- February 24, 2025
I now know genealogy is a lot more than just googling your last name.
Have you ever sat back, and wondered who you were related to?
I never have, unless it was about my possible links to Beyonce or hoping that I never accidentally kiss a second-cousin. But there’s quite a crowd of Ormond Beachers that spend YEARS solving the mystery of their own family history (If I could rhyme my entire column, I would).
I spent part of my Thursday afternoon in the Ormond Beach Library, sitting in the dark with about 50 other people watching a PowerPoint presentation about using DNA tests to help find your ancestors. The whole atmosphere vaguely reminded me of my time in high school, except I wasn’t pinching myself to stay awake during the lecture. Up until this point, I thought genealogy was done through google searches and consistently bugging older relatives to tell you stuff. But now you can use your own DNA to track down the rest of the family tree. For me, this turned the whole process from a library-based project to some sort of Indiana Jones-related adventure. Maybe the DNA unlocks some sort of family secret that Russian spies have been hiding for centuries!
Not likely.
According to the speaker, Diahan Southard, DNA alone will not get you far in your research. It’s expensive, and it might tell you nothing at all. Not to mention, getting results can take forever, and decoding the crazy numbers that are on them can take even longer. Ormond Beach couple Kathy and Clyde Stickney have been researching their own history for 20 years. Don’t worry guys, it was well worth it.
“His ancestors go back to pirates,” Kathy said.
“In the Caribbean,” Clyde said. “Around 1720. They were pirates, but they became respectable citizens, and the rest is history.”
No no Clyde, the rest is not history. Being related to actual treasure-hunting, eye-patch wearing (exaggerating maybe) pirates means there has to be some of that still somewhere in your soul! Haven’t you ever had the urge to commandeer a ship right out of the Halifax River?!
“There’s a tad bit still in him,” his wife assured me.
The Stickney’s inspired me to discover my own family history. I mean, if they’re related to pirates maybe there’s some hope of a former president or ancient ruler in my past? What I’ve learned from the genealogy pioneers is that the sky is really the limit.
I started off by asking my dear parents what they knew. My mother, who is always in a hurry to leave even though I have no idea where she goes, shouted something about Michigan, followed by “Maybe we’re french” and ended with “Ask your father, I don’t have time for this.”
My dad, who’s brain is equivalent to an encyclopedia of things I generally don’t understand, was a little more helpful. My dad’s history pretty much stays in Tennessee for a few generations. Before that, he thinks the Blackwoods migrated over from England. His moms’ ancestors, maiden name Massen, are a mix of French and Cherokee. Could this explain my lifelong desire to wear moccasins?
But like always, I trusted the internet to give me what I really wanted. I signed up for a free trail on Ancenstry.com and got to work. That reminds me, could someone give me a heads to delete my account before 14 days so I don’t get billed? Thanks guys!
Through it, I found my dad’s birth certificate, which is helpful because I can never remember how old he is, and my grandparents’ marriage certificate, which was just cool. I think my generation tends to consider genealogy irrelevant because at first glance it isn’t directly related to us (which if it isn’t about us, why do we care?). But ancestry is important because it can have an impact on who you are. I like that my background includes a line of women who know how to make it on their own and from a line of men who know the value of hard work. Knowing that those qualities live within me makes me strive to be a better person.
Plus, it makes it a lot harder to sit on the couch all day.
