Goals

When I first decided to work on Genealogy as a hobby I made some goals.  I was interested in the female side. The men are easier to trace, so I decided to take on the women especially.  It is more difficult, but I have been able to make headway on some of my grgrandmothers.

I decided I wanted to find the immigrant ancestor.  Once I found what country they came from I dropped that line and pursued another.  In some cases the immigrant ancestor is a great grandfather or mother.  Lars Schulstad immigrated from Norway and Louis Trope was born on the ship coming from Germany.  Some came in the 1600s or 1700s.  Davis family came from Wales to Merion, PA in the 1600s and the Wunderlich family came in the 1700s.  There were many in between and some I haven't found yet.  I haven't travelled to "the Old Country" to follow them any more.  Sometimes I get information about life and times of an ancestor or family prior to coming to this country.  But it isn't because I pursued it.  The "Davis Book" goes way back before the immigrant ancestor and there is family in the US now that has contact with the Schulstads who are currently in Norway.

Finding my ancestors in the big events of history also was a goal.  I am an army brat.  As a child I moved frequently and saw grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles infrequently.  I remember only one Thanksgiving and two Christmases with more than my parents and brothers and sisters present until after I was married.  I attended no family weddings or funerals until I was I was grown up.  My sister's wedding was the first and my own was the next.  Being together for holidays, weddings, funerals, graduations and great historical events make up the web that strengthens family.

When Grandma Smith told me about her grandfather, who fought in the Civil War for the north, I began to feel I had roots.  Mike has an ancestor from Virginia who fought for the south.  Our kids have a view on that event different than either Mike or I do.  When I find an ancestor who participated in the Rev War and expansion to the west, national and world history becomes my history.

Today we ask, "Where were you when Kennedy was shot? or Where were you when you heard about 9/11?"  My questions are more like, "How did the Davises end up in Arkansas? or How come my name was Sue Phillips if my grandmother was Marguerite Langbauer?"

It is all coming together.  Slowly.