Ancestry Obsession

I think it's official; I'm obsessed with this ancestry search I've started. I don't have enough time to move fast enough to do everything I want to do with this, either. I am finding out so many things I never imagined every day...and some that I could guess. Like the Kirkbride side of my family came mostly from England. BUT, I found out that, if my sources are right, we came from Kirkbride, England itself. I didn't entirely know there was such a place. I have a vague memory of someone elder telling me that once, but it slipped my mind.

I now know (again, if my sources are right...) that Joseph Kirkbride was born July 29, 1662 in Kirkbride, England. At some point he got on a ship and later died Jan 1, 1737 in Lower Makefield, Pennsylvania. As far as I can tell so far, with little research, Kirkbride is a very small town. I mean small, small town, or really probably "area" I don't know if it's a "town". It's just west of Carlisle, close to a bay that opens into the Irish Sea. I will try to investiage it further, and if I can, find a history and photos/drawings.

This map comes from a good site with the different counties of England, check it out for more detail! We're from Cumbria County.

A few generations further back were born in "Hesket-in-the-Forest" England. It seems to be a general area of lots of towns, in the same location.

The point behind all of this: there is SO much to explore. All the different places my family comes from, places I've never heard of.

I'll have to share with you our other new discovery: we come from Portugal. Not just Portugal, but Madeira, which turns out to be an island in the Atlantic. It looks like it's closer to Africa than Portugal. The Portuguese in me is by way of my father's side. His great grandmother's name is Medaris. As I went back, the last two generations to immigrate had culturally reflective names: Charles Carlos Sr. (B. 1635) and Domingo. Domingo means Sunday in Spanish. Portuguese isn't quite Spanish, but they're similar.

It's the island so small it almost disappears behind the marker...there are maybe two dozen large roads that I see marked on the map.

It looks beautiful, yet awfully rugged for people to survive there in the late 1500s and before.

Check out this blog for some amazing photos of the island.

Between trying to find the oldest ancestors, those who made the dangerous trek across the ocean, to investigating where they came from, to the activities closer to home, there is SO much I want to do. I'm also working on visiting and photographing all the graves that I can. Many of them are here in Ohio, a lot of them are actually close together in the same counties, too.

I'll share more as I learn more and as I get the time.

Happy 4th of July everyone!! I'm remembering my ancestors who fought for our independence. I have a fascinating one named George La Bar, he lived to be 112.