Prior to the late 1990s I never thought much about our family history. I always presumed both sides were immigrants from Europe who came in the late 19th century, lived in tenements in New York City and eventually made their way elsewhere. In the late 1990s a relative sent out blank forms for us all to fill out. They also had a sketch of a family tree they had made. It showed connections on my mom's side to colonial New England! I was hooked and I've never looked back since. Recently a DNA test confirmed that my direct paternal ancestor was John Chandler, an emigrant to the Virginia colonies in 1610. I am now a member of the Chandler Family Association and trying to find out how our family surname changed from Chandler to Jernigan -- my biggest brick wall by far!

Prior to the late 1990s I never thought much about our family history. I always presumed both sides were immigrants from Europe who came in the late 19th century, lived in tenements in New York City and eventually made their way elsewhere. In the late 1990s a relative sent out blank forms for us all to fill out. They also had a sketch of a family tree they had made. It showed connections on my mom's side to colonial New England! I was hooked and I've never looked back since. Recently a DNA test confirmed that my direct paternal ancestor was John Chandler, an emigrant to the Virginia colonies in 1610. I am now a member of the Chandler Family Association and trying to find out how our family surname changed from Chandler to Jernigan -- my biggest brick wall by far!