Family quilt started genealogy search

Who:Janet A. Fish of Rodman. She immersed herself in a family genealogy project and discovered relatives who came over on the Mayflower and other distant relatives dating to the 1200s in England and France, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Brussels (Belgium) and Spain. Her experiences may be valuable to others considering such research.

What got you started on this project?

"A family quilt started this whole thing. The quilt isn't that old, but it has family information dating back to the 1800s."

"It wasn't just me involved in the project. It was several family members. My aunt Betty Freeman kept copies of newspaper clippings and correspondence. She corresponded with her cousin, Leola Sykes, who died in 1997. Leola's mother was Laura Macomber Sykes, who lived 1890 to 1944."

"If aunt Betty hadn't supplied me, I couldn't have done it."

"My great-great grandmother, Nora Overton Macomber, kept a lot of clippings. I was very fortunate. I had a lot of stuff handed to me. I had a lot of family 'leaves' popping up."

Mrs. Fish said another relativehad planned to look into the family's genealogy years ago but got sidetracked. Mrs. Fish took up the project after she finished home-schooling her daughter last year.

The genealogy project mainly followed her mother's side. Mrs. Fish is the daughter of Harold M. and Donna May Macomber Little, who were wed in February of 1950.

What was your main resource?

"I took the information I had and looked at online ancestry sites."

One of those sites is ancestory.com. She also found local online resources such as the site hosted by Northern New York Genealogy (www.nnygenealogy.com) and at www.jefferson.nygenweb.net.

How much time did you put into the research?

"For the longest time, I was doing eight hours a day, six or seven days a week."

Besides Pilgrim relatives on the Mayflower, Mrs. Fish found the family is distantly related to British royalty and royalty of other nations.

Of all the royalty and celebrities you noted the family has ties to (ranging from Tom Thumb to Amelia Earhart), it almost seems unbelievable.

"When you have a family that has 20 kids, and another family member that has 20 kids, it creates quite an overlap."

Any advice for others considering taking up a family genealogy project?

"Try to get as much information from relatives as you can get. I really hate to see people not focusing on their history. We're going to make mistakes if we don't focus on our history."

What kinds of mistakes?

"We need to look at generations past and see why they were escaping something. You really have to think, 'Should we veer off or on the same path?'"

Any plans to research your father's side?

"My dad's side has been very difficult to come up with stuff. We got it going back to Ireland in the 1800s, then we hit a brick wall."

If you know of someone with an interesting pastime for a Q&A feature, contact Times staff writer Chris Brock at cbrock@wdt.net or write to him at Watertown Daily Times, 260 Washington St., Watertown, N.Y., 13601.