Family History

I've been working on mine and Mac's family histories for a couple of months now.  I've hit some dead ends in his family and short of traveling to Spain I don't quite know what to do.  One of his 2nd cousins has been very helpful in sharing family memories and I do thank her.   The fact that family members also carry their Mother's maiden name helps some, but not enough.  I've been lucky enough to find his family's name on ships so I've been able to pinpoint their immigration, but records in Spain are harder to come by.  I've posted some inquiries on a message board in Spain, but so far no replies. 

Things have gone better on my side.  I've traced parts of my Dad's family to Germany, England and Switzerland.  He always said his Grandmother Ella Wyant was from England, but as far as I've been able to research she wasn't.

I traced her family back to Virginia and further back to Germany, but no English connections.

My Father, who was born in Missouri,  had always said that his  family had come from  Virginia and that the family was  related to General George Armstrong Custer, but so far I've found no connection, not sure I want to find a connection.  The Virginia part is correct though.

My Mother, who was born in Oklahoma, has a family history that I've traced back to Richmond County Georgia in the 1700's.  Her maiden name was Kennedy and I'm pretty sure they came from Ireland at some time, though Kennedy is a Scottish name too, but the only Irish connection I've found is her Great Grandfather Michael Finn.   My Mother had always said I had a Great, Great Grandfather known as Mickey Finn (that's slang for knockout drops) and sure enough  there he was.

It has been so interesting to trace the western migration of my family, from Europe to the East coast of America, to the South and across to the midwest.  Another thing I've noticed is  the repetition of names and that often helps in research.

I've searched a lot of census rolls and they've given a wealth of information, maybe I won't be so resentful when we fill out census forms this year.  Often the rolls list form of employment, where the person was born and even better, where their parents were born.

Genealogy.com has been wonderful, I could not have done it without them.  They're not free, but they're definitely worth the money.  Each day I add a little more to my tree and learn a little more about me.