Family name, to Clan, to Tartan

[Sir Robert]

As I have said before but nobody listens to me, The Picts (Native Britons)were Matralineal while the Scots (Irish immigrants to Pictland) were Patralineal so look as hard on your Mother's side as your Dads'. It is traditional.

Start with a simple ancestor chart and start to fill in the blanks. You will be lucky to get back very far by asking Grand-Dad but the farther you get the better. Next ask the oldest relitives that you can, fill in that chart, cousins, aunts as much as you can. From this point research the oldest names in each branch, when and where were they born, look up those records that will get you that person's parent's names. Now when you are stumped then start the internet searches If you are lucky you will find that some Aunt or Cousin has don all of the work for you. Then you connect your tree to their's and you get a free ride back several generations.

What you want is a Scottish name like MacX, this is your link. If you are just looking for a tartan, that is as far as you need go.

Leatham looks English and Jeppsen might be Danish, so keep going farther back.

[Scotus]

The Newberry Library in Chicago is one of the larger genealogical libraries in the country. That's where I have spent many-a-day. I believe have broken the addic.... I mean.... hobby of genealogy. I had better not post too many replies on this thread or IT will draw me back into it's clutches. hehe

[Rufus]

I've heard good & bad things about LDS's Family History program, Paul -- but you are right, verify everything.

T.

One of the main problems is that anyone is able to submit unverified information to the LDS Family History records. It even warns you on familysearch.org that you'll need to very the records.

If you're a member of the LDS church, you can gain access to more complete records concerning baptisms (incl. for the dead), confirmation, temple endowments, etc. My sister told me this weekend that she's been using this information, because it's much more accurate. Just a little tip for any LDS people on the forum.

[Sir Robert]

Verify your geneology, You would think that you would know what your parent's names were, right? I didn't untill I did the geneology. My Father was a Craig raised by his Mother's sister and her husband who adopted him and gave him their name Von Whupperfeld. My Father's signature was J.W.Craig. So I am Barron Von Whupperfeld right? No. I found that I have an older brother named Jerry so he gets the Barrony and I get the shaft.

My Mother's side is even more wierd. Verify everything.

Now sometimes it just don't matter for example there were 5 families of Donnells in North Carolina in 1703. now the hardcorp geneologists have confirmed that 4 of those families were blood kin to each other but the 5th can NOT be tied to the others not by the records anyway. You are warned sternly that the fifth family is not related to the others by the geneologists. OK I started looking at the records and low and behold in my family (the fifth bunch) a Donnell married a Donnell, well I do not beleive he married his sister, more likely he married his cousin from the other group of four Donnell families.
So dispite the most stern warnings I treat this whole set of Donnells as kinfolk. These people were Presberierians and thus were Scots who came over from Ireland. The famous Scotch-Irish. I know because the cemetary where they are buried is Presberierian, if they were buried in a Catholic church I would guess Irish.

[macsim]

Something I've found success with is going back as far as I can on a particular line and when I get stuck, I go to the other end and try to find immigrants or early settlers of the name I'm looking for. Sometimes I am able to meet in the middle by working forward. This is how I found my Scottish clan. My g-grandmother was a Hester. I got back a couple of generations more but hit a dead end. Then, in researching for my SAR membership I found several Hester/Frazier marriages in the DAR books. I traced them forward and was eventually able to connect my line to one of them. A lot of it also was just a process of elimination.

I've also found people often race ahead and make assumptions that so-and-so was such-and-such's son becuase you've got a name or two in the same area but then you start checking dates and you realize so-and-so must've been one virile son-of-a-gun to have fathered a child at age 3!

And, as others have said here; document, document, document.

[Scootter]

Wow guys, Thanks. I got kind of busy with the move and cleaning and forgot I'd posted this :sad: .

I am from LDS familys on both sides. I know somebody has moms side documented. I just never thought to ask her for the info. Dad says his side is documented back a ways but nobody seems to know where the book is. So I get to start from scratch. I really need to sit down with grandpa and get the info from him before I move. For some reason I feel a little weird talking about this stuff with my family, I'm not really sure why.

You guys have given me a lot of good information and good leads. Now I just need to find the time to follow up on them. First things first, get the info from grandpa and Grandma. then Document Document Document.

Scootter

[Doc Hudson]

When you talk to Grandma and Grandpa about family history, be sure to take a tape recorder, and take notes.

I didn't and now lots of family history is gone with no record other than vague memories of stories handed down in the family.

[davedove]

Definitely check with ALL your older relatives, plus any other relatives since they may have already done a lot of work already. Also, the sooner you can speak with them the better. I just got started with my family tree and I'm in my forties. All my grandparents are gone, and I'm starting to lose aunts and uncles, and some who are still alive are, sadly, not all there anymore. So I've lost a lot of potential information. Fortunately, some work had already been done and I've been able to match it with online information. But check with your relatives NOW. You never know when they will be gone and all their knowledge lost.

[Bill]

When you talk to Grandma and Grandpa about family history, be sure to take a tape recorder, and take notes.

I didn't and now lots of family history is gone with no record other than vague memories of stories handed down in the family.

A very large and loud AMEN to that! I am in the process of doing the family tree and how I wish at times that I could time travel and talk to all those of at least the previous generation to hear the stories and get information on who is who where they came from and what they did. All that was lost when they passed on.

I might add here go through the family pictures with them and get them to identify the people and circumstances. I have one picture that was taken in Fort Worth in the late 1800s that I think is one of the sets of great-grandparents but I really have no way of knowing.

Good-luck!

Bill

[Scootter]

I emailed dad last night and asked him to write down anything he could. That should be a good start if he'll take the time to do it.

My cousin bought a tape recorder for grandpa to record what he remembers of WWII. Nobody in the family could get him to take the time to do it....... Until I got married. The first time my wife asked he talked her ear off for better then an hour. That was just the first time. I might need her to ask Grandpa. Grandma will talk my ear off if she can remember what's what. Finding the time when I can actually talk to her without alot of interfearance is the hard part.

I am on my way! I tried a couple of the links that were posted. I found a couple people and emailed them about more information. One person I found has Leatham traced back to 1520 in Cornwell and is looking for a connection to the Utah Leathams. A lucky find! 8)

Sir Robert seems to be right. Leathams would be English and Grandma has always said the Jeppesens were Danish. Now I just need to link it all together.

Thanks Again,
Scootter