Hi, In reference to comments I wrote on my Web site, Barbara <toomanycrafts@verizon.net> wrote: > Thank you for the information, and for your web > site, again it was very > interesting. I read the article and towards the > end I read " I've never > understood why anyone cares whether their > ancestors were noble; so I'm not > going to criticize you." I thought about that > for a few seconds but did a > quick search for my family name, then I thought, > I never thought about this > before so why think of it now , so I quit. I > don't need a crest or coat of > arms to tell me about my family, I'm proud of > them, and proud to be > Polish. I have birth and marriage records back > to 1760 from their tiny > village, their deaths records here in the US and > tons of information in > between. They were poor farmers, coal miners > and railroad > workers.................if there could be a coat > of arms for my family it > would state "adventurous, loving, brave, and > sacrificing", and believing > that, that's good enough for me. I agree whole-heartedly! Of course, there's usually more than one side to any issue, and I probably should add to my notes. As I said, I don't quite grasp why anyone would be obsessed with proving how noble his ancestors were; I've always thought we should concentrate on doing something noble ourselves, rather than live on past glories. HOWEVER, for a genealogist, it's good news if you can link your family tree to nobles. That's because records on nobles tend to be more extensive, and tend to go back farther, than those for peasants. There are exceptions, of course; but this is often true. So strictly from a practical research standpoint, there's reason to rejoice if you find your ancestors were noble. It may mean greater success in your efforts to trace your family history. When you look at it from that point of view, it changes things a little. If your ancestors were noble, be proud of them. If your ancestors weren't noble, be proud of them anyway. And either way, give THEM reason to be proud of YOU.... Fred Hoffman

Certainly true! And those that had a bit of a "shadey past", are very interesting to learn about! Probably it wasn't so pleasant for them, but it is all part of their story and the human condition. Cecelia > > I agree whole-heartedly! > > Of course, there's usually more than one side to > any issue, and I probably should add to my notes. > As I said, I don't quite grasp why anyone would be > obsessed with proving how noble his ancestors > were; I've always thought we should concentrate on > doing something noble ourselves, rather than live > on past glories. > > HOWEVER, for a genealogist, it's good news if you > can link your family tree to nobles. That's > because records on nobles tend to be more > extensive, and tend to go back farther, than those > for peasants. There are exceptions, of course; but > this is often true. So strictly from a practical > research standpoint, there's reason to rejoice if > you find your ancestors were noble. It may mean > greater success in your efforts to trace your > family history. When you look at it from that > point of view, it changes things a little. > > If your ancestors were noble, be proud of them. If > your ancestors weren't noble, be proud of them > anyway. And either way, give THEM reason to be > proud of YOU.... > > Fred Hoffman