How many of you have done a lot of research on your family?

And how many have been contacted by a complete stranger about a tie to your family?

I have done a lot research, my daughter has become really good at it.

Last week I was contacted by someone who had relative who was a third cousin to my Dad from way back. It concerned me a bit that she knew so much about my family, but I understand it might help her find a link she is missing.

Interested in your experiences with something like this.

My mother traced my dad's family back to Ireland in the 1800's. Found out a cousin was a St. Louis gangster who was involved in what then was the largest bank robbery in US history. Which explains why his son has never worked a day in his life, lives next door to Bob Costas, and makes two trips a year to Ireland. Just now studying her research. Very glad she took on this project because many relatives who provided testimony are gone, but we have the written record.

My mom has gotten her side of the family all the way back to England in the 1600's, I think.

(01-08-2014 11:03 AM)Tiger46 Wrote:  How many of you have done a lot of research on your family?

And how many have been contacted by a complete stranger about a tie to your family?

I have done a lot research, my daughter has become really good at it.

Last week I was contacted by someone who had relative who was a third cousin to my Dad from way back. It concerned me a bit that she knew so much about my family, but I understand it might help her find a link she is missing.

Interested in your experiences with something like this.

I have been contacted like this several times, and on occasion I have had the same concerns. All of my contact comes through ancestry.com, and I only share my email addy with them after I've gotten comfortable. Still, it's a risk albeit a small one.

There was a professor down at Southern Miss that for some reason, took it upon himself to research my Dad's family name. Turns out he traced it back to 1542 in England. It seems the first member in the new world came to the colonies in 1742. He owned a fleet of merchant ships and made his fortune transporting people and goods to the Colonies. He got a land grant from the King of England in Virginia some where and had 7 kids. Later moved to near Sevierville, TN. and then later to Choctaw county in MS.

(01-08-2014 01:18 PM)mapdude Wrote:  There was a professor down at Southern Miss that for some reason, took it upon himself to research my Dad's family name. Turns out he traced it back to 1542 in England. It seems the first member in the new world came to the colonies in 1742. He owned a fleet of merchant ships and made his fortune transporting people and goods to the Colonies. He got a land grant from the King of England in Virginia some where and had 7 kids. Later moved to near Sevierville, TN. and then later to Choctaw county in MS.

My paternal grandmother's family came to New Orleans from France in the mid 1700's. Been there ever since.

My Dad's done a tone of genealogy work for our family. Small snippet: My 19th Great-Grandfather was "Dafydd ap Llewelyn". Born 1351, in Wales...died in 1415 at the battle of Agincourt (For those familiar with Shakespeare's Henry V - The character Fluellen, is thought to be modeled after 'David Gam'...i.e. and English-ized version of Dafydd)

To address your question, all the communications that my Dad sends/recieves have been through Ancestry.com.

Just an update, this person who contacted me wigged out on me, went postal because I couldn't give her information she was asking for. Stuff I just don't know. But I let her know I was grateful for the photo she provided of my grandfather and his five siblings that I never knew. I guess she got that from Ancestry.

My wife uses the free Mormon search site.

(01-10-2014 12:14 PM)Tiger46 Wrote:  Just an update, this person who contacted me wigged out on me, went postal because I couldn't give her information she was asking for. Stuff I just don't know. But I let her know I was grateful for the photo she provided of my grandfather and his five siblings that I never knew. I guess she got that from Ancestry.

My wife uses the free Mormon search site.

The LDS site is pretty good.

I traced my family back to 1620 Germany. The bulk was ancestry.com. Luckily, I stumbled across a bucketload of research someone had already done (not even their immediate lineage). I got a few e-mails here and there. I wasn't really surprised by it.