Genealogy: in pursuit of family stories

Well this post ran afoul of the forum's "paragraph police" software and wouldn't let me post it, even with chopping it all into little tiny pieces. So I saved it as a word document and is attached. Let me try this again:

Continuing on with this line of ancestry, which is on my paternal side: I had a lot of information about my paternal grandmother's folks, my dad's 2nd cousin did extensive research and published a book, which I have a copy of. Those folks were all solid Germans, my immigrant ancestor arrived in Philadelphia in 1737.

But, on my Dad's father's side, the bearer of our surname- I wasn't sure of the nationality, could be German, French, English or from any one of a number of countries.

For a while I was operating under the assumption that this line was German, because in genealogy circles the clues to nationality are usually that if a person lives within a group of Germans(for example), does business with Germans or marries Germans...they are generally themself German.

Indeed, my g.g.grandmother who died the same day as dear old g.g.grandfather Levi was certifiably German, this I know from published works by a distant cousin of mine.

However, Levi had 2 previous marriages, the wife he had before my g.g.grandmother had come from a Welsh settlement in Md. Welsh? That ex-wife of Levi was not a genetic ancestor of mine, but does at least casually connect my Levi to...Welsh. Welsh? Not on my radar, but OK...worth some investigation.

To make a long story short, I used the information available on geni.com and found the original immigrant ancestor, who was born in Llanmadoc, Glamorgan, Wales in 1638, and died in Port Tobacco, Charles County, MD in 1688.

If it was worth money to me(LOL) I would want to see birth certificates, grant deeds and wills to establish a paper trail, but I'm satisfied, as there are no indications that would point in a different direction.
 

Well this post ran afoul of the forum's "paragraph police" software and wouldn't let me post it, even with chopping it all into little tiny pieces. So I saved it as a word document and is attached. Let me try this again:

Continuing on with this line of ancestry, which is on my paternal side: I had a lot of information about my paternal grandmother's folks, my dad's 2nd cousin did extensive research and published a book, which I have a copy of. Those folks were all solid Germans, my immigrant ancestor arrived in Philadelphia in 1737.

But, on my Dad's father's side, the bearer of our surname- I wasn't sure of the nationality, could be German, French, English or from any one of a number of countries.

For a while I was operating under the assumption that this line was German, because in genealogy circles the clues to nationality are usually that if a person lives within a group of Germans(for example), does business with Germans or marries Germans...they are generally themself German.

Indeed, my g.g.grandmother who died the same day as dear old g.g.grandfather Levi was certifiably German, this I know from published works by a distant cousin of mine.

However, Levi had 2 previous marriages, the wife he had before my g.g.grandmother had come from a Welsh settlement in Md. Welsh? That ex-wife of Levi was not a genetic ancestor of mine, but does at least casually connect my Levi to...Welsh. Welsh? Not on my radar, but OK...worth some investigation.

To make a long story short, I used the information available on geni.com and found the original immigrant ancestor, who was born in Llanmadoc, Glamorgan, Wales in 1638, and died in Port Tobacco, Charles County, MD in 1688.

If it was worth money to me(LOL) I would want to see birth certificates, grant deeds and wills to establish a paper trail, but I'm satisfied, as there are no indications that would point in a different direction.
Hmmm, I have been to Port Tobacco many times---have friends there.
 
My biggest break-through came in one of the least "low-tech" manners. I got started by spending a day at the Morman genealogy facility in Salt Lake City. The workers there were extremely helpful and helped me find a lot of stuff.

A few years later, while on a road trip, I was able to visit the little mountain town in Virginia where my grandfather was born and lived. A visit to the cemetery didn't yield much info but when I talked to the man mowing the cemetery, he suggested I go into town and talk to the town clerk, who was in charge of the cemetery.

We went to the town hall and luckily she was in. I told her the names I was looking for and she said that a few weeks before, someone else had called and asked about those names. She was sure she had that person's name and phone number somewhere. She looked and looked and finally emptied her wastebasket out onto the floor. It was apparently my lucky day, because she found a crumpled up Post-It note with the name and phone number. Another day and the basket would have been emptied.

She said she couldn't give me the name or number but that she would called him and give him my phone number. She did and I was contacted almost immediately by a man who turned out to be a third cousin and who was a "rabid" genealogist.

Luckily, he lived only about 45 minutes away and set out on the spot to meet us for lunch in the small town. We met and yapped for a couple of hours and then headed to the cemetery again, where he walked me around and pointed out everyone I was related to. He also sent me heaps of picture, documents, etc.

What had thrown me off for years was that somewhere between 1905 and 1910, my branch of the family changed their last name and split up for different points. My great-grandmother took some of the kids and headed for Indiana; my great-grandfather took the rest and headed for New York. I was looking for everyone under the "new" name, not the "original" name.

The mystery of why this happened has not yet been solved but there are theories being entertained. The most believable one is that my family ran afoul of a famous clan of very dangerous people and got the hell out of Dodge before the whole thing blew up. My grandfather's sister married into this clan and then ran away, leaving two children behind. This could have triggered some reprisals. Who knows?
What a great story! You solved the difficulties.
 

I've mentioned this a ton of times before in regards to Genealogy...

How come you are told you are related to a Nobleman, a wealthy Merchant, a Politician or a Prince? But you are never told you were related to that guy who shoveled the elephant poop at the Circus.
 
I've mentioned this a ton of times before in regards to Genealogy...

How come you are told you are related to a Nobleman, a wealthy Merchant, a Politician or a Prince? But you are never told you were related to that guy who shoveled the elephant poop at the Circus.
The elephant poop scoopers are a private lot, and keep to themselves, cherishing their anonymity and peaceful existence.
 

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