As you know from other posts and podcasts, I do enjoy genealogy and the research that goes into unraveling my family tree. Last year, I came across a show on BBC Television in the UK called Who Do You Think You Are? I was able to watch most of the last (seventh) season and scattered other episodes from different seasons in the English and Australian versions via YouTube and other methods. (Since it’s only on British television and the DVDs are only Europe and UK region-coded, so I can’t watch them easily.) I have yet to watch an episode didn’t completely captivate me. Maybe it’s my love of Genealogy, or my love of hunting down a mystery, but the show grew on me.

Coming March 5 on NBC is the American version of this outstanding show. Here is the synopsis from the official NBC site:

“Who Do You Think You Are?” is an adaptation of the award-winning hit British television documentary series. The seven-episode program will lead celebrities on a journey of self-discovery as they unearth their family trees that reveal surprising, inspiring and even tragic stories that are often linked to crucial events in American history.

From the California Gold Rush to the Salem witch trials, from European aristocracy to the beaches of Africa, and from the Civil War to the Holocaust, “Who Do You Think You Are?” will reveal the fabric of humanity through everyone’s place in history. Each week, a different celebrity takes a journey into their family’s past, traveling all over the world. Viewers are given an in-depth look into their favorite stars’ family trees, and each episode will expose surprising facts and emotional encounters that will unlock people’s emotions — showing just how connected everyone is not only to the past, but to one another.

I know what you’re thinking, “Another celebrity reality show?” But, no, it’s nothing like that. There is no rehab or weight loss involved. Truth be told, this show could be about any random person in the world and I would still be very interested. Though, celebrities do bring a unique attraction to the show since it’s interesting to see where they came from and that most of their family histories parallel our own. It will be nice to watch the show with celebrities that I recognize. The UK and AU versions didn’t have as many celebrities that I knew besides people like Stephen Fry, Jeremy Clarkson, and Jerry Springer (born in England.)

“Why are you telling us this?”, you may ask. Mainly, I’m not sure how much marketing this show will get and I want everyone to give it a shot. People, including me, always complain about the crap on television and all of the useless reality shows that keep popping up. Well, this is fortunately not one of those shows. We need people to enjoy it and watch it to keep it on the air. We don’t want it to become the next Arrested Development.

Hopefully, besides enjoying the show, maybe it will get you interested in your own family tree. There is no time like the present to start researching your family history. Now is the time to talk to your more elder ancestors and collect the fascinating stories they may have. Take it from me, some of these stories and facts will fade along with these people, never to be found again. I sometimes wish I would have started just a year earlier in my research.

Below is NBC’s preview of the show. (If it’s not working, you can watch it here.)

Though, if you do get interested in genealogy, here are some great starting links and there is always my genealogy site.

• Ancestry.com’s Intro Page
• FamilySearch’s “How Do I Start?” page
• NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” site
• BBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” site

After going out to dinner for our birthday (my wife & I) with my parents last night, we got to talking a bit about genealogy and some stories about my grandparents. It was mentioned that my maternal grandfather was in World War II. I was never sure on this subject since I’ve heard nothing about. I’m told that he doesn’t talk about it for reasons unknown to my parents. He’s never even mentioned it to my mother. I completely respect his decision. Who knows what he may have experienced in Europe in the 1940s.

I’m aware of all of the documents available for World War II either at Ancestry or Footnote, so I thought I’d look around. I have yet to find any mention of my grandfather in any documentation available. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I saw it mentioned that some documents have yet to be released due to privacy. My mom and dad mentioned that they think he was a Sergeant since my grandmother sometimes calls him “Sarge.” Does anyone know of any other places to check?

My search for that information turned into finding a nice collection of newspaper articles on my maternal family line. I happened to find my grandfather in an article from the Sheboygan Press in 1941 mentioning that he came in 3rd place in some sort of kite contest. I also found their wedding announcement, a mention of a speeding ticket he got in 1968 and a bunch of other neat articles. I also found some other obituaries and wedding announcements. Don’t underestimate the information in some of these old newspapers. Ancestry has a lot of newspapers on file that are mostly searchable. Footnote doesn’t have a lot yet, but knowing them they’ll be getting a lot more and I like their system a bit better.

Here are some examples of what I found:

• Augusta (Luedtke) Last Obituary – My great-great grandmother
• Leon & Mildred DeBroux 50th Wedding Anniversary – My great grandparents
• Sled Patent Article – A patent introduced by my great grandfather. I want to look more into this.

Just find a local paper on one of these sites, if there is one available, and just browse around by searching for last names. You’ll find some cool stuff.

Eisenberg told the crowd gathered Tuesday that it’s not even clear whether all four were originally buried together. What’s known is that one of the four was a male and another was a female. The child was buried with one of the adults – whose gender couldn’t be determined – in a brick crypt.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t find out who these remains belonged to, but it’s good to see them finally laid to rest again.

Read one of the articles here at JSOnline.com.

• First Americans Arrived Recently, Settled Pacific Coast, DNA Study Says
• Rare African DNA Discovered in White British Males
• Skull Is First Fossil Proof of Human Migration Theory, Study Says

I find the Genographic study very interesting. It’s sort of the genealogy of everyone; a very broad view, if you want.

I’m going to work on merging the two trees soon, so it’ll be easier to browse. But, for now, her tree is still posted.

Use our quick family tree builder to see all the family generations at a glance. Never forget the names of your cousins’ children again.

It looks like a neat site. The design is very clean and easy-to-use. I have not signed up for a site, since..obviously..I already have a site. But, for the novice family researcher, this may be a great way to get everyone involved and up-to-date. If any of you start a seperate Zalewski site, let me know and I’ll link to it.

Speaking of Zalewski’s, there haven’t been any signups to the Zalewski Surname Study. If you’re a Zalewski, please read all about it. This could help many family’s research into the Zalewski surname origins.

Authorities said it took four firefighters to lift a 600-pound gravestone off the 16-year-old boy’s leg early Tuesday after he helped knock over that headstone and dozens others.

Though, it does make me smile a little bit.