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Author Topic: Ancestors, hmm?  (Read 60560 times)
OldFatGuy
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« Reply #15 on: May 08, 2007, 04:56AM »

An ancestor of mine fought and died at Gettysburg.  Sadly, he was actually a victim of "friendly fire" when a faulty artillery round fell short and exploded among his men (the 20th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer, the fabled "Harvard Regiment").  His name appears on a monument erected at the battle site in their honor.


Inscription:  "This monument marks the position occupied by the 20th Massachusetts Infantry in line of battle on July 2, 1863, until (on July 3) it advanced to the front of the copse of trees at right to assist in repelling the charge of Longstreet's corps. This tablet is placed by their comrades in honor of Colonel Paul Joseph Revere, First Lieutenant Henry Ropes, Second Lieutenant Sumner Paine and 41 enlisted men who were killed or mortally wounded."

More info here:  http://www.harvardregiment.org/monum.html
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zankoku
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« Reply #16 on: May 08, 2007, 07:56AM »

Rich

It's nice you have a monument but I am sure the family would have preferred him home. Mine came back minus an arm.

Those were not the best of times.

A good friend of mine told me the unit is ancestor was in. He was in the same place as my great grandfather. He wore Blue, My friend's ancestor wore Grey.

Jim
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KiernanKate
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« Reply #17 on: May 18, 2007, 01:06PM »

I love genealogy and have tried to look into my heritage but not finding much, I'd be most appreciative if any irish afficiandos could help me... my great grandmother's maiden name was McKeever.... cant find anything except the origins of the name are suppsedly Scotland.... and I dont want to believe that yet
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ferngully
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« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2007, 02:16PM »

my family come from iraq mainly and unfortunatly the records, birth certs etc were wiped out during the pogroms after ww2. so i know pretty much nothing apart from the general in history books. my mums family went to israel and my dads family went to england and that was that, nothing more said about it. i don't actually know my grandparents names for example. there is nothing to trace unfortunatly.
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« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2007, 02:23PM »

You know, pals, I have some of my ancestors which is on my daddy's side. They lived a long time ago before we were born. Has anyone got ancestors on his/her parents' sides?

Yes Kimberly I have ancestors on my mom's side and on my dad's side.
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« Reply #20 on: May 18, 2007, 02:25PM »

Yes Kaj, like it or not, we all have ancestors.  My four grandparents all came from Latvia, which at the time they came was Russia.

My husband can trace his roots here in the US to the early 1800's.  We started doing research a few years ago on his family.  His mother's family came from Ireland and his dad's family we can trace directly to the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland.  I even ordered a catalogue from Ortak, a jewler in the Orkney Islands and it had a thank you note from a sales lady with the same last name as my husband...one that is very common in the Orkney Islands.  Of course, I emailed her back!

Tracing ancestors is fascinating.

Where do you begin? Is there a computer program or site to get you started?
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Texas Chava
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« Reply #21 on: May 18, 2007, 03:52PM »

The Mormons have the best geneological sites, also if you are serious about searching I'd suggest putting up the money and joing a site like Ancestry.com. 
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zankoku
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« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2007, 04:12PM »

If your ancestor servedin the military say in teh Civil War, you can find the unit by searching, getting the info and then get copies of military records.

Jim
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For those who fought for it, Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.

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Celtic Lass
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« Reply #23 on: May 24, 2007, 11:34AM »

My mom's side originated in France, and we even have a castle that was used by the same family line! And my dad's family came from England, in the 1620's, I believe 3 brothers came across. In the same family, one of my ancestors was a tory in the American Reveloution.
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Wickster
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« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2007, 12:05PM »

Well With my Dads Side...you can trace it to County Wexford but back reeeall far..its in Lower Kent England.
on my mums side(gilhoolys)..their first found in Lietrim and Roscommon where they held an ancient power in O'Mulvy Clan.
Then digging deeper

My Grampie Comerford's mothers Maiden name was Monahan, first found in Roscommon and they held a family seat from ancient times.
My Gramie comerfords Maiden name is Fitzpatrick, which were still trying to place that name because it jumps around with the different spelling variations.

My Poppy Gilhooly's Mothers Maiden name is Higgins First found in County Sligo, where they held a family seat
and My Gram Gilhoolys Maiden name is Mallough..first found in County Ofally i believe.

Its very hard to trace back..this took me weeks to find out (and i was born in ireland..shame shame on me!)

Wickiexx
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Maggie
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« Reply #25 on: May 26, 2007, 12:25PM »

Don't want to burst anybody's bubble etc, but just to state a fact:

Unless you have definite names, birth and marriage documents etc, it is very difficult to trace ancestors.
For a start, nobody in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066 had a last name, so nobody can trace their English roots back before that time.
They were known by such names as John of Wakefield, Egbert the shepherd, or Robert the short. Names evolved from the town you were from, your occupation, or your appearance.
And if you discover that your ancestors lived in a castle, it does not prove they were of noble blood or the owners family. The servants who cooked the food, kept the place clean, groomed the horses etc lived in the servants quarters at the castle and were considered property, very often given the last name of the Master, much like the early slaves in the USA.

The noblemen and women made sure their pedigrees were recorded, as only their legitimate heirs could inherit. So there would be a documented family tree, and a record of the property they owned. William the Conqueror was a great one for written records, and commissioned the Domesday Book:

www.domesdaybook.co.uk/index.html

A NAME HISTORY is a different matter, and is very vague at best.

The scrolls you can buy in the mall or gift store give only a vague history of the name origin, and they put the best spin on it, to make it sound grand.

How do I know?
When I came to Florida I worked for Historic Families Inc, who make the scrolls.
When I lived in England I had studied Heraldry, coats of arms etc and knew B***S**** when I saw it!

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Texas Chava
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« Reply #26 on: May 26, 2007, 03:35PM »

Welcome back Maggie, you were missed.  Dave did an excellent job of filling us in.  Congrats again on the new grandbaby.

I've missed your posts Maggie, because you never fail to tell it like it is.  I played around on one of those onlilne family coat of arms, etc. and had a whole history, coat of arms, etc. on my family.  My family came from a shtetel in Russia Roll Eyes (like Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof") and left Russia at the not so polite request of the czar, yet according to this site we had a coat of arms and everything.  Yeah, right!

My husband's was perhaps a little closer to the truth.  Baxter comes from Baker in Scottish.  They were probably bakers in someone's household and YET they had their own coat of arms too.

I think you know and most people should too....it is all in the names of profits! LOL
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Maggie
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« Reply #27 on: May 27, 2007, 12:48AM »

Wickie, you know a lot about your actual ancestors and family names etc.
You seem to have a lot of family members you have asked about family names and origins.
I know some Comerfords and Gilhoolys in Tipperary.
The great thing is, there are National Heritage Centers in most towns in Ireland, set up by the Government to help with ancestry etc.
If you know the town and the names, they will do a trace for a small fee.
The most reliable source for family history is Catholic Church records of baptism, marriage, burials.

What I was saying in my post above was for those of English ancestry not to rely on "Name History" scrolls as they are very vague. 

The Normans were the ones who organized and documented names and lands.
William the Conqueror's purpose was so they could all be taxed.

As your Dad's side originated in South Kent it could be that he was of Norman ancestry.
Many Normans settled in Ireland and founded some of the strongest Irish families.
Chris De Burgh the singer was of Norman ancestry through his mother,she was Maeve De Burgh, born in Ireland.
His family went back to Wexford and bought a Norman Castle that had belonged to his ancestors.
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Maggie
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« Reply #28 on: May 27, 2007, 01:45AM »

....... my great grandmother's maiden name was McKeever.... cant find anything except the origins of the name are suppsedly Scotland.... and I dont want to believe that yet

McKeever sounds Scottish.
I found several Ship's manifests showing McKeevers as passengers.

This is just one of many, on a Ship called West Point which sailed from Liverpool to New York on 12 July 1858:
 Patrick McKeever Age 25 Occupation: Smith Country of Origin: England Destination:United States   Lower Bet. Decks
He was accompanied by Alice McKeever age 20.

On other Ships there are: Daniel, James and John McKeever.

There are more than 20 others listed over the years.
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KiernanKate
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« Reply #29 on: May 27, 2007, 11:57AM »

Maggie .... correct me if Im wrong in the irish saying but Go raibh maith agat!

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
« Last Edit: June 21, 2007, 01:23PM by KiernanKate » Logged
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