Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My Quilting Ancestors

I've been two-timing my blog and spending lots of time over on Ancestry.com lately.  It's so fascinating to see how far you can trace the family roots back. I'm guessing quilting goes way back, too, since my grandmothers quilted, and were taught by their moms, who were taught by their moms, etc.

my great great grandparents with their wagon team


So far, I know this:  I am American.  ;)  As in.. 'came over on the boat way before America was ever America-American'.  The tree traces back to lots of places.. France, England, Scotland, Germany, etc. 

great grandmother

But eventually ends up in Missouri where a few ancestors fought on opposing sides of the Civil War. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the men in your family fighting each other. 

great great grandmother

A couple of ancestors even fought in the American Revolution.  I wonder how these ladies dealt with all of the hardships that came their way while at home during that time.

one of my 3rd great grandmothers
 
One of the most interesting things about the process, though, has been finding old family photos, some mine that I've dug up to post, and some from other people's trees.  So strange to find old black and white pics of some of your relatives that you never knew on someone's tree that you don't even know.


another 3rd great grandmother
 
 
I wonder how many nights they sat by a fire sewing.  Or what the clothes that they made for their families looked like.
 
 
my grandpa is in this photo.  i think there are 4 generations in this one.  the one on the right in the cool hat is still living.  she is 98 1/2
 
I wonder if any of them pieced any "fancy" quilts, or if they just sewed out of necessity. 
 
great great grandmother
 
 

I wonder which one of these women that I am most like, or which characteristics I get from them..
 
4th great grandmother
 
I find myself wishing I could interview them. 
 
 
 
Digging through Ancestry.com has also gotten me interested again in these quilting books I bought before I even started quilting very much.  I love them!
 

 
 
xoxo
 
 
 
 
**bonus pic of my grandpa and the school bus he drove for a while just b/c I think it's the cutest picture ever** ;)
 
 

15 comments...:

Such a cool post Kelli! I often wonder about my relatives too. I have only been able to trace back a couple of generations. I wonder if there were any male quilters I had as ancestors??????

I two time on ancestry as well; as you say it's amazing what you discover about your own family on other people's tree's :) It's very addictive.........

This comment has been removed by the author.
charlotte said...

Love your post! I too love looking on ancestry. I have gotten stuck, though. Need to make time for more research. I have a cool book called "The Quilt that Walked to Golden" you should check out.

Thanks for sharing this post, Kelli. I was seriously hooked on genealogy. Then I began quilting. And the rest, as they say, is history!

quiltmania said...

Family history is so interesting, glad you are digging it up! I have a transcript of a verbal history from an older relative remembering his mother's stories of crossing the prairies with her children alone, while her husband was fighting during the civil war. They women suffered such hardships! Keep digging.

Thanks for sharing some of your family history Kelli. It is always fascinating to read about the past.

Anonymous said...

That is so cool and you're lucky to have other relatives post pix. I got on Ancestry.com a couple of years back but couldn't get very far in the family tree. Most of my relations were poor, so I don't think photos were in their budget. =(

Nedra said...

Oh, Kelli, we now have one more thing in common. I spend a ton of time on Ancestry.com
Family History is another love that is so addictive!

Talking to old people can be so amazingly interesting. They have whole lifetimes of stories and experiences and many of them are willing to share to them. Wisdom - it only comes with experience. :)

Lisa Lisa said...

Your post makes me want to play on Ancestry.com again....just a little. Glad you're having fun with it!

Oh its so great to see your ancestry. It must have been so much fun to dig all this information up and those black & white pics are awesome!

So fun to dig through your family tree. I've got my grandparents' trees from both my grandmothers back a couple of generations, but then I got lazy when it came to trying to look any further up the way!

Sarah said...

I love family history too. I'm Australian as you are American, from similar countries too. Mostly England and Scotland and Germany. My Aunty is an avid genealogist and has put on ancestry as far back as she can trace one branch of the family. They all look so serious in old photos don't they? I once heard it was because the picture taking process took a long time, eg half an hour. I think it's really because their lives were so blooming hard!

How cool! Time totally worth spending!

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