Monday, December 3, 2018

A Feather Tree in a silver bowl and Ancestry pursuits



A Feather tree is one of the most charming Christmas decorations.  
It is considered one of the first artificial Christmas trees.  Made originally
in Germany from dyed goose feathers, it found its way to the USA, brought
over by German immigrants that settled in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Love this old feather tree with the tiny gate around it!
My feather tree is a vintage feather tree that Martha Stewart
 produced for her Kmart line.
I picked it up years after the fact on eBay.  
I would love to find an antique Feather Tree one day.

Speaking of immigrants, I have been tracking down my husbands side of his family roots.
Ever since we started binge watching the STARZ series, Outlander, which we LOVE,
we have become interested in finding out if hubs is indeed Scottish as well as Swedish.
The Outlander hero, Jamie Fraser, is from Scotland.
You will want to be Scottish if you watch this show, or you will want your 
partner to be, haha!! Jamie is the sweetest, bravest, sexiest Scot in all the land!
Mr. Maison Decor's father always told him he descended
from Scottish bloodlines, and his mother's lineage is pure Swedish.  
We decided to do the Ancestry DNA test as well as put together his family tree.
So far I am not finding any indication there is a Scottish connection.
 It remains to be seen, but I have enjoyed putting the pieces together to see where the family
lines are leading us on this discover of his roots. This family photo shows my husband (on the right)
next to his mother, and his older brother, both dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner. 
 Their uncle carves the turkey, and the table is set to the nines, complete with place cards.
The old documents are numerous and at ones finger tips when you join
one of these online search groups.  Much of it is free as well, until you head
across the country's borders, then there is a charge.  Above, William Chalmers is found on 
a record, and that is his great grandfather.  He always believed his great-grandfather 
shared the same name, Charles Herbert, that his grandfather and father, 
brother and nephew share, as the name has been passed down for generations. 
 So we are already learning things very quickly,
and we hope we find some Scottish roots on his dad's side!  
I know many of you have explored your family trees
and its quite interesting, isn't it? 
His mother's side is proving to be very pure Swedish, and
I guess you can tell by this old photo of (front to back) his mom,
his grandmother and uncle.  My pretty mother in law still lives
in that very same house, where my husband grew up, 
and its right next doors to our house. 
But now, back to Christmas....

The winner of the Lynch Creek Farm wreath giveaway is Penny Carlson!
Congrats Penny!!
 I know you will enjoy your beautiful Lynch Creek Farm wreath!

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7 comments:

  1. I am so excited to win the wreath Amy! Thank you again for having the giveaway with Lynch Creek Farms! I will share in a post when I receive it! My sister got me an Ancestry DNA kit for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to sending it in. I love the Outlander series. I had read all of the books years ago. We don't get Starz, so I have to wait about 6 months after it airs and then get the DVD's from Netflix.

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    Replies
    1. I am thrilled you won Penny! I want to read the books now that I am hooked with the show.

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  2. Congratulations Penny. Just looking at his mother's side I can see Swede. The hair and skin color. Exciting to learn about.

    My girlfriend has feather trees. We both use German trees. They let the ornaments shine.

    Enjoy the season

    Cindy

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    Replies
    1. The feather trees are so beautiful and certainly have the vintage style I love. And you are right, you can put any kind of ornaments as long as they are small, and the tree can take on a whole new personality!

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  3. Hello Amy,
    I love feather trees and we sold quite a few when I had a shop. They are very popular. Yours is adorable. Be sure to let us know if you find any Scottish blood in your family history. My dad was Scotch/Irish (Gilroy) and I know the earliest Gilroys landed here in 1765. My Mom's family is a different story. Mom is 100% Lebanese, with her parents coming over from the old country back in the late 1800's/early 1900's. My Lebanese grandfather was even friends with a Lebanese holy man who was eventually canonized by the Catholic Church. His name was Saint Charbel. How many people can say their grandfather was friends with a SAINT! Heck...maybe I'm related to Jesus!! Good luck with your research.
    HUgs,
    Janet xx
    The Empty Nest

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    Replies
    1. That is very interesting, and as the commercial on tv shows for Ancestry when the man says he has to trade his kilt in for lederhosen, that may just be the case with Mr. Maison Decor!!

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  4. My dad was Scots/Irish...many, many years ago my dad paid a service to research his coat of arms, "plaid" ....this was before all this DNA research...the family name went back to generations of soldiers...so hey...my relatives could be in the "Outlander" gang....the 49.9% of me but then again the other 49.9% of me is Japanese...can you tell :) Hmm...maybe Samurai :)... have fun with the research!!!

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