Why Genealogy?

 I got into genealogy late in life. I dabbled a bit in the pre-Internet days, but didn't find much at the local library—only a few names and dates. Once I had Internet access, though, I got lucky. But it still took me years to make the connection that genealogy is history.

Long ago, the 7th grade Virginia history and the 11th grade American history I studied didn't mean much to me. All the important events happened to people long before I was born and thus had no connection to me. Or so I thought.

I wish I had known on my 7th grade Virginia history trip to Richmond, Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown  that several ancestors had even been at Jamestown in the early 1600s, that one of my ancestors had laid out the town of Yorktown, that other ancestors had lived in Richmond—including the family scoundrel who had erected a lavish monument in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery, and that many of my ancestors had moved westward across Virginia following a similar route that the Greyhound bus used to bring us home. 

It was only when I started working on my family genealogy that I became really interested in history—my history!—and started reading about events that affected my ancestors. I decided that—before I shuffled off the mortal coil—I wanted to know who I was,  who came before me, where these people came from, and what historical events affected them.

On my maternal side, I knew a few names of great-great grandparents and a cousin had given me a list of Nace descendants. I even had a picture of my great-great grandfather, John Christian Nace, who lived from 1828 to 1928 and had served in the Civil War. From some internet research, I learned that when he was a child, he shook hands with President Andrew Jackson.

John Christian Nace

Then, thanks to info gleaned at reunions, I learned a bit about the Noffsinger/Noftsinger line and that I descended from Peter Naftzger. 

On my paternal side, I had a picture of another great-great-grandfather,  Elder John Reid Martin. I'd seen his grave at Bethel Church when I was a child—but that was as far back as I could go. A few decades ago, however, I learned that his grandfather—my 4th great grandfather—was Brigadier General Joseph Martin. 

John Reid Martin

During the late 1990s, I'd started doing internet research and found occasional bits of info. By 2010, I'd found enough about my Nace ancestors to start a blog, The Naces of Lithia. But I didn't know much about other family lines. That's when I started searching for other names I'd learned, so I was able to find bits of information about several more ancestors. But not enough.

In 2015, I subscribed to Ancestry.com and started tracing my genealogy in earnest. Bit by bit, I found hints that led to discoveries about more of my ancestors. Sometimes I found false information, but I soon learned to be skeptical of where information came from and to check sources. Before long, though, I had a family tree filled out on Ancestry.com and four notebooks packed with information about my ancestors.

My Nace notebook and Ruble notebook.

I know now that many of my ancestors fought in wars I'd read about when I was a kid—the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. I know most of my ancestors sailed to America before 1750, and many were involved in a lot of Colonial American history. Among my Jamestown ancestors, at least two—Willliam Hancock on my paternal side and Christopher Woodward on my maternal side—died in the 1622 Indian Massacre. 

I had ancestors on both sides in Bacon's Rebellion (1676), an event that I can't remember hearing about when I was in school. I even learned that my 8th great-grandmother was taken hostage by Nathaniel Bacon and used as a human shield.

I've been to Yorktown many times—the first time on that 7th grade trip—but I never knew until a few years ago that my 10th great-grandfather, Major Lawrence Smith (1629-1700), who was involved in Bacon's Rebellion (on Gov. Berkeley's side), surveyed and laid out the streets of Yorktown. 

—Daily Press, Newport News, VA, 19 Oct 1958

From Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1:

I'd never thought about any American ancestors outside of Virginia, but as I researched I learned I also had New England connections. My 9th great grandfather, Robert Coles, came from England to Massachusetts in 1630 as one of the Puritans in Winthrop's fleet. I was surprised and delighted to discover so much about him online—including that he was once sentenced to wear a letter "D" for drunkard. A few sites I found about him: About Robert Coles, "Scarlet Letters of Punishment," and  "Robert Coles—Skeletons in the Colonial Closet."

Besides Coles, I also had Carpenters and Wrights in New England. During the mid-1700s, they came down the Great Wagon Road to Virginia.

Some of my ancestors came from the Palatinate to Philadelphia in the 1700s—among them were Matthias Nehs and his family aboard the Brittania in 1731,  Heinrich Surber and family aboard the Mercury in 1735, and Peter Nafsker and his two brothers aboard the Phoenix in 1749. I can't remember any mention of the Palatinate when I was in school.

I wish I had known about all these ancestors and the times in which they lived when I was a child. If you have children, I recommend you get them involved in learning about their ancestors while they're young. If you don't know who your ancestors are, you can work along with the kids to solve the mysteries. 

For some tips for getting your children started on your family's genealogy, check out these two sites:  https://www.americanancestors.org/education/learning-resources/read/getting-started and "Finding your Roots for Kids."

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