Our Family Tree

[The Howards]

Thanks for all the info guys
I too do not trust the stuff posted on the research sites by individuals. I only list things in my tree that I can verify with actual documents...and like you said mtnlaurl it's all in the math. I have found soooooo many possibilities but the numbers just don't add up. I believe my ancestors came from Scotland, there is a slight possibility of Ireland, but I am afraid it will be hard to come by records if they came directly to the NC when the other Highlanders were relocating...especially if they were not all that wealthy. I had not thought of the DAR or a Civil War historical group. I do know that numerous family members were in the war.
Thanks again, maybe I can finally break through the wall, too.

 

[EweSheep]

I've been going back on Ancestry.com and found a few more updated links to my family tree. Several of my distant cousins with our common ancestor, all traced back to a certain person that traced back to Scotland.

Another thing I found, particuarly the German descendents, be very very careful when you click to accept...pay attention to the dates...had a few ancestors that was born 1670 having parents born 1770. LOL! When that happens, look at it with criticial eye, do more research on other links before you continue to make sure it is indeed of the same ancestor's parents, with probable error.

When I add my family tree, and come up with something like that, I would put a ? John Paisley of Scotland and make a comment under that name that what was found and DNA type indictated that we all descend from this particular ancestor, John Paisley thru his great grandson, B F Pasley.

Pay attention to the lingo. Those census takers were not all that spelling proper or the person themselves, can not write or spoke with an accent or usual cases, toothless LOL! Our paternal line had changed spellings, which my great great grandfather changed his last name to Paceley from Pasley (went on for two generation) then to Pacely and Paisley as the original last name of our front runner. Paisley was from Paisley, Scotland and documents said as well as my great aunt went there to the church in Paisley. Said to be beautiful there and wish to go back there but she died before it could be researched some more.

Some dates would be off by two to five years. Census takers sometimes would add or substract the year of birth.

I'm hitting a MAJOR wall and could not get anyone to help me find ONE ancestor, my great grandfather, whose father was Swedish and no records of him in census until he got married to my g grandmother. From my grandpa, he does not know too much about it but knows that his grandpa had eight brothers and sisters but unknown names. It just sucks for me because grandpa had no idea of the true Swedish spelling that might lead me in the right direction. He was from St Louis, MO area in 1870 and his father has the same name as his son, born in Sweden, has blue eyes and blond hair. Unknown where he was buried. Very frustrating to say at the least! I tried to post on my FB for anyone living near St Louis, would pay their way to courthouse documents, etc. to find him but no takers. I don't think I can afford a real researcher that charges by the hour just for one person, perhaps two if relatives/siblings can be found.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Just a bit of advice from my own unfortunate personal experience . . . do not use the submitted family trees from familysearch.org, rootsweb, ancestry, or anywhere else as your primary source. Use them for clues only and then verify your results with court/census records.

Familysearch.org will not correct bad info on their site. Years ago - when this family history hobby was just starting on the internet - their info sent me astray and I contacted them with the correct info, including source documents. They responded that they were not able to change incorrect data as it was submitted by individuals. Rootsweb and ancestry are the same when it comes to the family trees. Sadly, you can just make up names and upload it and call it a Family Tree. Some of them for my families are so wrong that I think that's exactly what they've done! The real unfortunate thing is that this bad data is out there for anyone to grab and the incorrect information just keeps perpetuating itself.

Of course, their libraries and source records should be reliable but I never, ever use any family tree submitted by another researcher as a source. I'll use it as a clue and then search for a source document to verify.

We use the information from the family trees but we don't trust them until my husband has dug for documentation. Insane amount of work but we honestly have got good leads and then have been able to back them up. Sometimes taking us another 100 years back, which is not always easy to do. One such site ended up leading us to a living distant cousin who had tons of old pictures she inherited and she was more than happy to share them. My dad even remembered seeing some of these old pictures on his great aunts wall. We also got copies out of a massively old family bible, complete with a will in the back. I think the key is use these sites but know there are no shortcuts. You have to document and research every little lead you get and it takes a massive amount of time. We have been at this a few years now and I jokingly call myself a geneology widow everytime he starts the hunt for more documentation.

 

[oldrooster]

Ewe sheep that's true not likely a hundred year old would parent a child, but on my father's side it was almost 100 years from grandfather to last grand child. older parents for 2 generations caused that, I am third generation born here in this country even though the same family has been here since before the American civil war since my Great grandfather came over as an infant.

 

[EweSheep]

I mean one parent born in 1770 while the child was born in 1670....see the error? LOL! It can not go backwards LOL!

Sure I am certain there are 100 year old ancestors running around while grandchildren running around them...not unusual but you don't find too many centerians back then like you do today.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I mean one parent born in 1770 while the child was born in 1670....see the error? LOL! It can not go backwards LOL!

Sure I am certain there are 100 year old ancestors running around while grandchildren running around them...not unusual but you don't find too many centerians back then like you do today.

Unless you are from a longevity gene family.lol Well only sorta joking. We noticed how long much of both of our families lived. Was a bit scary. I was not planning on living that long in my retirement plans. We actually made financial changes once they got us worried enough. One of mine lived to mother 16 kids and still a year shy of 100. Thats just not normal.

Oh if you run across sometimes names that you think don't match because of dates, keep that information handy. We had a few such leads that did not initially pan out. Then we found out that father and son had the exact same name, born in the same town and state. Well the one we thought was dad that didn't pan out ended up being grandpa after digging a bit further into documentation. Also sometimes you might check where they got their info from and see if you can see the original. The handwriting was so bad they get dates wrong all the time. So it might say 1876 instead of 1816. Huge difference and it makes you cross that lead off but in reality it just got copied over to digital wrong. We got stuck for over a month because of a similar issue. I get frustrated and have to take long breaks.

 

[oldrooster]

Unless you are from a longevity gene family.lol Well only sorta joking. We noticed how long much of both of our families lived. Was a bit scary. I was not planning on living that long in my retirement plans. We actually made financial changes once they got us worried enough. One of mine lived to mother 16 kids and still a year shy of 100. Thats just not normal.

Oh if you run across sometimes names that you think don't match because of dates, keep that information handy. We had a few such leads that did not initially pan out. Then we found out that father and son had the exact same name, born in the same town and state. Well the one we thought was dad that didn't pan out ended up being grandpa after digging a bit further into documentation. Also sometimes you might check where they got their info from and see if you can see the original. The handwriting was so bad they get dates wrong all the time. So it might say 1876 instead of 1816. Huge difference and it makes you cross that lead off but in reality it just got copied over to digital wrong. We got stuck for over a month because of a similar issue. I get frustrated and have to take long breaks.

Normal is what you make of it my mom's family is thick with identical twins, and my great great grandmother on that side lived to 120, most of that side of my family lives to 90+ unless they get cancer or are killed do to war or accident (car, ladder you get the point) and both of my parents where from both from large families 8 and 9 children, both parents would be in their 70's if a botched surgery hadn't killed my dad....

 

[MuckyPuppy]

Thanks Mtnlaurl

I'm personally impressed that you caught the mistake as there probably many who have just followed it without thought. It's a good heads up for everyone out there to keep double and triple checking everything.

I think I have said before that I have found some family trees that have my dad's birth date right but have messed up on his death date. When I call home I keep forgetting to tell him he's dead.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

The Howards,

I'm

that you break through your wall soon.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

EweSheep,

Sorry about your wall

The bad link that my husband's aunts had to delete was one that had been confirmed by a researcher as correct. The aunts are the ones who discovered that there was no way the dates matched up. They think that it is the right family just the wrong sibling. They are now searching for his brother.