Why Study Ancestry?

February 19, 2014 — 4 Comments

I did not start studying genealogy with the expectation of spending years involved with my family tree. I did not expect to find much data, and thought I would be finished in a couple of weeks. In my sixth year of tracing my family back in time I could not imagine life without this research.  I have now relearned history by tracing my own DNA through it.  Believe me it becomes more interesting when you picture your own ancestors in events.  The timeline is an important tool in life to assess progress and enlightenment.  The same can be said of a much longer timeline, such as human history.  I am starting to understand the mass migrations caused by religions that have shaped the political world.  My people were motivated to take great risks and leave their known environments to follow religious convictions.  They crossed the Atlantic in rickety boats with nothing but beer to drink.  They froze and starved in the early American colonies.  They adventured way out west to Ohio and beyond after the Revolutionary War.  They fought on both sides of every British and American war, which is most revealing.

Ancestry.com is run by humans and therefore human error is part of it.  The site has gathered and continues to gather public records to share as well as trees published by members who make them public.  Often an unsubstantiated piece of data will be shared and repeated in the public tree arena.  Fortunately there are also wizards who find some errors, and advise the owners of bogus trees to double check the data.  I have twice needed to erase several generations of mistaken identity when I was given more information by a fellow family member. Bittersweet, erasing..I had become fond of the ancestors who were not really my own.  It was a horrible blow to be wrong about them, but this study is about verification and facts, not just being up in your tree.

I have been asked which are my favorite ancestors, to which I generally reply I like them all for surviving so I could be here now.  There are a few that I might love more than the others:

• Quadequina Wampanoag
• Santo Bassano
• Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland
• Anne Dudley

They are either well known or unknown, but all important to me and my existence.  If you take the two week trial I bet you will find something remarkable in your own family history.