Finder of Lost Roots

The Root of the Matter... During this time of being sequestered and isolated in our homes, I have been thinking a lot of Vince's maternal great-grandfather Maximo. Maximo was a young man who ran on the wrong side of the law in between 1908 to 1921 in Texas and was an infamous criminal in his area. Think about this, he was born in 1898 which means he started his criminal life at age 10. Maximo was in and out of prison and had numerous escape attempts along with numerous punish...ments including solitary confinement and receiving lashings. The punishments did not seem to deter him but rather make him more determined to escape prison. During his second to last escape attempt, Maximo gravely wounded the assistant warden, whom eventually died of his injuries. After three days, Maximo was recaptured and brought back to the prison. The very next day Maximo attempted another escape and was shot and killed by a prison guard. Maximo was not quite 23 years old. Despite the fact of having a wife and young child, Maximo could not stay out of trouble. Maybe it was a matter of trying to survive; however, I doubt that theory as I have records of 10 year old Maximo being in trouble. Maybe Maximo was just wild and had trouble conforming to the rules and law's of the day. We would never have known about Vince's infamous great grandfather if I had not researched his family history! Who is hidden in your family?

Happy Easter to all. Our prayers are that this Easter is full of joy, peace, and love.

The Root of the Matter....Did you know? A calendar isn’t as simple as you think! Leap Year - Nearly every four years, we add an extra day to the calendar in the form of February 29, known as Leap Day. The purpose of these additional 24 hours is to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the Sun. According to Stephen Wood of the History Channel, Many calendars, including the Hebrew, Chinese and Buddhist calendars, are lunisolar, meaning their dates indi...cate the position of the Moon as well as the position of Earth relative to the sun. Since there is a natural gap of roughly 11 days between a year as measured by lunar cycles and one measured by the Earth's orbit, such calendars periodically require the addition of extra months, known as intercalary or interstitial months, to keep them on track. Even something as regular and simple as a calendar can be more complicated than we think!

The Root of the Matter....Our Family Black History John Fremont Smith is my 3x great grandfather. Born in 1850 in the Danish West Indies (now the United States Virgin Islands), Smith was the Kamloops, BC Indian Agent from 1912 to 1923. He had arrived in Victoria in 1872, and between 1877 and 1911, his occupations were listed as boot and shoemaker, journalist, and Kamloops real estate agent. He was a pioneer in the true sense, leaving his mark on ranching, business, and mining in his adopted country. I would never have known about my remarkable 3x great grandfather if I had not researched my family history! Who is hidden in your family?

The Root of the Matter....Did you know? According to genealogist author S.C. Perkins, Going back eight generations, most people will have a whopping 256 ancestors. This is called an outbred family tree. Charles Habsburg, however, known as Charles II of Spain (16611700), was so inbred he had only 29 ancestors, and he suffered from great physical disabilities as a result.

The Root of the Matter...Did you know? The oldest DNA in America has been traced to a Montana man. Are you skeptical of DNA ancestral results? CRI Genetics has found the man’s generational DNA maternal line goes back 55 generations. According to CRI Genetics, Discovering someone whose family line can be traced back 55 generations is ‘like finding Bigfoot’. ... Read the article and see if it changes any thoughts you have on DNA testing. https://www.thevintagenews.com///23/oldest-dna-in-america/

The Root of the Matter...Did you know? According to AncestryBlog and Thought Co., We are all 99.9 percent alike. Of the 3 billion base pairs in the human genome, only 0.1% are unique to us. While that 0.1% is still what makes us unique, it means we’re all more similar than we are different. Image: Loriental Photography

The Root of the Matter...Did you know? According to Ancestry Blog, Your DNA could stretch from the earth to the sun and back ~ 600 times! If unwound and linked together, the strands of DNA in each of your cells would be 6 feet long. With 100 trillion cells in your body, that means if all your DNA were put end-to-end, it would stretch over 110 billion miles. That’s hundreds of round trips to the sun!

The Root of the Matter...Did you know? According to Genealogy Author SC Perkins, When taking a DNA test, you and your siblings can have differing amounts of certain ethnicities, even if you’re full siblings. This is because of genetic inheritance and its naturally random way of dishing out the gene percentages. So, if you and your brother are partly of Scandinavian heritage, you could be twenty percent Scandinavian while your brother could be forty-five percent (or vice versa).

The Root of the Matter...Did you know? According to Genealogy Author SC Perkins, Surnamesi.e., last namesdid not come into use until around the 11th Century in Europe. There are four general groups of surnames: those based on occupation (like Baker or Weaver), those based on place names or geographical features (such as Goodland or Hill), names coming from nicknames or appearance (like Brown or Little), and those that are patronymic, meaning based upon the father’s name (such as McAndrew, meaning son of Andrew or Perkins, which means son of Peter or kin).

On behalf of Finder of Lost Roots....Happy New Year! May this be your best year and best decade yet!

I would like to welcome everyone who has joined our page. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all. Our prayers are that this Christmas is full of joy, peace, and love. Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving! May today be filled with good food, and the blessing of family and friends!