Researching My Family Tree

Back in the early 1980s, I did genealogy research on my family tree. I was a librarian and had access to the resources available in that day and time. Most of the records were on microfilm. I borrowed them from the State Library of Florida, waited for them to arrive by snail mail, viewed them on a huge microfilm reader, made copious notes, and then returned the microfilm via snail mail.

The process back then was daunting. Most of the records were not indexed, so census records had to be combed through page by page for each county. The records were in longhand and had often times become badly faded before they were put on microfilm. But between 1981 and 1983, I had the time to devote to this. I managed to trace my family back for several generations. I was quite proud of having some branches traced back into the 1700s.

Then in 1983, my daughter Sarah was born. I worked full-time as the sole family breadwinner and breastfed her around the clock. Life became much more difficult. Then in 1985, I left my job as librarian and left behind my direct link to the State Library of Florida. I went back to school to earn my teaching credential. I started a new career and then had another child. My busy life left no time for genealogy.

I created a booklet of my research for family reunions on my dad's side of the family. I also created this huge poster, 4' x 8', of the family tree for that side of the family as far back as I could go. After that, I stored my research away and rarely visited it again.

Now, 30+ years later, my life has changed again. My children are grown and gone to lives of their own. My career is 27 years old and, while still busy, is comfortable. I work hard at teaching, but I know what I am doing and I can handle my career efficiently.

Lately, Wil and I have been watching a TV show called "Who Do You Think You Are?" on TLC. On the show, minor celebrities are walked through their family trees and travel to places where prominent ancestors lived. They develop an appreciation for all of the challenges faced by their ancestors. Most of the family research is done through Ancestory.com.

Yesterday, Wil encouraged me to join Ancestory.com for their free 14-day trial. I was skeptical. I didn't want to spend the money once the 14-day trial ends. But, he prodded me into it. I was soon plugging in ancestors I could remember and combing through research. After a couple of hours, we drove to our storage warehouse so I could fetch my old genealogy files. With a few more names and dates that I already had, I knew I could speed up my research.

Back home, I delved back into the research. I was amazed at how different the research process was. Of course, I shouldn't have been. I am quite computer literate and know my way around the internet. I knew that resources would be much easier to find. What I hadn't realized was that most of the research had already been done for me. I can look at other people's family trees when I find that we have common ancestors.

I was hooked. I spent the rest of the day until late last night, following branch after branch back in history. Those walls I hit in the 1980s when I could not find an ancestor's birthplace or parents or maiden name had been torn down by other researchers. Information that had previously eluded me was now at my fingertips.

I was able to debunk old family myths. That old family story about 2 Turman brothers coming over from Scotland is bogus. I even know which scoundrel started the story. I actually discovered that my family has been in America for a very long time, but I traced one branch back to England and then to France.

I was astounded to trace one particular branch of my paternal grandmother back over 1000 years. Yes, over one thousand years! I got back to a line of Barons, starting with the 9th Baron LeStrange, all the way back to the first Baron LeStrange, then back to France from whence that line came. I was getting bleary eyed last night, so when I got that line back to the year 890, I had to stop. Europe kept very good records, especially of nobility.

Another line of my paternal grandmother has an interesting history. My 10th great-grandfather was Pietro Alberti. He was notable because he was the very first Italian settler in America. He arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1635, only 15 years after the Pilgrims. There is even a stone memorial marker honoring him in Battery Park in lower Manhatten, erected by the Italian American Society.

He had signed on as crew on a ship headed to America. He fought with the captain over wages and the captain almost put him ashore in west Africa, one of the stops along the voyage. But he held on until he reached America, where he thrived. He owned nearly 100 acres in what became Brooklyn. Most of that land eventually became the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Pietro married into a prominent Dutch family. He and his wife had several children before they were killed in an Indian raid. The children survived and were cared for by the community.

Their son, Jan (anglicized to John) married and had a daughter named Elizabeth. She married into a family from Northern Ireland named Stewart. Several generations of Stewarts later they had migrated to Delaware, then to Virginia, then North Carolina, and then into South Carolina. Another daughter was born that they named Elizabeth. She married a man whose last name was Scott. They moved to Georgia.

Elizabeth and James Scott must have been very patriotic. Several of their children had the names of prominent men in US history. One of them, Benjamin Franklin Scott, married and moved to Alabama. There, my great-grandmother, Sarah Rosetta "Rosie" Scott, was born. She married that descendent of the LeStrange barons. They had my grandmother.

I actually remember great grandma Rosie. She died just after my 6th birthday. She was 87 years old when she died. By the time I knew her, she had become quite childish. I guess you could say she lost her mind. She had a doll that she kept with her all the time and thought it was a real baby. As a small child I couldn't understand why a grownup had a doll or why I couldn't play with it.

I was never close to her daughter, which was my grandmother. My dad was her youngest child. By the time I came along, she already had many, many grandchildren. She meant well, but could never keep my birthday and my brother's straight. We visited her once or twice a year in Andalusia, Alabama. I never knew her first husband, my grandfather. He died 2 months before I was born. I do remember her next 2 husbands. She lived to almost 97 years old, outliving all 3 husband, dying after being widowed 3 times.

I think back to Pietro and his adventures coming to America, being the only Italian in the small settlement of New Amsterdam. I think of all of those ancestors that were actually born into nobility in English castles. They could never have dreamed that their descendants would become simple farmers in Alabama.

I knew about my ancestors who fought in the Civil War. Last night, I found my ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. God only knows what wars my ancestors were involved in back in merry olde England. The LeStrange coat of arms has 2 lions on it that Wil says should be associated with Richard the Lion-Hearted.

It is amazing to think of all of the things that had to happen to lead to me. What if Pietro had stayed in Italy? What if the ship captain had tossed him ashore in Africa? What if the Indians had raided before Jan was born? What if the LeStrange ancestors had stayed in France or had never become the Barons LeStrange? What if Elizabeth and James Scott had never moved to Georgia? Benjamin Franklin Scott might never have met his wife in Meriweather County, GA. The slightest change in anyone's plans and I could possibly not be here.

I carry a bit of the DNA of each of those ancestors. From whom do I get my temperament? my wit? my brown eyes? my personality quirks? Last night I showed Wil a photo of my maternal grandmother. She died at age 24, so obviously we never met. However, even from the blurry old photo, you can see that I look very much like her. But where did she get this jaw line from? The answer is, of course, it came bit by bit, from every ancestor that preceded us. I am the sum of my ancestors.

Icy Day in Pensacola

Yesterday and today, a rare event has occurred in Florida. The panhandle is pretty much shut down due to ice. I haven't seen an ice storm like this here since I was a child. There was snow in Pensacola in March of 1993, but not ice like this.

Nearly every bridge in the panhandle of Florida is closed, including the 3-mile bridge that connects Gulf Breeze to Pensacola. The I-10 bridge is closed over Escambia Bay and the Blackwater River. Of course, that doesn't really matter since the entire interstate highway is closed from mile marker 7 (Pine Forest Road in Pensacola) to mile marker 112 (Holmes County). Besides the bridges, most roads are icy.

During the day yesterday, the weather alternated between rain and sleet. We were hoping for snow, but no such luck. Before we went to bed last night, we bundled up and stepped outside. The precipitation had changed to pellets of ice falling from the sky. Wil put out his iPad (I know, not smart) and videoed little ice pellets bouncing off of it. We also videoed it falling from the sky, with it looking like tiny comets streaking across the lens.

This morning, we were up before 7 AM. Once again, we bundled up to go outside and take photos. The grass is crunchy with ice. Ice covers everything--the deck, mailbox, outdoor furniture, mailbox, etc. It is very difficult to walk without slipping and sliding. The puddle at the end of the driveway has a thin film of ice on top.

It is beautiful to see, but miserable for people without power. Unfortunately, the ice weighs down the trees, which sometimes fall and take down power lines. Three to four thousand homes in the three westernmost counties of Florida are without power. That makes it miserably cold for those homes. The temp is still in the 20s. It might make it up to the mid-30s this afternoon.

The ice is dangerous, too. There was a multiple vehicle crash on the I-10 bridge over the Blackwater River last night before the highway was closed. Seventeen vehicles were involved, including 5 semi trucks. One of those trucks went over the bridge into Blackwater Bay. The driver of that truck is assumed dead. Emergency workers have not recovered that yet. Several people were taken to local hospitals, some in serious condition.

Another kind of accident occurred in Molino, in northern Escambia County. A train derailed in a remote area. At least 2 cars fell into a creek, with more cars piled on top. Emergency workers had a difficult time getting to the site. The train cars that derailed were carrying phosphoric acid, so this will be bad for the environment. A few residents in that area were evacuated.

The only bridge open now is the Garcon Point Bridge. It's normally an expensive toll bridge, but the toll has been suspended. Not many people use that bridge because of the $3.75 toll each way. The building of that bridge was controversial and so is the amount of the toll. But in emergency times, people are glad it is there.

Residents of Santa Rosa Island, the beaches--Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, are stranded on the island. All bridges to that island are closed. Navarre was the last one to close. The good news is that there are no power outages out there. The bad news is that emergency services are limited on the island.

My mom called me last night, just to see if we were okay. She was worried about the closed bridges cutting our peninsula off from Pensacola. I reminded her that we have a hospital in Gulf Breeze and there are no bridges between my house and Fort Walton Beach. Plenty of emergency services are available to me.

School was out yesterday and today. I was a little annoyed that the superintendent closed schools on Tuesday, before this event really began. However, he did make the right call, as it turns out. By afternoon, it would have been dangerous for school buses to be on the roads. Today, it would have been impossible.

Now the questions is will schools open tomorrow? Today, the temp is supposed to get up to 35 degrees. That is barely above freezing, but if the sun comes out, there will be some melting of ice. The problem with that is temps are due to fall back into the 20s tonight. Right now the ice is crunchy and rough, since it fell from the sky as ice. The icy surfaces are rough and bumpy. If the ice melts and refreezes, it will be much slicker. That's already happening were some cars have tried to drive and have packed down the ice.

So, only time will really tell. I guess I'll stay tuned for more news. Meanwhile, I am grateful to be bundled up in my warm home.