| Author |
Message |
Colordeagua
Member
10-24-2003
| Friday, March 16, 2012 - 7:54 am 
Rerun tonight. Martin Sheen again. Probably don't want to waste a new show against basketball playoffs.
|
Doublethink
Member
08-23-2006
| Friday, March 16, 2012 - 8:16 am
"person can make a rational choice and decide that it's in their best interest to accept an ancestor.."
I don't really understand that comment - you don't just accept an ancestor, you do the research, you collect the evidence, and develop the proof that so and so is your ancestor. You can't just accept an ancestor because it's in your best interest.
And of course there are brick walls, I have yet to get back to Scotland on one of my main lines. I haven't given up - yet. I've been researching all the families with the same name in the same geographic vicinity to see if any of them connect to my family, and can help me get back to the elusive place in Scotland. If you can't get back on your own immediate family line, you look at collateral lines etc. And yes, sometimes you might just end up giving up.
You keep quoting these 4 people with the same name and almost the same birthday; I don't know that would necessarily be a brick wall. They don't live in a vacuum, they might have siblings, aunts, uncles etc. All these folks could help sort out who belongs to whom.
That's what I enjoy the most about "Who do you think you are?" It exposes me to some records that I might not have been familiar with that might help in various searches. Last week it was the dower records, those records probably wouldn't help me, but it was a source that I was unaware of. A lot of it is pretty standard stuff, census, newspapers, probate, court trial records, land records, poll taxes etc., but they do throw in a new one here and there - at least new to me.
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 11:32 am
Watching last night's episode on Helen Hunt right now (just started). First impressions: Helen Hunt seems medicated, and she's had her eyes done.
If you missed it and want to watch it, here is the link to NBC.com:
Who Do You Think You Are website
|
Rissa
Member
03-19-2006
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 2:18 pm
Helen.... Helen.... are we keeping you awake dear? Her whole demeanor/voice seemed eerily flat except for one or two brief moments, even the voice-overs were very monotone.
Her face looked the same as the last time I had seen her which isn't to say it doesn't looked worked on just that she has looked sorta emaciated, sunken, for awhile now. Hubby hasn't seen her since 'What Women Want" and kept repeating how horrible she looked until I finally had to ask him to stop.
She comes from two very impressive lineages which seem wasted on her (not her fault) since she seemed completely unaware of any of it. Would have also been an interesting story (I am guessing) as to how her parents were both left out of their respective ancestor's fortunes. Was the fortune lost? Did their parents/grandparents loose family favour for some reason? How did the history etc get lost/forgotten in the space of a single generation? I am always left with questions at the end of these episodes. LOL
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 2:29 pm
It's weird that such an impressive set of ancestors weren't celebrated in the family even two or three generations later. My great great granddad (also a German immigrant) made a fortune, had a bunch of kids, the money went down two lines of the family (not mine) and the family is STILL fighting about it LOL. My mom gets a great deal of satisfaction out of her gg-dad's accomplishments. I really do wonder what happened with Helen's family. It was fascinating history on the Christian Women's Temperance movement. Amazing business acumen from a family of immigrant farmers, too.
|
Cablejockey
Member
12-27-2001
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 5:44 pm
I too found it odd that Helen had never heard of her GG Grandmother's accomplishments and her GG Grandfather's! Doesnt anyone in her family talk to each other? Sad to think that kind of history can be lost after a couple of generations.
Helen didnt look at all like herself last night!
|
Catfat
Member
02-27-2002
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 6:29 pm
Perhaps the family fortunes were lost in the Depression.
And I agree, Helen Hunt acted like she was on heavy duty downers, as if she didn't want to be there.
|
Sunshyne4u
Member
06-16-2003
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 11:12 pm
havent seen the episode but yes, i think its weird when someone in the family history was well off or did something special, and it wasnt passed down verbally to kids.
Somewhere in my family hx is a Governor General of Canada!! thats all i know LOL what year? what name? who knows. I would LOVE to go back on my dad's side and see how far back i could go. I know his father was from City people so it likely would be relatively easy.... however, the great great grandparents were from scotland on BOTH sides ... my grandma and grandpa.
|
Colordeagua
Member
10-24-2003
| Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 7:42 am
Helen continued family achievements by becoming an Oscar winning actress. I agree about her behavior on the program. IIRC (my memory is so bad), one of her female ancestors had suffered spousal abuse? I know nothing about Helen's current SO, but thought maybe that's her problem now and has never said anything publicly?
|
Rissa
Member
03-19-2006
| Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 8:22 am
Color, they never said/implied tht her GGgrandmother was abused... just that part of the reason she felt banning alcohol was important was that she felt the over-use of it led to social issues such as violence against women.
|
Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 9:58 am
OT, I just want to share a genealogical windfall. I was recently given 125 letters dating from 1906 to 1926 that were letters written to and from my grandfather's family!! They were in an old building behind the old homeplace and a distant cousin found them and sent them to me. They are in amazingly great condition and everyone had great penmanship so they are legible. They contained a year's worth of letters my grandfather had written to a woman he was engaged to in 1921, they abruptly end in November and then a letter dated a few months later from the woman saying can't we still be friends. She must have given him all of his letters back when they broke up and it is so much fun to read what a romantic writer he was. We were shocked to learn that he had been engaged before and the ironic part of it all is that my sister's best friend in grade school was the granddaughter of this woman and my sister spent many a night at this lady's house since the granddaughter lived with her!! I bet in 1921 they would have never thought that someday their granddaughters would be best friends.
I only have one letter from my grandmother to my grandfather and it is right after they got engaged so it is all gooey and that is not how I remember my Grandmother at all, LOL! She was grumpy and stern. My Dad was so touched to read his father's correspondence, he laughed and cried and said he was like reading a wonderful book. Thank goodness for the pack rats in our family, they have brought us so much joy!
I showed the letters to my 17 yr. old nephew and told him that back then they didn't have phones so this is how they had to communicate. He was amazed that you had to write a letter to ask for a date and then wait for the mailman to bring a response.
|
Doublethink
Member
08-23-2006
| Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 10:05 am
Wow Beachcomber - what a wonderful find. I'm so envious. I'm so glad your distant cousin shared this wonderful family treasure with you.
|
Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 7:44 pm
Beach, that's awesome! What a windfall - and soooo romantic. 
|
Sunshyne4u
Member
06-16-2003
| Monday, March 26, 2012 - 12:19 am
amazing that those letters were kept. Sigh, he must have really loved her to keep the letters.
its funny when family secrets kinda slip out too. My uncle let it slip that his brother's wife was HIS first fiance'. his brother stole her away when my uncle was out of town working.
Can u imagine living your WHOLE life into your 80s with your brother and YOUR first choice as his wife??? I always wondered why my uncle was so grumpy. its like he nitpicked about Everything my aunt did. Now i kinda think i know why. She was his second choice.
|
Rissa
Member
03-19-2006
| Monday, March 26, 2012 - 6:10 am
Beach, that's amazing. I often say that (for me) it's more important to find the story and not just the names. That's a great story you have uncovered. Envious!
|
Legalboxer
Member
11-17-2003
| Monday, March 26, 2012 - 12:32 pm
i totally get not knowing one side of your family versus the other side.. and having someone "talkative" makes all the difference... i know that my paternal grandfather did amazing things in terms of the civil rights movement in our hometown and county and as a "city doctor" who always was there for anyone...but he died a week before i turned three and it was like pulling teeth to get anything about that side of the family - i never wanted to "intrude" on my grandmother in regards to asking her about him and my father and aunt just were not storytellers when it came to family. In fact i did not even know simple things like that my grandfather was born in Syracuse until i got accepted to SU's law school. Flip to the other side of the family tree and i feel like i know one of my uncles by heart even though he died five years BEFORE i was born - but my mom talked about him so much that i still think of him every day and i didnt even meet him once. My maternal grandfather - as sullen as he could be - also cared about family history so i was able to find out about a few generations of Cooks - including facts like Stonewall Jackson's second wife was our aunt by 3-4 generations.
So yes, i totally can see how even in one generation, family history can be lost if you dont have people who are willing to share or open about it.
|
Sunshyne4u
Member
06-16-2003
| Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - 4:59 am
sometimes the family secrets/ info is told by a person and you never really know if its true or rumor.
Supposedly my Grandma's brother drank himself to death in his forties. What i find as weird is that I dont remember him EVER in any of hte family pictures. It was always my grandma and her three sisters.
Both my grandparents on my dad's side drank and joined AA. But i really dont recall either of them EVER talking about their homelife etc. Chances are their parents were drinkers too. That side of the family i know Very little of.
i dont even know what jobs they did or education or anything.
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 11:40 am
This kid is charming - beautiful voice, beautiful delivery.
Youtube of Sam Kelly BGT 2012
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 1:47 pm
I saw a clip of Rita Wilson's show coming up and that had me in tears and it was just the clip! She meets her recently deceased father's brother.
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 2:55 pm
Whoops, I mean to put that in the Britain's Got Talent thread LOL.
|
Sunshyne4u
Member
06-16-2003
| Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 11:02 pm
she's never met her uncle? that seems weird.
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Friday, March 30, 2012 - 6:01 pm
This episode was stunning. Truly touching.
|
Nala63
Member
09-20-2005
| Friday, March 30, 2012 - 6:05 pm
i dont know who rita is, she could be anyone, But this is the most beautiful and heartwrenching story ive seen on this series. sobbing here, lol.
|
Rissa
Member
03-19-2006
| Friday, March 30, 2012 - 6:24 pm
Cried pretty much from beginning to end, very emotional. My mom has 1 sister and 3 brothers, none of whom I have met. Actually scratch that she has an additional 2 sisters and 2 brothers from her dad as well. My father met one brother about 20 yrs ago. Long story... happens.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Friday, March 30, 2012 - 6:34 pm
Rita Wilson is an actress and the wife of Tom Hanks.
I never met one of my dad's brothers. I don't think it's all that uncommon.
|
