Who do you think you are?

NBC has been promoting a new show that will air following their Olympic coverage called, "Who Do You Think You Are?"  The premise of the show is a genealogist discloses to famous celebrities their family history and introduces them to their families.  The show is produced in conjunction with Ancestry.com...a web page I'm very familiar with!

I LOVE genealogy and the study of the past.  I can't remember when I became intrigued by my family history...perhaps when I heard my grandparents talking about their parents, siblings, neighbors, and "goings on" in the community.  No matter, I've probably spent somewhere near 40 years investigating my family!  I do recall asking my grandparents what it was like when they were kids.  What games did they play?  What were their chores?  They were wonderful people and very patient to answer all the questions of a nosey 10 year old.

I've discovered some very interesting people in my past and in my husband's past.  This picture is of my great grandparents and their children.  My grandfather is the tall  young man in the upper right hand corner.  Oldest child of William Harrison Chenoweth and Dollie Swise Chenoweth, Elzie Chenoweth went on to marry Vera Viola France and become my grandparents!

The funny thing about finding family pictures is I see in the faces of my ancestors, the faces of present family members.  My grandfather and my dad (Dean Chenoweth) and my cousin Derek Litchfield all look very similar.  The curly-haired young lady on the far left is Bertha Permelia Chenoweth, but my grandmother often remarked how my sister, Cathy Chenoweth Onion's hair looked just like Aunt Bertha's.

My husband's great-great grandfather, Johann Marold and my husband look surprisingly similar in the face.  Are we just the same faces used over and over?

We've had family members who have plotted Louisville, Kentucky; settled the middle of Kansas; gave their land up for an Army base; went west for the Gold Rush and disappeared; fought indians on the plains. Family who came to America on a boat to thrive or flee abuse or find a new life as a gardener. I'm  sure we had our fair share of horse thieves, robbers or lawmen.  Heck, we even had a World Champion Bronc Rider!

This is what makes family history - genealogy so much fun.  We ARE  a product of our family and their lives.  Why not discover the story of your family?  Start with what you know.  Ask living family members the names of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and start putting together your tree.  Venture onto Ancestry.com and you can get a lot of help from others who connect to your family.  Nothing is as exciting as discovering someone who is your family member..someone you never knew about.