Wow, 1540! That is quite an accomplishment.

It is not easy job to do to trace your genealogy for more then a couple of generations. I am fortunate to have cousin who spent couple of years tracing links in different cities and countries.

Now, I am proud to be able to trace back my family tree all the way back to 1611!

I have been working on my tree for almost a year, I have traced back back to the 1600 when they first came to America. I found a passengers list from the ship they arrived on from England. I have the tree completed except for just a couple of people on my mothers side. Not an easy feat when you think that with each generation you double the people you search for. Starting with your parents that is only two people to search, grandparents are four, great grandparents become eight and so on and so on. Sometimes I come across an individual that I find so interesting I start really digging into their story. One such person was a great great uncle who served in the Civil War and was a member of the Texas legislator. I found an article in a "Daughters of the Confederate Army" which told about a battle that he turned out to be a hero and told that he had a great his sense of humor. I also found a journal of meeting with the Texas Legislator the day after he married. At the end of the meeting they record a toast to his nuptials and recall about what a ladies man he was. I found both of these articles just by searching Google. It really is fascinating what you find on the internet about your family.

Yes, tracing one’s family tree is fascinating. Back when I was a kid, my mother started to trace her roots and managed to go back as far as 1709, when her German forbears first arrived in New York. A cousin of mine was able to trace back much farther, allegedly back to Henry II and John I of England, or about 1200 A.D. My father’s side, which I started researching back in the 90s, is pretty fascinating also, but for different reasons. We know his paternal grandparents came from Poland in about 1881, and that his Italian maternal grandfather probably arrived at Ellis Island in about 1901 or thereabouts. A friend of mine and I were able to trace that side of the family back to Naples circa 1840. His maternal grandmother’s side, which I haven’t even attempted to trace yet and probably won’t get to for quite a spell, probably goes back a little further given that this branch is predominantly Irish, but the records are pretty much a mess.--Johndy

Thanks all for sharing, I'd do a group award if allowed, but CocoBon's in line to get it for oldest link so far.

I am fortunate to have relatives on both sides of my parents' families who have an extensive study of our ancestry back several centuries. I know that on my dad's side, we have family connections with many famous and political figures who were involved in establishing the United States. I have not personally seen all of it, but I know the list goes back into the 1600s and many European connections. My younger brother managed to track down photographs of my dad's dad, his dad, his dad and then his dad and has assembled a single framed assembled portrait of all 7 generations together, including his own picture.

I have a cousin on my mother's side who has traveled back to countries with family connections to trace tombstones back to the 1600s, and even found that my mother has connections with past royalty from Ireland. You never would have guessed, since her immediate family connections were relatively poor. I don't know the actual years they have traced back to, but I have heard 16 -- something mentioned on both sides.

I have to mention a time I was with a group of friends who regularly gathered for Saturday night card games. One night, we got on the topic of ancestors and we talked back and forth about many noted connections. One of our regular crowd was an extremely large woman, who sat on two chairs for comfort. During this conversation, she took the cake when she blurted out "I can trace my family all the way back to Wales." Of course, we all immediately thought "whales" and it broke up the night with a lot of laughs.

I hardly even did a trace back in my family tree. I should though because that would be interesting but my family is rather small and everyone is all distant so it'd be hard to get information. I'd have to rely on the internet however most of my family relatives are in Vietnam so that won't help because they don't have social security numbers..