Genealogy: Be Careful What You Look For

One of my four grown children has decided to do some genealogical digging into the family's past in order to gain an appreciation of his roots and of those who are a bit farther down on the family tree. So far, thankfully, he has restricted his investigations to his mother's side of the family. (Who knows what skeletons might be lurking in my ancestral closet?)

Some years ago, one of my wife's aunts sent her brother (Diane's father) a letter with names and birth dates of a few generations of ancestors with the surnames Booth and Maxwell. This has provided my son with a good starting point. As a result of his initial digging, he was able to trace the family of my in-laws back to Elizabethan times and found all sorts of connections to the rich and famous of that day. He also discovered that several of Diane's relatives served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, making her, I would guess, eligible to join the D.A.R. It seems I can no longer call my Southern bride "just another redneck" for she now has evidence of superior breeding. Her family were all Protestants of English ancestry while mine were probably all poor Irish dirt farmers. We'll likely discover that her ancestors lorded over and persecuted my Catholic forebears.

Anyway, I am amazed at how quickly my son was able to uncover such a vast amount of information, all thanks to the Worldwide Web and some of its extremely sophisticated genealogical websites. Now, of course, he's asking me for information on all sides of my family. I'm sure I have enough to get him started and will share it with him once I put it all together. I only hope that he will not be disappointed in those whose surname he bears. Perhaps he will find at least one who did something of mention. After all, I could well be related to Cormac McCarthy, one of the Kings of Desmond and the man reputed to be the builder of the famous Blarney Castle back in the 14th century (photo at left). We'll see.

If there are any big shots hanging on (not hanged from) my family tree, you can be sure I'll mention them in a future post. In the meantime I will suffer in silence.