Where I come from...

I have found a new obsession. And when I say "obsession" I am using that in the fullest meaning of the word, cause I am obsessed. This time suck is the perfect mix of history and genetics and feeds right into my type-A personality. What is this obsession? 

Genealogy

A free trial of ancestry.com sucked me in, within a matter of an hour I think.  I recall reading an article in a magazine a few months ago where the author talked about how she became obsessed with tracing her roots during her free trial. So obsessed that she would forget / put off showering until she realized her partner was going to be home from work. She'd stay up until the wee hours of the morning staring at the computer, clicking on the leave hints the program would give her.  I enjoyed the article, but inside, I laughed thinking "wow, I don't think I could ever be that obsessed about anything".  Que the laughter from God mixed with karma.... I am embarrassed to admit that I've been in the same position a few times. And if you know me, I'm in bed asleep by 10 PM 90% of the time. Well, I've discovered they don't make coffee strong enough to help me the next morning when I stay up until 1 AM on this web site!

Sharing in this obsession, I have a good friend who has offered some tips on how to circumvent some "road blocks".  Last week I found myself at the Carnegie Library looking at microfilm of obituaries from the 1940s and county registrations for marriage licences from the 1920s! (side note - Microfilm - what a weird and wonderful tool!)

My side of the family tree is considerably smaller / shorter than Dave's.  I'm pretty much stuck at the 1900's / late 1800's.  My family (from all sides) immigrated over in the early 1900s.  And while it is very cool to see the Ellis Island records and see their Naturalization papers from years afterwards, it makes researching their families back in eastern Europe nearly impossible.  To do so, you need to know their religious affiliation and church parish and things like that.  Heck, my dad doesn't even remember his grandmother's maiden name!! (And I can't seem to find it ANYWHERE in various microfilm records.) Not to mention that my paternal great-grandmother changed their last name to Frost because she couldn't spell their real Polish last name.  And no one seems to recall the exact spelling of how it used to be, and everyone is no longer living aside from 1 great uncle whom I've never spoken to.... Sigh.

But Dave's side is a different story.  I turned my focus to his side of the family in an attempt to take a break from the frustration of my side's temporarily dead end. Ha ha ha, cause little did I know that his side would be SOOOOO in depth! I've focused only on his grandfather's grandfather's grandfather, etc.... 1 of 8 grandparent's sides, and I've spent nearly a week building that part of the tree. I'm back to 100 AD and it's just CRAZY.  

Part of the reason that it is so well documented is that Christina Holland, the mother of the very first Sprague to come over to America (mid 1600's) was of a royal line.  And by royal, I mean kings and queens and princesses of Scotland from the 1100's to the 1300's.  It is unbelievably cool to read stories about these historical figures and see pictures and such. His 57th great grandmother was Queen Margaret of Scotland, who was later canonized as a saint!! I keep saying that he married down, cause the closest he got to royalty is that I'm a Polish princess! LOL

Ancestry keeps feeding into my obsession cause they offer these hints - links from research other's have done, documents from family libraries in Provo UT, etc.  I'm at over 1400 un-investigated hints so far. I fear I'll never finish while I'm alive, cause I've not even started on his paternal grandmother's info let alone anyone from his mother's family!!

I plan to get a huge wall poster print out of our ancestry (they offer this).  Not that I want to hang it on our wall, but it would be cool to just have and show our kids.  And that is really why I wanted to do this - for our kids. I've learned now that 3 of my 4 grandparents are passed, I missed out on the opportunity to ask them lots of questions about their lives.  I do know some stories but I wish I could ask them for more.  So let me conclude by saying that if you are at all interested in doing your own genealogy one day, start asking questions now! (And write things down). Where and when were they born? Ask your family how and where and when they passed away.  Discover something new about your family... just remember to shower and use strong coffee when needed!