LJIdol (mini) 2024 Week 2

[vik_thor]

SANKOFA

Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”

The word is derived from the words:

• SAN  (return)
• KO  (go)
• FA (look, seek and take)

from: https://www.berea.edu/centers/carter-g-woodson-center-for-interracial-education/the-power-of-sankofa

I have been into genealogy for awhile (off and on over the years.) I even started to try to start doing this as a GeneaBlog last year. 
In a mostly ON mood right now.

I have traced my family back 4 generations with confidence (Great-Great Grandparents) mostly born in the mid 1800s. and so far they have been in the southern Illinois / Indiana, and central Tennessee area (some outliers in Kentucky). I have found 1 who (definitely) participated in the US Civil War. Most of this generation were too young or old for Civil War service. (Though war of 1812 has some.)
The previous generation is a lot more sparse in knowledge and documentation, which considering the ones I have some documentation are early 1800s (and one couple 1790s). I will have to do trips to TN for some of them, and hope they have the documents. (FamilySearch.com lists when various counties started keeping various records.)

The one ancestor I am viewing as my main brick wall right now is my Paternal Great-Great-grandpa (Benjamin F. Rose). The only document I have of him is his marriage license to GGrandma Tabitha Green. It gives his parents, age, and where he was born, (between 21 and 23, born in White County IL). I have found his parents in marriage records for White County, married in 1854, I have not found any of them in census records. (The one that would have been the most likely, the 1890 Census, was destroyed...)
There has been some conflation with another Benjamin Franklin Rose in some online records, who lived and died in Effingham IL.

Husband, I've not gotten as far back, and have gotten to Italian and German ancestors at the Great-Great-grandparents level. So that will but a kink in tracking them down (Though I do follow a GeaneaBlog that talks about italian research quite a bit...)




 

Comments

[mollywheezy]

Genealogy is so interesting! I'm thankful others in my family have done most of the work since I don't have time right now.

[vik_thor]

:)

[fausts_dream]

My mom loved genealogy...she took a lot of pleasure in it. Even if I had to be the one to navigate the computer part of it. Well done

[vik_thor]

:)
(At least you learned the computer side of it, if you ever get the bug?

[adoptedwriter]

Genealogy is fascinating and addictive.

[vik_thor]

AGREED!

[halfshellvenus]

I have a chart somewhere (still, I hope?) that has my family lineage traced back as far as possible. The glitch is my maternal Great-Grandfather's father. Most of my family lines are from Wales, and if the information wasn't entered into a birth and/or death record at a church, it's gone. And people were a lot less formal about that back in GGrandpa's day and before!

My husband's paternal grandfather is an immediate dead-end. The man left Scotland for Latin America, and when he came to the U.S. he changed his name. Nobody knows what his birth name was. They have guesses, and a probably region in Scotland, but no facts. The new name is my husband's last name, so it hasn't been in the family very long!

[vik_thor]

Interesting.

I think there are ways around some of the problems, but husband's paternal line, that might be a bit tougher... would be interesting to try to track!

[erulissedances]

You're lucky you have at least that much information.

- Erulisse (one L)

[vik_thor]

*nods* I know, even though I wish I had more.
(quite a bit of the issue is [truthfully] my immediate family dynamic...)

[thephantomq]

oh man. I tried to do this with my family -- and while my dad's side of the family was fairly easy, my mom's side.... decidedly wasn't. Like, I know my grandparents' names and that's it, kind of "not easy."

I haven't worked on it in a long while, though. Maybe new info's come up, now...

[vik_thor]

Oh, there is most definitely newer info available, depending on how long ago you last looked into it.
If you are USAian, the 1950 Census was released in 2022. and all the major genealogy companies have it available for free, I beleive.

(I think I'm gonna do a post about starting or restarting Genealogy search...)

[drippedonpaper]

I am only 3rd generation American. My grandparents (all 4) came to the USA as children. I have been glad of that as I can truly say my family wasn't part of the civil war. I live in the south and this came up with some of my students at the time. They were trying to say my great-grandparents probably were not kind to theirs, and there was no way they even met as my great-grands were not in the US yet during those years.

Genealogy is very interesting. I'm sure it probably feels like solving a mystery? I'm busy dealing with my current living family. Not sure I have a lot of time to research any others (I have 3 kids, 6 siblings and 21 nieces and nephews on my side, etc.)

It's really neat to hear about all that you have learned through your research :)

[vik_thor]

wow. that sounds about like my Mom's family. she was the 8th of (technically) 11 kids. (1st 2 were a set of twins. way premature) and another set of twins right before her...)

[murielle]

While I have been interested in the history of my family, both sides, never enough to get into the research. I admire people who do have that drive. I know a little oral history from here and there, though.

[vik_thor]

:)
It's not for everyone.
Nothing is for everyone, except life itself.
(and even that is debatable for some people, sometimes I think...)

[murielle]

Well, everything is ultimately debatable. ;-)

[reidharriscooper]

Being a second and third generation American whose grandparents/parents were just children when they came to America through various means I always find one whose family been here before the 1800s fascinating.

[vik_thor]

*grins*
yah. But it does make finding the original immigrants more difficult, and potentially spread out in time and space...

[alycewilson]

Genealogy is such a fascinating hobby, and I've been doing it for several years. Let me know if you ever need another set of eyes for a document or a suggestion of what to try next.

[vik_thor]

Ooh! thanks for the offer!! I will (try to) remember that!

I think I am at a point where I am going to have to actually go to Carmi, Illinois to look at documents in person...