telophase: (Default)
telophase ([personal profile] telophase) wrote2007-03-14 08:40 pm
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Genealogy

Short update on my previous (friendslocked away from prying librarian eyes!) genealogy post. I managed to figure out my paternal line going back to the first Folse/Foltz to come to Louisiana even with the mess in the middle of the 19th century, by dint of going back to the first one and working my way forward. I think I've got it now (and if I ever find that piece of paper with the family history genealogy on it, I can cross-check :D).

Me, born DEAR GOD I AM IN DENIAL AND NOT TELLING YOU ->
Leon Joseph Folse, Jr., b. 1942 ->
Leon Joseph Folse, Sr., b. 1921 ->
Theodore Folse, b. ca. 1880 ->
Joseph Folse, b. ca. 1840 ->
Jean Norbert Folse, b. 1812 ->
Antoine Folse, b. ca. 1755-60 ->
Jean Baptiste Folse, b. 1729 ->
Johann Jacob Foltz, b. ca. 1697 in Ramstein, Germany

Johann Jacob is possibly the son of ->
Johann Adam Foltz, who is possibly the son of ->
Philipp Volz, who is the son of ->
Petter (Peter) Voltz, b. ca. 1610

I downloaded a free genealogy program and will at some point put all the info I know into it to make pretty charts with things like the names of the women in the family. :) I think I should be able to track down some already-completed genealogy files that will import into it for the first half of the lineage.

The confusion over Norbert I mentioned earlier was caused because Antoine was extremely prolific, and had 18 kids with 2 wives. Jean Norbert was a child of his second wife and presumably went by "Norbert" instead of "Jean," since that was what was listed in the 1850 census. Joseph, Jean Norbert's son, had his name misspelled as "Josep" in the 1880 census, which led to confusion for a while until I figured that out. :)

Anyway, all of this interest was sparked by an article I ran across earlier about DNA testing linking people who didn't know they were cousins together, and I found the company they used, FamilyTreeDNA. I've always been interested in the DNA testing that can tell you the various places your ancestors came from, but which used to be at least $5-600, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that you can get it done now for closer to $150-200. Mind you, I can't trace my Folse lineage that way, since that's through the male line and uses a test that focuses on Y DNA, which I, obviously, don't have, but I can test my maternal line. The cheapest one is $129, and that's damn tempting...

[identity profile] rayechu.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
Cool. I wish I knew something of my family's history but I don't. My mom found out as a senior in high school the man she believed to be her father was not and last year found she had a younger sibling that was given up for adoption years ago. I might have better luck on my father's side, but I think my great grandparents actually came to America from wherever. I think it is cool that you could find out so much about your family history :)

[identity profile] bluesira.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
((Darn. This would've been first comment if my internet hadn't died in the middle of me typing my reply... Not that it matters much. ^.^ ))


I find this interesting, since I live in Louisiana. And for a while, we assumed that my mother's line was at least partly German, since we look it. But in the end, that's not the case. Her line is purely British.
And I guess my point is sort of moot, since I'm not even from Louisiana. My paternal line traces back to Scotland, and my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower and settled in Pennsylvania.
So even though I've lived in Louisiana all my life, none of my family are from here. Maybe that explains why I don't feel much of a connection to this place.
Or maybe that's because it's full of backwater ignorant right-winged racists... (You know it's bad when someone from here is saying it.)
Still, despite that, you should come visit sometime. Louisiana is great for visiting. Especially if you're up for a good drink, good food, or a good ghost story.

[identity profile] rayechu.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Lol sorry 'bout posting early. I have seen a lot of the "first" posts, but when there are first posts there are also "BOOBIES!!" posts.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Hee. :D It helps that it's an unusual surname closely associated with a specific part of the country, and that there's a lot of people with that surname who've done a lot of research already.

The last time I did this, 4 or 5 years ago, I got tangled up in the Norberts and couldn't figure out who was who, but now there's enough info online that I can.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
My maternal line is Scottish/English, as far as I know. My mom's maiden name is Freasier (Fraser waaaaay back in Scotland, apparently), her mom's maiden name was Walker, and my grandfather's mother's maiden name was Marshall, as I found out after talking on the phone with Mom tonight.

The Folses are all German and French and probably part alligator, too.

[identity profile] cschells.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
That's really cool. My husband's paternal side of the family is all (well, mostly) figured out and documented, and they have it printed out on a big fan-shaped chart on the wall (going back, I dunno, maybe 14 generations? More?). It's really impressive, but then you realize that that's only a quarter (wait, actually, a sixteenth?) of the information that's of interest to me or my kids, and we have pretty much diddly for my family... What a monumental project!

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Impressive! :) Mom and I spent some time hunting her grandparents and great-grandparents in census records tonight, but didn't come up with much. XD She's trying to remember her great-grandparents' names, but either they didn't get tallied or she's misremembering.

[identity profile] tirwen.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
I work with someone whose last name is Foltz... small world. You should be able to import some PAF files from familysearch.org into your program. I did a quick check, so I know they have some :)

As for DNA testing, there's a link you might find interesting -

http://www.smgf.org/pages/dna_links.jspx

If you're willing to add your genealogy (and DNA) to SMGF's database, you get a discount coupon - All SMGF participants will be able to redeem their one-time coupon for either:

A discounted 26-marker Y-chromosome Paternal Line Analysis for $95 USD OR
A discounted mtDNA Maternal Line Analysis for $95 USD

You'll have to excuse me - I'm a major genealogy buff...

[identity profile] riofriotex.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Out of curiosity, which free genealogy software did you download? PAF? (Personal Ancestral File, from the Mormon church via familysearch.org)

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 01:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Yup. It was the first one I found. :)

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee! Back when I was in karate, one of the girls there had a grandmother from Louisiana whose maiden name was Folse. I told her we were related, but without research there was no telling to what degree, since it could have diverged back in the early 1700s for all we knew. :D

That's an interesting link - I'll check it out, thanks! XD

[identity profile] riofriotex.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I've been using it for years (20 maybe?), back to when you had to pay for it, and have been very happy with it.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2007-03-15 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Cool. :D I used to have some other free program, but it was quite some time ago and I don't remember much about it other than it seemed to expect you to actually know the names and details of everyone in your lineage because you had to click through a jillion screens when you didn't.

[identity profile] bluesira.livejournal.com 2007-03-16 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
*laughs*

If that's the case, you and I may be related, somewhere way way back. (Of course, everyone on this Earth is probably related, or at least there are 5 or 6 lines, but I mean more specifically than that.)

My father's family name (the Scottish side) is Boyd, and it descends directly from the Boyd clan of Scotland, which married into the Stewart clan, of Robert the Bruce and [i]Braveheart[/i] fame. Through marriage, I'm connected to the Scottish royal line. So if a couple hundred people died, I could be the Queen of Scotland. ^_^
Your Fraser clan includes a supporter of William Wallace, so we have that connection at least, even if it's a bit convoluted.

My paternal grandmother's maiden name is Harris, and it's English/Welsh.

My mother's maiden name is Warren, which is English, and that's the one which is most likely connected to the Warrens that came over on the Mayflower and settled in Massachusetts.

And then my maternal grandmother's maiden name is Johnson, so that means I'm related to pretty much everybody. ^_^


...Ugh. The more I tried to figure out my family history, the more confusing it got. And yet, the more I found myself wanting to know... I think I'll e-mail my grandfather and see what information he has to offer, because now you've sparked my curiosity...

[identity profile] bluesira.livejournal.com 2007-03-16 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
Eh? Are you referring to the fact that some people take pride in getting the first post, and then have nothing significant to say?
And don't worry about it. I don't mind terribly. I was just a little suprised that I would have been the first to respond, since I know Stephanie has a highly-read and -replied to LJ.

[identity profile] bluesira.livejournal.com 2007-03-16 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
It must be difficult that the line is old. Even the Frazer clan of Scotland traces back to another family that was in France first.

[identity profile] rayechu.livejournal.com 2007-03-16 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Nono, I don't mind the "first" posts at all, as I think they are pretty funny. It is just one the places I see the "first" posts, VGCats, Penny Arcade, etc there are also random "BOOBIES" posts.