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.
