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Ancestral Pets In Genalogy

I have been knocking this idea around ever since I got the GenBug after I retired from my work in Animal Welfare. The idea, was to provide a place for folks to post their ancestors pet's picture, hopefully with the owner, if not, just the pet will do, I even quietly entered a pet on ancestry.com and quickly removed it when I realized some poor soul would think I had actually added an ancestor whose name was Pat McCurley and would add them to their tree. I wanted to add my pets so badly to my family tree, I actually created a website for my grandsons, so they can have fun with their Nancy's addiction, it has a page of our family tree's ancestral pets and immediate family, it has become such a fun thing, that when my new found HORNE ancestral cousin came to visit us in Texas, she brought Meela (her Dalmatian), who became bosom buddies with Tipper (my chihuahua). They hit it off so big, that they took off on a bike trip to claim their ancestral cousins and amazingly...their collection is beginning to grow. This website is a work in progress for our family, except it has now opened up for the inclusion of Tipper and Meela's ancestors, so if ya'll would like to dig back into your box of pictures that has an ancestor's pet in it, Tipper and Meela have a place for them. I hope that my delving into the animal world through genealogy will entertain you and allow me to go out on a new limb of genealogy...this may not be a new idea, it's just one I had to bring to fruition. Any suggestions or comments are welcomed. Genealogy researchers give me some slack and Pet Owners, send me your pics.
www.joshuanorton.com/bikers

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Permalink Reply by Renee Kerr on July 24, 2009 at 9:49am

love the idea!

Permalink Reply by Jeanne Mest on July 24, 2009 at 4:43pm

You know this sounded a little far out at first but the more I think about it and remember how many pets appear in our photo albums over the years, it might be fun to have an album just for them. Not really a family tree though. But they are still part of our family history! Isn't it funny how everything makes us think of family history? My name is Jeanie and I am a geneaholic....

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hickman on July 24, 2009 at 5:20pm

Thanks for the kind support...welcome to my world...if you would like to put some of those pics on my grandson's website, just head on down!

Permalink Reply by Christine Evelyn McAvaney on July 24, 2009 at 10:33pm

well i agree with it totally as when we were living on kangaroo island we had a white cat and we kept saying he is almost human with the little things he used to do and my husband used to say a different times when our cat [we called him squizzy read - always had to go up to things and investigate them and if friends would smell them and if they passed the "test" would let them pass thru] was doing something he'd say "if i didnot know better he would swear it was his father come back to check up on him but i think also our descendants would know from the point of seeing that we had pets what type of people we were if you can understand what i mean and we have always said pets are part of the family our pet "squizzy read" passed away 12 years ago of cancer we have since come back to the mainland of australia and one day we went to the local markets and found a statue of a cat and if we didnot know better swear it was our "squizzy read" from the colors it was painted now every time we come home from being out when we open our door we say "hello squizzy read" because he now acts as our door stop

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hickman on July 25, 2009 at 5:52am

Thank you for sharing your story, I know that pets do choose their owners, that is why there is such a special bond that families have with their pets. Rest assured "Squizzy Read" is smiling down on your family in spirit and knows that you have a special place in your heart, even if "Squizzy Read" is now remembered as your door stop! He is at least staying in one spot now days, instead of being in to everything, as cats will always do. Send me a pic, I have a special page on another website that is an "In Memory"...would love to put his pic there for you, if none, give me permission and I will post your story about "squizzy read."

Permalink Reply by Unknown Ancestor on July 24, 2009 at 10:54pm

I've already posted a photo of Fifi's grave marker, dog bones in a cross and all (search for Oddities).
However, I'd hope this sort of effort be shared with family & friends and not at GenyWise.

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hickman on July 24, 2009 at 11:38pm

Actually, all of the photos I have posted are of my ancestors with their pets, I just happened to feel there ought to be a way (not here at Genealogy Wise) for others to showcase these special ancestors who loved pets as I do on my grandson's family tree and wanted to share with others that might feel the same. So again, I welcome anyone who has a picture of that special ancestor who loved pets, a place to showcase them. I do believe I can actually call myself a geneaholic, just one that has stepped out of the box to add a little interest to my family history. If your Fifi's owner is an ancestor of yours, would love to have a picture of the headstone to add to my grandson's website at "The Joshua Tree"...Fifi's grave marker is not an Oddity it's a gesture of Love.

Permalink Reply by Lisa G. Wade on August 15, 2011 at 10:32pm

Hi Nancy!

I think this is a great idea. I am sure I'm not the only one who couldn't have two-legged children. Instead, I have two four-legged children; my dachshunds, Friederich and Wilhelm. At one point, I thought about creating a family tree scrapbook page especially for the dogs and, only the dogs.

BTW, are you researching your Hickman line?

Permalink Reply by Nancy Hickman on August 16, 2011 at 6:01am

Hi Lisa,

Yes, I have done research on my Hickman line, so far if I have it correct our Hickman ancestor was John Peter Hickman 1740 from Germany, migrated to Pennsylvania 7 Oct 1755 , Washington County, W Virginia and descendants on to Kentucky, Indiana and my husband's family ended up in Missouri and I married him in Ft Worth, Tx when he was in the Air Force.

If you are interested in my grandson's Ancestral Pets Page, which is still under construction you can see it at:

Ancestral Pets In Genalogy

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