Oh boy, the hard part….talking about myself.

I got into genealogy and family searching many years ago when I was trying to find out who REALLY was my Swedish great grandfather.  If any of you have any Swedish ancestors, you will know that they used to change their names each generation depending on father’s name, mother’s name, family dog and/or where they were living.  No kidding, if you are American, you get lost in this search — FAST.   And this was WAY before we could use the Internet….yes, it was by routine mail….hoping for some kind of answer in a few weeks.

In the last few years, I decided to start my hunt again, but started with other “easier” relatives.  I hit the jack pot and ended up finding more relatives than I thought was possible.  I had always thought that I came from a small family, but once I started looking, I found so many living relatives by going up one chain and down another, that I was astonished.

During all this time, I was having so much fun, I started doing searches for others.  I have found many relatives, photos, facts, proof of ancestry for an inheritance, missing family members, etc., that I decided to do it for real.  I puttered about this until I logged hundreds of hours.

While exchanging information with one relative I found that my father, brothers and I were actually descendants of John Alden, a leading Mayflower pilgrim.  So, I spent months finding birth, marriage and death certifications to prove that lineage from 1620 to present time.  Full approval was gotten….and now I am onto getting the proof for my brother’s membership in the Sons of the American Revolution organization.

Meanwhile I kept at it and my family tree kept growing.  I started talking to and meeting all my newly discovered relatives.  In May 2011, I even took a trip to England to meet over 20 relatives there.  It was one of the best trips of my life.  Besides the fact that I love all my family there, I was able to see the sites and walk the walk of my ancestors who lived in The Midlands.  What an experience!

And, as to my Swedish relatives?  Well, I got smart on this one and now have a good friend in Sweden who helped me sort all that out – and I am now emailing to and learning about my Swedish cousins.  Hmmm, maybe that will be my next big trip…but first I am taking a quick jaunt south to meet several other cousins.

If this interests you at all, or if you have questions about how this may work for you, then just go to the Contact Me tab on the Welcome page and send me a communication about you and your family and we will get started.

Who knows, maybe we’ll find out we are somehow related…

Lisa Hamilton

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