How much of a relationship to I have to an ancestor that lived 150+ years ago?

Didn't say I was the rule, I said heritage varies by individuals and families.......to suggest none have links or anything in common with last generations is false, even if it's not common

Absolutely. I do restoration work at a historic cemetery which is located in one of the best-preserved western towns from the gold rush days. We know the history of most of those in the historic part of the cemetery and can visit the buildings they built and many of the houses in which they lived. There are streams, mountains, roads - all sorts of things - named for those people that I use every day. I'm definitely in touch.
 
Absolutely. I do restoration work at a historic cemetery which is located in one of the best-preserved western towns from the gold rush days. We know the history of most of those in the historic part of the cemetery and can visit the buildings they built and many of the houses in which they lived. There are streams, mountains, roads - all sorts of things - named for those people that I use every day. I'm definitely in touch.
Yea its nice, but is it romancing an era...
If you were transferred back in time to the gold rush...and the town is 20 miles away....the first thing you would want would be a cell phone to get an UBER or LYFT.
 
Yea its nice, but is it romancing an era...
If you were transferred back in time to the gold rush...and the town is 20 miles away....the first thing you would want would be a cell phone to get an UBER or LYFT.

Now now - thou jumpeth to conclusions.

In fact, I do not own a cell phone and am quite adept at living in the wild. I spent thirty five years working and recreating in the wilderness of the west and have taken courses in primitive technology. I also can load and shoot black powder weapons and grow a lot of my own food using organic methods. Life would, indeed, be a lot harder without our technology but I could make do without a doubt. I know a number of others who could, also (e.g. I've got two friends who lived in the wilds of Alaska for decades).
 
My grandparents didn't have a phone. They got a long fine. People kept in contact by writing letters. We also looked at each other at the table and carried on a conversation.

People today rely too much on phones, computers, etc. People can survive without them.

I am not saying they aren't nice to have at times but we could all survive and get along.

As to values, my grandparents were caring people. They helped their neighbors and didn't expect anything in return. They were kind and thoughtful and very hard working. I have always admired them so much. They learned from their parents, so it would have been wonderful to know them too.
 
My grandparents didn't have a phone. They got a long fine. People kept in contact by writing letters. We also looked at each other at the table and carried on a conversation.

People today rely too much on phones, computers, etc. People can survive without them.

I am not saying they aren't nice to have at times but we could all survive and get along.

As to values, my grandparents were caring people. They helped their neighbors and didn't expect anything in return. They were kind and thoughtful and very hard working. I have always admired them so much. They learned from their parents, so it would have been wonderful to know them too.
That's wonderful, my niece said something relative to your post....to paraphrase her "that her grandchildren will be cheated out of knowing their grandmother because her generation and future generations have lost the art of letter writing."
She's right, they are not even teaching Script in grade school anymore! future generations won't have letters as records of their past.
 
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Now now - thou jumpeth to conclusions.

In fact, I do not own a cell phone and am quite adept at living in the wild. I spent thirty five years working and recreating in the wilderness of the west and have taken courses in primitive technology. I also can load and shoot black powder weapons and grow a lot of my own food using organic methods. Life would, indeed, be a lot harder without our technology but I could make do without a doubt. I know a number of others who could, also (e.g. I've got two friends who lived in the wilds of Alaska for decades).
hey, that's cool...but your the exception...most people don't even cook anymore...everything is pre-packaged! How many teenagers can you think of that would give up their phones to go live in the past of the gold rush era?
 
hey, that's cool...but your the exception...most people don't even cook anymore...everything is pre-packaged! How many teenagers can you think of that would give up their phones to go live in the past of the gold rush era?

I doubt very many people of any age would want to live in the gold rush era but that's different from having some meaningful connection to the era (or that of the Civil War) which was the subject of your OP. That the average person could not survive nineteenth century conditions is your proposition, then I'd agree. That most have essentially no connection to what happened 150 years ago I can't agree. Sounds like you perhaps live in an urban environment and that maybe affects your perception of what 'everybody' is like. There's still quite a few people living in rural areas who aren't all about the latest craze, social media, and the like. I suppose I'm more of a splitter than a lumper.

I'll bail now as I think I've had my say and I have to go get my dog from the groomer.
 
I have a relationship with my 2 parents with each parent being 1/2 of my heritage
I have a lesser relationship with my 4 grandparents parents then my parents with each grandparent being 1/4 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 8 g-grandparents parents then my grandparents with each g-grandparent being 1/8 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 16 gg-grandparents parents then my g-grandparents with each gg-grandparent being 1/16 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 32 ggg-grandparents parents then my gg-grandparents with each ggg-grandparent being 1/32 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 64 gggg-grandparents parents then my ggg-grandparents with each gggg-grandparent being 1/64 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 128 ggggg-grandparents parents then my gggg-grandparents with each ggggg-grandparent being 1/128 of my heritage.
I have a lesser relationship with my 256 gggggg-grandparents parents then my ggggg-grandparents with each gggggg-grandparent being 1/256 of my heritage.

Add in all the uncles, aunts, cousins (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) over the generations....I got more in common with they guy driving the same model car I do then I do with my ancestors that lived 150 years ago!
You might find this interesting, he pretty much says the same thing as you.
 
the problem with genealogy it's accumulative...

For example: if given 5th generation direct ancestors, then that's 2 to the 5th equals=32 ggg-grandparents. but wait! if from a small town there are 3200 people today, then there are 3200x32=102,400 ggg-grandparents to be found. But 5 generations ago the town only had 900 people living in it. So, if the town's population is a closed system (where the population growth is not due to people moving into the town)...then everyone in the town has to be related to each other in such a manor that they share the same ancestors.

Same for the civil war...if everyone is claiming to have an ancestor in the civil war, then its a great probability that research will show you many share the same ancestors on both north and south. And that's not even counting the affairs, or children by slaves.

Then there is the factor of time...or the generation gap (different generations living at the same time)

then there's 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins and uncles and aunts throughout the generations...

that's why the numbers drag me down...a problem in chaos theory.
 
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"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes."

That's about how much of a relationship I have with my Confederate ancestors of over 150 years ago.

Unionblue

If signing a guilt clause for our ancestor's mistakes, I would be in a world of guilt considering I'm a full blooded Italian. The Confederacy has nothing on the Roman Empire.
 
Most of us are susceptible to some kind of tribalism, and pondering the lives of ancestors 150+ years ago can perhaps give a kind of positive connection regarding that. But the bottom line for me is that genealogy research can be a great way to learn about facets of history one might be unfamiliar with.
 
Most of us are susceptible to some kind of tribalism, and pondering the lives of ancestors 150+ years ago can perhaps give a kind of positive connection regarding that. But the bottom line for me is that genealogy research can be a great way to learn about facets of history one might be unfamiliar with.

Okay, I suppose you have a point. Consequently, everyone from Anglo-Saxon to Germanic to African to Hispanics to Middle Eastern are my inferior subject. The cherry on top is that I'm a quintessential Yankee, so all people outside the north in America are my inferior subjects as well. Thanks to your outlandish rational, the pondering of my ancestors systematic territorial conquering and subsequent oppression of different races, nationalities and regions ignited my superiority so I will have to break off my engagement because my fiancée is not my equal, she's Irish/German decent from Birmingham, Alabama. No way is she in my league, she would be considered my all-encompassing defeated subect.
 
Okay, I suppose you have a point. Consequently, everyone from Anglo-Saxon to Germanic to African to Hispanics to Middle Eastern are my inferior subject. The cherry on top is that I'm a quintessential Yankee, so all people outside the north in America are my inferior subjects as well. Thanks to your outlandish rational, the pondering of my ancestors systematic territorial conquering and subsequent oppression of different races, nationalities and regions ignited my superiority so I will have to break off my engagement because my fiancée is not my equal, she's Irish/German decent from Birmingham, Alabama. No way is she in my league, she would be considered my all-encompassing defeated subect.
Have you forgotten the British Empire, the biggest empire to date, therefore, everyone (including Rome) are inferior.
 
I feel so little of a connection to my CW ancestors that I've never bothered to research them. I spent a lot of time around my grandparents and heard a good bit about my great grandparents, enough to know that I had nothing in common with them, no common values. Too much racism and religious extremism to make me want to know more.

Have you forgotten the British Empire, the biggest empire to date, therefore, everyone (including Rome) are inferior.

Don't forget Yorktown, buddy. :wink: And the War of 1812.
 
I feel so little of a connection to my CW ancestors that I've never bothered to research them. I spent a lot of time around my grandparents and heard a good bit about my great grandparents, enough to know that I had nothing in common with them, no common values. Too much racism and religious extremism to make me want to know more

Yikes, there is something about those superficial holy and purported self-righteous types that makes you want to exhume Aleister Crowley and give him a big sloppy kiss. For the most part, I was spared that religious fanaticism and bible-thumping scenarios and indoctrination, but racism was different story. Plenty of racism to go around in the north. You best believe it.
 
racism was different story.

My super sweet, kind, spiritual, loving grandmother (mother's side) would throw out the N-word as casually as she would take a drink of water. She grew up in a culture where there was no other word for black people.

Seriously, the only things worth mentioning that came out of Britain are the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

I could list a lot of great rockers from the UK. Definitely can't leave out Queen.
 
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