Years ago when my genealogical journey first began, I envisioned myself finding the first four or five generations of my immediate family and being satisfied with that. However, family research is like a bottomless bag of popcorn and I just can’t get enough. No, I don’t fancy myself to be a “name-collector” but widening the scope of my research has helped me more than once in finding out what and who I originally intended to research. Keep in mind that those neighbors, friends and more distant relatives were part of your forebears life in a way which we probably don’t understand or grasp but that we should give credence to. Meanwhile, I have also learned that I am going to have to consider myself lucky to know about two or three generations of some branches of my family…..Oh how we learn!
One of the first things that I determined was where my mother’s family originated. At least in this country. I knew my grandmother personally and my mom spoke about her grandparents. But she didn’t know much of them since her paternal grandparents had died when she was eight. Her maternal grandmother passed when she was twelve. Fortunately her maternal grandfather didn’t pass until my mom was in her early 30’s and she was able to enjoy him; having him visit with her and engage in an adult relationship. We (my sister and I) just had this collective opinion that our family came from Iowa, had always been in Iowa and that was the end of that. Many moons ago, my sister attended a party and for entertainment there was a psychic. Almost immediately the psychic asked what the family connection was to New York. My sister replied “None”. The psychic moved on and then returned to the question of New York and her connection with the state, pressing my sister for an answer. What seemed aggressive and odd at the time was ultimately anything but. We are from New York.
Montgomery and Ulster County to name but two.
Once I got over my initial surprise, I embraced my New York roots and have been fairly successful in researching my ancestors. I am fortunate that several of my forebears attended Dutch Reformed churches which kept amazing records. You certainly won’t find birth and death certificates dating back to the 1700’s, but you will find birth, christening and burial records from the church. Bless them for that.
What I don’t know….and probably I will never get a definitive answer to….is the question of why they left New York and how they ended up in Iowa.