Ancestors

Now that I am retired I have decided to study my origins and build a family tree. So far, I have found some evidence of family all the way back to the 13th century. Further, I have found people who immigrated from Wales, England, France, and Germany. There are even lords and ladies, knights, and damsels. There's even evidence that my wife and I have a common ancestor. Who would of thought?

However, I can only attest to the validity of five generations. The reason for that is I heard my parents speak of these people and I met some of the older ones. In those generations I learned that a great grandfather immigrated from England in the 19th century. No reason learned. I expect he had an opportunity for a good job. Another great grandfather came from France during the Civil War period. Do not know why, but I suspect he was a fugitive from justice some where. He does not show up in any census list. His headstone has been located and there is evidence of a marriage. After that he just stands in the mist of time.

A grandfather's name was something else than what I knew him as. He was taken in by a childless couple at a very young age.  Well cared for and educated he had his name changed to that of his foster parents. So the line of inquiry stops there. His wife's family, my grandmother, however is a different matter. It can be traced back to England on her father's side and back to pre-revolutionary times on her mother's side. No evidence, however, that any of my grandmother's relatives participated in the War of Revolution. Alas, a sad outcome for some in the family.

My paternal grandfather is totally unknown to me. I know his name, where he was born, the names of his two wives, and the names of all his children. But I do not know anything about him. My paternal grandmother has been idolized in my family ever since I can remember. We do not know much about her. She died of tuberculosis when my father was two years old.

In fact, I do not know much about any of the people past my maternal grandparents. I never met my paternal family. My father left his family at an early age to escape abuse (he reports that and I believe him). Nevertheless, on both sides of the family there is a sweep of history that ranges from the feudal period of Europe, to the colonization of North America, to the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and all the history since then.

My wife's family tree is well rooted, leafed, and documented. So well documented that academic papers have been written about it. Her family tree also reflects the sweep of European and American history. It is that idea that interests me the most when I search for ancestors.

I cannot take any pride in being related to an earl or a knight, nor am I chagrined because somewhere in the past there was a brigand and a fugitive from justice. It is exciting, nonetheless, to bring them back to life in a family tree. I do not know what most of my fore bearers looked like, what they sounded like, and if we could even communicate, but they are the DNA or gene pool from which I evolved. On that fact alone all those men and women of the past deserve my attention.