who do you think you are?

about a month or so before mom became really sick last year, i was watching a show - i believe on NBC called "who do you think you are?".  the show traced the genealogy of stars - like julia roberts, etc.  it got me excited and got me thinking.

i started to do some research, and then things became tricky with mom's health, and it got pushed, not even to the back burner, but off the stove altogether.  i have no regrets, but if i had though more i should have written down the stories mom told me over the years about which set of grandparents came here - when and where.  i remember to the stories, i remember the names, where they all fall on the tree branches -- that's another story.

then at christmas time i got a christmas card form my dad's cousin.  her oldest son took a class on genealogy and started to do some digging.  dad had told her that i had started to do some work.  they had hit a wall, and wondered if i could help.  i hadn't gotten very far, and could not answer many questions for her, but as soon as i opened up that file again - i got bit.  and the digging and piecing together of my history has begun.

i've been playing for a couple of weeks --off and on.  i haven't found many skeletons, or rich uncles, but i have uncovered a few exciting things.

my dad's mom was a whiting.  his cousin's son had traced quite a bit, and i sort of picked up form there are started to dig some more.  henry s. whiting (my great-great-great grandfather) was a soldier in the civil war and he only served a few months.  we began to get excited, thinking "wow, a civil war hero".  not quite.  my sister is a history buff, and i passed the bug on to her.  she started to do some digging on him and she was able to find that  he came down with chronic dysentery, and passed away in philadelphia.  she found where he was buried, and i ran across his death certificate.  ok -- not quite the heroic death we had hoped for -- poor guy, but it makes for a good story, and it sure fits our family's luck.  hehe.  i've shared this info with my cousin and her son -- we've all gotten a good laugh.

what else have i uncovered?  well, my mom's family tree i found does not go very far back in this country.  i knew that, but didn't really realize it until i started to dig.  i remember her telling me about grandparents coming here from sweeden and germany.  but i couldn't remember if it was her grandparents or great-grandparents.  long story short -- my mom's grandparents (on her mom's side) came here from sweeden.  i was able to find my great-grandmother's - marie nelson johnson's records at ellis island.  how exciting!  she arrived in december of 1892.  my great-grandfather is going to be a little trickier.  the info i have uncovered states that he arrived in 1891 - also from sweeden.  the u.s. government didn't open the dates to immigrants until 1890.  ellis island began construction shortly after the announcement -- but they didn't turn the ships away.  they set up a temporary "barge office" adjacent to ellis island while it was under construction.  apparently 80% of the immigrants during the beginning of the period -- some 400,000 people came though the temporary gate.  he was one of them.  so -- there are records, but they are a little bit more complicated to find.  but -- i'm determined to find it.  

i'm still working on my mom's dad's side of the family.  i did uncover that i believe my great-grandfather, and his oldest son (18) were mine workers in scranton,and his next oldest son seems to have been a breaker boy at the age of 13.  i need to dig a little more here -- i think it was also my great-grandfather, or maybe my great- great grandfather who came here from germany.  but, i've heard stories that thier name was changed when they arerived, so we'll have to see what kind of bump in the road that causes.

i'm also excited to see just how we are related to ezra cornell -- the founder of cornell university.  for years we've heard the story that we were related -- now, i just have to figure out how.  ezra had 5 children.  so, this might be an interesting dig - although there are plenty of resources of people tracing his tree, so eventually my research might run into someone elses.

so, i'm off and running --

i'm excited to see where i came from -- to pick up stories here and there.  be sure to stop by from time to time.  i'll let you know if i find anything interesting.  if you have any tips on searching -- leave me a comment.

thanks for stopping by! :)