WoodElves

Geneology is a topic that has always interested me.

Maybe it's because I've always liked history, and maybe it's because since before I was born, my family has had a pretty comprehensive knowledge of our family tree back to the 1500s in some areas. Both of my parents' sides have been in America for several centuries, my dad's side since the early 1600s. Both sides have been traced back to their roots in "old country" - England mostly, but all of the British Isles. I've known about relatives that came to America during the Revolutionary War and others that came on the Mayflower. I'll admit that I didn't always enjoy traipsing through cemetaries with my parents on family vacations, but I like knowing where I came from and the people who got me where I am today.

So when I got married, I was interested in learning what my childrens' geneology would be on their dad's side. The problem is, that David really didn't know. He didn't know what nationalities he came from or anything. He didn't know his great-grandparents' names. So, I asked his grandma. "Well, I guess we're all from Virginia," she said. I thought that was funny because Virginians had to have come from somewhere to begin with, but that was the best answer I had.

Now that we do have a little Wood on the way, I got back into trying to find out more. Well, it only takes a couple of hours on the internet to dig up the correct Wood pedigree. (Way easier than requesting old court records, yes?) I was amazed by what I found. First of all, his grandma was right. We traced his family - ALL branches - back to Virginia as early as the early 1600s. They pretty much HAVE been in Virginia forever, all of them. Before that, they were mostly from England.

So, in the marriage of David Wood to myself, we have merged two of the oldest families in America. Our children will have a very consistent geneology - both sides came from Britain to America in the very early stages of the country.

I still hope to find out more and be able to trace some branches that we don't have very much information on yet. Mostly, I wish I could find out stories about these people instead of just being names and dates. I'll enjoy telling my children the stories I do know, about their great-grandpa who parachuted into Germany in WWII and another great-grandpa who served in the Korean War, among others. They definitely have a strong family tree to be proud of.