Still Struggling

Thank you for the suggestion. It has helped me a little with narrowing down my searches on ancestry.com. I am definitely going to have to tap into the information my cousins have and hopefully she will be able to give me a lead.

I did find out that my ancestors were Slavic and metal workers. My ancestors may have lived in central or south Asia, and migrated further as time progressed. Around 20,000 years ago, during the final Ice Age, sheets of ice extended to cover the maximum amount of earth they would ever occupy. A combination of nomadic lifestyle and retreat of the ice shelf would have allowed the R1a1 haplogroup to proliferate on the Eurasian Steppes, the stretch of land between present day Hungary and Mongolia. Today the R1a1 haplogroup can be found in high frequencies among groups living in the Ukraine, Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Haplogroup R1a1 is also found at rates of 50% in Ashkenazi Jewish populations, who ultimately settled in the Rhineland, now Germany, and have a deep and detailed contemporary history.

The Metal Workers may have been part of the Kurgan population who migrated during the Copper Age, when metal tools first evolved. The Kurgan people lived in northern Europe and are considered by some population geneticists to be the single ancestral pool from which all Indo-Europeans descended. The earliest sites associated with the Kurgan people are found in the Ukraine and in southern Russia and are known for their distinct burial mounds, which reveal much about the progress of the culture. The Kurgans kept cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Horses probably played a significant role in Kurgan life and may have been key players in the dispersion of haplogroup R1a. Wheeled wagons have been found at sites associated with the Kurgan people and were probably driven by oxen or horses. The Krugan Metal Workers most likely cultivated the flat grasslands near wooded areas and used hammer-hoes fashioned from elk antlers for this task. Copper knives and daggers have also been found in the Kurgan settlements, as witness to the time period.

A relatively recent migration of Slavic peoples occurred in the Early Middle Ages, around the 5th century AD. These migrations could have been prompted by a Hun invasion or as a response to population growth. How much this event, the Kurgan migratory settlements and the retreat of the ice shelf contributed to the movement of the R1a haplogroup is not known. It is possible that a blend of all three events led to the haplogroup dispersal and growth among present-day populations.

(Information above is provided by Ancestry.com thanks to a DNA test that I had my father do.)

Pulling My Hair Out!!!

Totally and completely fustrated! Without the correct spelling of either great grandparent's last name I have not been able to find any more information. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I could look? Or how to find information on people from another country? Any suggestions would be wonderful.

Who Knew?

The house I live in, I have lived in for about 8 years now, it belonged to my great-grandmother Agnes. All this time I did not know that I had a picture of her hanging on my wall. This is her, the picture was taken Sept 12, 1937. I am guessing she is about 50 in this picture if not older. I am still trying to find out where she came from, it is believed that she was from Poland, and I do not know how long she lived or how many kids she had. Wish me luck in my search.

Misspelt or Not?

I started searching for my family on Ancestory.com. I found my grandmother's mother and father, Agnes and Michael. I am not sure of the spelling of their last name though. It is either Makosiey or Makosiej. I found my grandmother's obituary and the spelling of her last name was Makosiej. The spelling on Ancestory.com is Makosiey. It could be both spellings. When my great-grandparent's came over they were probably misunderstood when they said their last name. In some countries, the j sounds like y. I am hoping to find the correct spelling soon. If anyone has any suggestions on where else I should look that would be great. I am also in the process of getting both of my grandparent's birth certificates, hoping that will shed some light on everything.

Grandfather Kristoff

This is my Grampy K. He died in 1985, I was only 3 at the time. Unfortunately for me I do not remember him at all. I do have pictures of us together, but that is all. I wish I had more time with him like I did with my Grampy M. What I have heard about him was that he was a difficult man to live with and towards the end he had developed Alzheimer's Disease.

R.I.P Grampy K

Grandmother Kristoff

This is a picture of the world's greatest grandmother. My Grammy K as I used to call her. She was my favorite mainly because she lived five minutes from me and I could just walk up to visit. No matter what I wanted to do she would play with me, she always made time for me. My brother and I used to make leaf tacos for her will all different types of grasses that she had in the yard. Each one would be a different ingredient. She was taken away from me way too early, and I miss her terribly.

R.I.P. Katherine Kristoff Feb 1994 (kisses to the sky)