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Take me right? I have ancestors I know nothing about. I was doing some research just now on Ancestry. Apparently I have Swedish records going back to the mid 1500s. Only problem is, I know nothing about these people. Why is it that we know nothing about those before us?

I've taken to archiving everything I can. I have some knowledge up to a few of my third great-grandparents. Anything prior I don't know. If you can, I'd recommend doing the same. Be warned though, it is time consuming. You also may dig up stuff about people and or yourself you may find shocking (and the rest I'd have to write is for another post).

So what do you all think? Why is it we don't know about our past ancestors?

Take me right? I have ancestors I know nothing about. I was doing some research just now on Ancestry. Apparently I have Swedish records going back to the mid 1500s. Only problem is, I know nothing about these people. Why is it that we know nothing about those before us? I've taken to archiving everything I can. I have some knowledge up to a few of my third great-grandparents. Anything prior I don't know. If you can, I'd recommend doing the same. Be warned though, it is time consuming. You also may dig up stuff about people and or yourself you may find shocking (and the rest I'd have to write is for another post). So what do you all think? Why is it we don't know about our past ancestors?

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I've got my mother's side of the tree back as far as a person's arrival in the states or colonies. I don't know if anyone has done that on my dad's side, I know it would be short since my grandfather was born here after his parents left the Soviets in 1927. Just going by what I know about my ancestry explains quite a bit about my character (roughly equal parts Irish, German, Russian/Georgian, Polish).

As for why, how many humans were able to read or write in the 19th century? Add in questionable record keeping and the ability to move hundreds of miles away and become a new person on arrival. If anything, it is easier to keep track of ancestors today just from a record keeping perspective. No matter how good an entity's record keeping is, you will reach a dead end where the records just end because that was when they began.