm that this is actually correct - it's just America, maybe North America, right?!)

 

See if your library has a local history room and, if so, if they have a library subscription to Ancestry that can be used onsite.

[J-rap]

I'm sorry, but every single time I see this thread subject, I think it reads "Gynecologists--check in!"  And then I wonder, "Are there really that many gynecologists on these boards??"  :)