One of my recent goals was to generate a new long-term project that involved Ancestry.com. As some who read my work may know, I have no real idea of where my father's family came from. I have some clues, here and there, from a bit of research, here and there, but no real idea. The issue stems from two things:
- My great grandfather passed away at the age 40 due to pneumonia resulting from Spanish influenza
- My grandfather passed away at the age of 35 due to polio
That left my father fatherless at the age of 3.
As I've gotten older, I've become more curious about my family's background, and signed up for Ancestry.com during COVID to do some research. Well, all things start well, but then...
Life happens, and I lost focus. Not all attention was lost, however. One of my goals of 2022 is to spend two hours a week on research. That doesn't seem as overwhelming to accomplish, right?
As luck would have it, I managed to find my grandfather's World War II draft registration card on Ancestry; on it, was the address of where he and my great-grandmother lived in town in the 1940's. The house, as fate would have it, still exists to this day:
Look at those steps...if you think about it, they once helped my grandfather and great grandmother walk to and from that house. My ancestors walked over those steps many times without a second thought:
There is an old wooden fence still standing. Was that around in 1943? I have no idea...
There's an old metal roof still in place. Was that too around in the 1940's? Did my grandfather and great-grandmother listen to the rain fall on the roof when they lived here? I've always had an infinity for metal roofs...maybe they did as well?
I even went to the alley way to get a photo of the back of the house:
There has definitely been add ons since the 1940's... today, this house is a college rental, so there is no surprise to the additions and condition it exists in today.
All in all, something like this actually quite special. To stand near a place like this...I mean, did they ever think their future grandson would even care to know about something like this? Let alone go out of my way to figure out? Who knows, but I appreciate it!
So there it is! My weekly #lifestories to share. I hope you enjoyed it, and more to come I'm certain. Have a wonderful weekend to all!
That's pretty epic! Being able to find the house and mentally put yourself back then is just too neat.
Have you considered getting a DNA kit for yourself? I got one a couple years ago and it showed nothing surprising - English, Western and Eastern European with some Swedish thrown in (which is also not surprising considering in my youth I had hair blonder than @saffisara's)
I've thought about it - does it give you more history about your ancestry as well? If you take that kit, do they follow up with details / history about the region one comes from/
What they will do is, if they find close relative matches (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc) they will link it into your tree. It's really quite neat.
Really? I think you talked me into it! Thanks!
This is a wonderful day!
Thanks so much - more to come (hopefully!)
An interesting read. Can't wait for other installments. No pressure! 🙂🙃
I need the pressure, lol - hopefully it will keep me involved in the work!
Amazing! It's not even about the house, but about your history, the history of your family - you know it, and it should help you, definitely!
Your family story is very interesting. No wonder people create a family tree. How good that you found the house where your grandparents lived. I also like to come to the village where my grandmother's house is.