Roots by Rebecca

My journey to discovering my family history started when I was about 12 years old.  I don’t recall what triggered it, but I became obsessed with a book of my family history that a distant relative had created.  It fascinated me.  I would look at the pictures and the pedigree charts and daydream about what it would’ve been like to live in their bygone, black and white lives.

My interest seemed to peak when I had my son, Cole.  It was important to me to have a family history book for him to look back on.  I hoped for him to understand where his mother came from and what made her the person she is today.

Starting my journey was fairly simple.  I had at least three generations (from me) already recorded. My goal was to fill in the blanks and go back as far as I possibly could.  I decided to focus on my paternal side.

My Father comes from a large German Catholic family that had been farming for as long as they can remember. His father, my Grandfather, was a first generation American. The definition of “first generation” varies.  My definition is: the first child born in America. He was raised in a German speaking home, and learned english along the way.

My Grandfather had a tough childhood.  His mother, my great-Grandmother, died when he was only two years old.  For reasons unknown, he was  sent to live with his aunt and uncle.  Seven years later he lost his Father.  Only ten, he had lost both parents and had been separated from the rest of his family.

I wondered who he was as a man, which traits he may passed on to my Dad — or myself.  I discovered that my Grandfather was a hard-working man, who attended a business college in St. Cloud, MN.  I also learned that my Grandfather, like any man, was filled with pride but was not hesitant to ask for help when needed.  He also had a great sense of humor, just like me. (lol)

My family research project began to move backwards in time.  Who was my great – Grandfather and what could I learn about him?  I already knew his name and who he was married to.  I knew his birthdate and that he was born in Germany.  Other than that, I knew nothing.  I didn’t know who his Father (my great-great Grandfather) or Mother were, or when they immigrated to the United States.

The search began.  Who was my great-great Grandfather?  Despite hours of searching, I hit a “brick wall.”  I thought, “there is no way I will ever find the answer to this question.”  Frustrated, I stepped away from it for awhile.  I had given up.

My mother-in-law came for a visit and she had some experience with researching family trees.  I explained to her the problem I was having and she was able to show me that the answer was in front of me the whole time.  I had a census record from 1880 that listed the name of the man I had been trying to locate.  I didn’t realize it at the time because I was unfamiliar with how to read census records.  From that point on I made it my mission to understand how to read all documents I found.  They hold so many clues!

Once I started to understand the census records more clearly I was amazed at the information that they held.  There was birth year, birthplace, parent’s birthplace, immigration year, occupation and more.  One census record can answer many questions. However, census records are not always accurate.  It’s common knowledge in genealogy circles that census takers weren’t always given correct information. For example, if the census taker showed up at the door when ma and pa were in the fields a child may have given the information.  Knowing that, isn’t it possible that they might now know how old their parents are or where their grandparents were born?

After I felt comfortable with the census I started to investigate immigration records.  I visited the most common websites for passenger manifests and began searching.  Eventually I found the record I was looking for.  I was able to look at (and print out) the handwritten ship manifest for my ancestors.  At that point I felt like I had won a price.  What an amazing piece of my family history to be looking at!

Those early searches for documents led to more archives, records, and databases.  My thirst to learn more was not easily quenched.  I started to fall in love with genealogy and solving family mysteries, not only for myself, but for others.