Who Do You Think You Are? (season 2)

#1

Who Do You Think You Are? (season 2)

Posted: 2/11/11 at 2:55am

Thought I'd start this thread since the second season just started last week. Anyone watching? I love this show!! It makes me realize how little I know of my own ancestry, though I've made a commitment to slowly starting to put some pieces together.

In addition to discussing the show, feel free to safely share what you feel comfortable sharing about your own stories.

Updated On: 2/18/11 at 02:55 AM

#2

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 8:31am

The first thing that came to mind was Mr. Big Stuff. But that's not right.

I'd love to know more about my ancestry. I know I'm mostly German and Irish with a splash of Native American in there somewhere on my mother's side.

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Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be enbered with your old nonsense. ~ Emerson

#3

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 8:36am

I've traced my French Canadian side to 17th century Canada and 15th century France; my English side to the 14th century and my Irish side to the mid 1700's. Some of the Irish naughty boys (a few priests) ended up in Australian prisons, so I'm working on that now.

#4

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:03am

I totally forgot about this last week. Who did they feature?

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Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

#5

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:05am

My great-uncle is working on my dad's side of the family and has consistently hit a wall when he gets into early 1800s Erie County New York. He can only find censuses with our relatives names and censuses back then were much more different and vague. I have no idea where my dad's side come from or how we got here. Possibly German with our last name likely anglicized but it is possible the family took a detour into Canada for who knows how long. I would definitely want to know more. My mother's side is way easier since it is mostly German with some Scots-Irish involved from my mother's father's side.

#6

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:08am

I've traced mine back to the 1800s. So many interesting things. I have Irish, German, British and Cherokee heritage.

It's so interesting when you find out things about your ancestors. I was tracing one of the men that came from Germany. He lived in NYC after the Civil War. The census shows that he lived in one boarding house in 1870. Then in 1880, he was living in another one down the street and by 1890 he was living in a third on the same street. He either got tired of the landlady's cooking or the rent was cheaper down the street.

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If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

#7

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:08am

Dottie - Vannessa Williams. It was very moving.

#8

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 9:23am

Thanks, Q. Just checked my on demand and it's there, so I'm going to watch it.

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Hey Dottie! Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany

Updated On: 2/11/11 at 09:23 AM

#9

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 10:45am

Is tonight Tim McGraw?

I had a great-aunt in Norway (on my father's side) who traced the family history back to the 1400's. She compiled everything into a book, which my dad has somewhere. Sadly, most of the book is in "old" Norwegian, but there is a small English translation.

#10

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 11:04am

kec - yes, tonight is Tim.

#11

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 11:10am

They also put the aired episodes online fairly quickly!

I'm so fascinated that some of you are able to trace so far back. I only recently found out the name of the ship my dads family sailed from Poland to Israel on. I know my mom was born in a deportation camp in Cyprus after WWII and then they eventually were sent to Israel as well, but still a lot of mystery behind my grand parents and great grand parents. Some just wasn't talked about, and most I probably haven't been too good at asking about.

Vaness Williams

Updated On: 2/11/11 at 11:10 AM

#12

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 1:00pm

I have some ancestors who were German, Dutch and Jewish. I love this TV series, it's an interesting insight to what the celebrities' ancestors are. I saw the Matthew Broderick one, but didn't see the others, so maybe I might watch tonight's episode.

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"I never think of the classic musicals as old-fashioned; I think of them as timeless."--Kate Baldwin

#13

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 2:58pm

The first mention of my (offline) surname is in the c14th in a place 25 miles from where I live now.

So I always find it amazing to hear stories of people whose families have "traveled so far and journeyed for so long" to quote Ragtime. I'd love to read about how some of your families came to be in the US; after all, amazing stories aren't limited to the celebrities in Who Do You Think You Are.

#14

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/11/11 at 8:13pm

Two of my ancestors were married to King Henry VIII...Catherine Howard and Anne Boelyn! That's my mom's side of the family, which is full of very interesting characters!

And my father's side were some drunks from Germany.

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"This show had the WORST magnets on Broadway!"

#15

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 1:35am

I have some dictator in me.

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"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

#16

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 1:04pm

For those, like myself, who missed it last night...


Tim McGraw

#17

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 7:47pm

danmag, I knew you came from a colorful lot! And Diva........enough about your sex life!!!! lol

#18

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 8:11pm

No, really.

My great Uncle was Fulgecio Batista.

Which explains why I can be a total bitch.

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"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

#19

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 8:40pm

C'mon.......don't try to blame the family tree! Hahahaha Own it baby!!!!!

#20

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 9:05pm

:P

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"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

#21

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 9:15pm

I'm related to Edvard Grieg. I guess that's why I like pianistses.

#22

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 11:06pm

A great grandfather of mine (now sure how many "greats" ) was John Witherspoon. Ergo, Reese and I are cousins. Distant cousins. I still don't see why she hasn't invited me over for the weekend, but whatever.

My great grandfather, my name sake, immigrated from Sicily back in the teens and had a cobbler shop in Camden, ME. I actually got the visit the shop a couple years ago while I was up there with my folks. It's a toy shop now. I know there are several cousins of my grandparents still in Italy. My moms folks were from Quebec, and we don't have much lineage there.

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"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert

#23

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/12/11 at 11:58pm

I thought the Vanessa Williams episode was fascinating. Tim McGraw, not so much.

There was a similar show on PBS and Meryl Streep found out her ancestors were responsible for leading 1 of the biggest Native American massacres in history. She was very upset.

Can't wait to see Kim Catrall discover her relative was a bigamist.

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"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"

#24

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/13/11 at 1:29am

We can't be blamed for what our realtives did.

Hitler's family doesn't brag about him, and I don't brag about being realated to a dictator, but, sometime stuff happens...

I can be bothered by what they did, but I can't change history.

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"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

#25

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted: 2/18/11 at 12:44pm

Rosie is on tonight!