Old Family Trees

As an adopted child, I grew up with parents of a much older generation, yet loving and caring. None of their parents were alive any longer, so I never got to know my grandparents. I did, however, get to know two aunts and an uncle through my dad, and an aunt and uncle through my mom's side. Being over 50 years younger than parents is quite a contrast to most families, which inhibits learning much about the family's history.  I was too young to understand the importance of documenting family events, so I did not have much to carry forward over the years other than my memories.

During the 1980's, my adopted mother found copies of her family trees, tracing back several generations of the Nohrenberg, Kienitz and Weise families.  I found these to be quite interesting, yet very much out-of-date. I found a software program to use on my Macintosh to help build family trees, and began the task of placing the information of the family trees onto the computer. I started with the Nohrenberg tree since my mom had talked extensively over the years about her family, and was able to put together a family tree that was quite large. At one time, I compiled the data into a binder form, containing over 800 pages. Over the years, though, I lost what few copies I had due to separation, divorce, and multiple moves.

Although I no longer have any of the old family trees from my adoptive parents, I do have access to Ancestry.com, and am able to piece together the family tree one generation at a time.  I may not ever be able to put together a couple of the other family trees online, but at some point, I do hope to trace my dad's Sabin line back through several generations in Norway.

As you can see, written copies of old family trees handed down from generation to generation can play a vital role in compiling larger family trees online through the numerous internet sites and services available for research and data. It is very important for today's generation to take an interest in preserving family history, and to place data and research on computer (as well as paper) to pass the information on to future generations.

After I met my birth mother in 1992, I became interested in learning more about my biological family ancestors and decided to pursue it deeply -- but that is another story I will share in another blog.  Stay tuned!