Every Sunday, my family and I gather around the television to watch our favorite show — Who Do You Think You Are. If you don’t know, Who Do You Think You Are is a TLC show that features celebrities and their family’s ‘story’ using the power of Ancestry.com. Each episode features a different celebrity, looking through their family tree and discovering the lives of their ancestors. It’s amazing how looking through years of birth records, marriage licenses, death certificates, etc., can allow you to trace back a family tree hundreds and hundreds of years.
Watching the latest episode with J.K Rowland inspired me to put Ancestry.com to the test, hopefully being able to trace my own family back hundreds and hundreds of years. So I signed up for the 14-Day Free Trial and began my journey of tracing my roots.
I started by looking on my mom’s side of the family, specifically my maternal grandfather. My Grandfather, ‘PopPop’, died a year before I was born, so I’ve always had a desire to know him. I feel like I’ve missed out on a great relationship with him, and I’ll be honest and say that I am jealous that my cousins were able to experience something I didn’t. Hopefully, my search on Ancestry.com will give me a small glimpse into his life, to where it almost feels like I knew him personally.
From my research so far, I learned that my family (at least on my mom’s side), is very interesting…I can clearly see where my mom gets her strength (and her sass). My Grandfather’s name was John, and he was born in the year 1923 in Hartford, Alabama. On October 7th, 1942 he joined the military, serving in Camp Blanding, Florida. Besides from what I already knew — marrying my grandmother and having three beautiful children — there isn’t much else that I was able to find specifically about his life. However, I was able to trace his heritage back several generations.
For instance, there is dear Ms. Nervy, who is my Grandfather’s Maternal Grandmother (my 2nd Great-Grandmother). She was an interesting character. Nervy was born around 1875 in Mississippi, just 10 years after the end of slavery in the United States. Nervy married Billy in 1889 at the age of 14, and birthed Nellie (my Great-Grandmother) six years later. This is where it gets interesting. Ancestry.com provides a newspaper clipping from the year 1892, in which Nervy is featured: she was arrested and fined for beating her husband! According to the article, while arguing with Billy, Nervy kicked over their cooking stove, causing it to fall over and hit Billy on the head. She was fined $5.75 for kicking the stove. Crazy right!? I now understand where my mom get’s her ‘strong spirit’, and after reading the article, I literally filled up with pride. I come from strong women!
While learning of Nervy was truly amazing, I discovered something else that truly threw me for a loop. I was able to trace my family tree back to my 4th Great-Grandfather — Solomon A. — the child of William A. and his slave Sophie. That’s right. I traced my 4th Great-Grandfather, and my 5th Great-Grandfather who was the slave master of my family. Crazy! I was able to see where William was married, but had several children with Sophie (his slave) who is my 5th Great-Grandmother.
Unfortunately, I am unable to trace my family tree further than this. Due to slavery, there is no record of Sophie’s birth, but there is mention that she was brought to the US from Africa during the slave trade.
Although disappointed that I cannot trace this lineage of my family any further, I feel an overwhelming sense of ‘completeness’. Being born and raised in the late 20th Century, I am so far removed from slavery. Although my parents did a great job of teaching me about the civil rights era, and the hardship of slavery, there remained a disconnect between me and the history that I was taught.
Being able to look through ancestry.com, seeing the names of distant relatives, seeing their military and birth records, learning just a snippet of their lives, was truly amazing. They no longer were people that I simply imagined, but were real people who lived extraordinary lives. And although I know nothing but her name, and that she birthed the start of a great lineage, Sophie continues to resonate into my very being.
As I sit here typing this blog post (crying), I am truly humbled. Because of Sophie, and what she had to endure as a slave — kidnapped from her home, sold to a slave master who then fathered her children — I am able to celebrate my 25th birthday today, surrounded by my friends and family. Because of Sophie, I was able to attend school, becoming educated in whatever I wanted…while it was illegal for Sophie to learn how to read. I am so grateful for Sophie, and the sacrifices she made leading to my existence. Knowing as little as her name, gave me a new perspective on life, and a better appreciation for where I come from. In learning where I come from, I learned that my Grandfather was truly a great man, as he came from great men and women before him.
I am beyond excited to continue my search into my family’s history. I am now looking into my father’s side of the family, who I am certain, is just as eye opening as my mother’s. Although my dad’s family is more difficult to search, I am immensely proud to embody the strength of two families that defied the odds of adversity. And I am inspired to continue in their footprints.
Until Next Time
<3
What an amazing experience! I'd love to try this out!
Definitely do! Its very eye-opening!!!
So cool! I love hearing about people's family histories.
it really is amazing! I learned so much…
What an exciting journey. I have seen the show, but never really thought to look my own roots. I should, though.
definitely do it! It's so interesting!
Family members of mine have done this. I'm comfortable being told the results! Happy researching!
Thank you! Its so amazing!
That's funny about her being fined because she "beat" her husband!!! Pretty neat stuff Ancestry can find!
I literally laughed so hard when I found this out.
I have not heard of or seen this show. My father died when I was teenager so I don't know much about my family background
You should definitely try and catch it…it comes on Sunday at 8pm on TLC. It's amazing
Family history can not only be fun but very educational, it's amazing how much you can find out!
It's simply amazing! So glad I took the time to do this!!!
I love finding out where I come from. The more I am connected to my past the more I feel connected to the future.
Wow that is amazing, glad you were able to learn so much about your family. May have to try this myself. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely try it out. It's free for the first 14 days, then you can cancel your subscription!!!
I'm so glad you were able to find out so much about your lineage. I've often wondered how that content gets on Ancestory.com, doesn't someone have to put it in there, life a family member? I think its very interesting and I'd like to know more about my father's side of the family but I know nothing about him other than his name.
Definitely give the 14 day trial a try. It's so worth it!
I am excited for you! There is so much we can learn from our own family's origins right?
Absolutely! It's so amazing!
I've heard of the show, but I've never seen it. It seems really awesome to trace your family history though! I may have to try that some day 🙂
Definitely do! It's amazing some of the things you learn!
This sounds so awesome! Definitely going to look into it!
Please do! It's amazing some of the stuff you learn. And to actually see your great great grandfather's signature is mind blowing lol
It's a very nice story specially when it comes with your family history. I love listening from the elderly what happen in their times accompanied with pictures. And we will compare it today.Thanks for sharing your Family History
It was my pleasure! This was definitely a glimpse into my family that I otherwise would not have known….
I'd like to do this too, I'm very curious about my family tree. This is a project that I have to set for myself in the future. Thanks!
Definitely do it! It's a wonderful experience
What an amazing site! I think my aunt did this. I remember her talking about it at a reunion and she was supposed to make a copy of the info she took down. She made some sort of scrapbook thing around it also. This reminds me to get that from her!
It truly is an experience. Making a scrapbook is a great idea!
I've been wanting to try ancestry.com, what an incredible experience! I've always had a love of history, so I know that I would absolutely enjoy learning about my ancestors.
You should definitely give it a try! It's amazing some of the things you can find out
My Great Aunt Dee researched the Clem Family years ago and wrote a two volume book. She passed way 5 years ago. I have all of her boxes of notes here at my home. Can't part with them.
Wow that's amazing!!!!!!!
Sounds like an amazing journey learning your ancestry! My brother is interested in this and is always on Ancestry.com searching
Jaime, definitely check it out! You can learn so much about yourself by learning of your ancestors. It's amazing!
Interesting. It would be so exciting to find out about your ancestors. I will check this out.
It would be fun and exciting to learn more about our ancestors. What an intriguing idea for a show. I'd never heard of of it before.
Yes you should definitely check it out! It comes on Sundays at 8pm on TLC….
This concept is so cool. To know your history is a part of you and your family's future as well. You learn from the past.
Couldn't have said it any better! It was an amazing experience
That is so awesome you were able to find out so much in one part of your family. I hope you can find everything else you are looking for. I'd like to do this some day too.
Thanks so much! You should definitely give it a try!!!
This is the first time I've heard of this show! Sounds like something I would totally watch, so I will have to watch it next time it's on!
Definitely try to catch it! It comes on tomorrow at 8 PM on TLC with Alfre Woodard…it's going to be a great episode!!!
I know a fair amount about my mom's side, but my dad's side is largely unknown. I think this show may inspire me to do a bit of digging.
I truly is inspiring. Last night was an episode with actress Alfree Woodard. Instead of tracing her family history backward, they traced it forward from her great great grandfather who was born a slave. Very interesting!
I remember going to that site before… I wanted to look it all up but then I saw it cost $$ so I didn't bother. That being said, I did a DNA/Gene test a few years ago which was pretty awesome! Not only did it say where my ancestry is from, but I also got to see (and still can thanks to my account) what diseases I am at an increased susceptibility of getting!
Yes! It is very expensive…which is why I'm canceling after the 14 day trial. If I had the money I would definitely continue with it.
I love looking through history!
It truly is amazing…gives you insight into what makes you "you".
Never heard of this show before, but I love seeing my family history. I can trace some of mine back to the 1400's!
Wow that's amazing! I wish I could trace my family back that far!