Like I've said a trillion times before -- I like to consider myself an old soul. Frank, Dean, Louis, Sammy, Ella, Etta, Rat Pack LOVER - and HATER of touch screens, things that start with a lower case "i", and anything else that gets in the way of normal, human interaction (like this blog?? Talk about hypocrite).
Which is why it came as no surprise that after five minutes of starting my free trial on ancestry.com - I WAS HOOKED.
Like holding my pee, going without eating, sleeping, working, or communicating with my husband OBSESSED.
In a matter of seconds, I was on the phone - texting - messaging anyone and everyone in our family to ask names of great, great grandmas or grandpas so I could dig further and further.
By the 11th time of calling my Mom and Dad within 15 minutes - I could tell they were a little annoyed. Well, so be it.
I was originally interested in the free trial on ancestry to find out more about my dad's sides of the family. As a child, when I asked my dad what nationality we were, I would get a solid, confident: "AMERICAN!" in response. Ai yi yi.
Now, I knew my Mom's family came from Norway and Germany. So - naturally - the first thing I did was "confirm" that.
Tree # 1:
Jaclyn Tracy Smith Fennel
Pamela Sue Simonsen Smith
Dorothy Luther Simonsen and Kenneth Simonsen
Merrill Arnette and Clarence Luther and Minnie Mortensen and August Simonsen
Hattie Tetwiler and Frank Arnette and Laura Mickey and Fred Lutter and
Parents Unknown for Minnie Mortensen and August Simonsen
Fred Lutter (1864) came from Germany and married Laura Mickey. Minnie Mortensen and August Simonsen came with their parents TOGETHER from Norway in 1901.
I think its pretty awesome that I have a Minnie and Mickey (maiden name) on my mom's side. How adorbs!
Now - my Dad's tree took a little more work. Both set of my dad's grandparents passed away when he was a young age. After a lot of guessing and messaging my aunt on Facebook -- I finally found at least ONE country of origin for the Smiths
Prior to doing this - my Dad didn't even know his grandparents names. It brought me nothing but pure joy to tell him a little about his past.
Tree #2:
Jaclyn Tracy Smith Fennel
Samuel Hugh Smith
Flora Britt and James Bernard Smith
Cora Emma Petteys and William Hugh Britt and Clifford Louise and Samuel Taylor Smith
Spoiler Alert: There are A LOT of Smiths and I would have been guessing throughout all the rest. I did - however - follow my Grandma's line back to 1565 to NONE other than Northamptonshire, England. We are totally American.
After posting this on Facebook and tagging my Uncle and Aunts: I learned that we're also Scottish, Irish, German, and part Cherokee Indian. Total mutts.
Anywho - it was great to share the findings with my Mom and Dad and I found a complete new love. Genealogy.
Matt says that I should be a genealogist "when I grow up" -- LOVE it.
My next idea was to follow the "Fennel" line as far back as I could. This was fun. I got to teach Matt a LOT about his ancestors and will now have the records for our little Fennel (once he comes along).
For sake of time and knowledge - I am going to just share the Fennel men, location, dates of birth, and wives.
(PS: After digging for about two days -- I messaged Matt's Aunt Tina who also had an account on ancestry.com and our info matched! YOWZA!!)
(PSS: The older the historical records get -- the less info we have. Also previous to arriving in the US -- records are very scarce).
Keep an eye out for how the spelling of our last name evolves through the centuries. And wowza -- there were A LOT of Edwards.
Tree #3: The FENNEL line.
Matthew Thomas Fennel, Rockford, IL - Born 1983 - Jaclyn Tracy Smith Fennel
Thomas Bert Fennel, Denver, CO - Born 1959 - Lori Jean Holtz Fennel
Bert John Fennel, Prairie Du Chien, WI - Born 1934 - Marita May Otto Fennel
Clarance William Fennel, Prairie Du Chien, WI - Born 1910 - Virginia Cornford Fennel
Bertie George Fennell, Bloomington, WI - Born 1871 - Lela J Sawyer Fennell
George William Fennell, Poultney, VT - Born 1823 - Lynda Mira Cilley Fennell
Almon Fennel, Poultney, VT - Born 1793 - Lucy Cilley Fennel
Edward Finel, Granville, MA - Born 1748 - Anna Morgan
Edward Finel, Holy Trinity, Middlesex, England - Born 1724 - Sarah Green
Edward Final, Saint Michael, Barbados, Caribbean (??) - Born 1701 - Elizabeth Final
Edwd. Fennell - ? - Sarah
(Do you see that TOM?? -- Take us back to the Caribbean!!)
Now, the cool thing about this is that MATT is the LAST chance to carry on the Fennel name and OUR SON is going to be the 10th generation in the United States of America :)
A couple other cool things -
It is known fact that Edward Finel (Born in 1748) was a Sergeant Major in the Revolutionary War and had a big part in making Vermont a state.
Anna Morgan -- wife of Edward Finel (1748) has family ties to J.P. Morgan. $$$$
The house that Clarence and Virginia lived in (in Prairie Du Chien) is still in the family and is visited often by the Fennel men. I'll be visiting sometime this summer.
I always thought that Fennel was a FRENCH surname, and while there are PLENTY of historical records for Finel, Fennell, Fennel in France - specifically in Bourgogne, France (Burgandy -- where they get THE WINE) there are no traces for our family line -- as far back as I can go.
Found from HouseofNames.com
Click here to see the cool family crest. - It's copyrighted so I can't save it. :(
"The Finel surname derives from the Old French word "fin" which could mean "fine", "delicate", "skilled" or even "cunning" ; and as such could have been a nickname for a delicate, sensitive, elegant, or clever man."
"First found in Burgandy, an administrative and historical region of East-central France, where the family has held a family seat since ancient times."
I will still continue to pronounce my name as the ever - so - formal "Jacque-u-leen Fin-EL".
I am totally French.
Strangely enough -- I found nothing about the herb, Fennel. Perfectly fine with me, I don't like the black liquorice taste anyways. I much prefer red wine.
Enough history for today ---
Today I received a text from my beloved friend - Ryann - saying "What's up with the white cat?"
Well - Lately we've had a friendly, little cat moseying around our back yard. Crazy Cat Lady Jaclyn and Crazy Cat Man Matt finally gave in after awhile and started to feed her. She comes around every morning for food around 5:30 AM. #suckers
Matt is convinced she will be living in our house by November. There is no way I'll allow her to live outside during the long, cold Winter. She won't let me come near her, yet. So - for now - I stalk her like a creep.
We've also named him/her -- Matt calls him Frosty. I call her Snowflake. We're so weird.
That's it for now. Happy Friday.
Off to go drink some Burgandy wine -- cause it totally comes from our family.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
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