Find out how to trace your Chinese-American roots with this article; truly informational!

This article tells you how to find more documents on your ancestors. There are plenty of of records that do not show up in your hints or under the search results. Give it a try! We have found much needed information this way.

Through my research, my mother and I discovered that my 12th great grandmother is Lady Elizabeth Killigrew, who was a Lady by day and Pirate by night.

Her story is as follows:

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Elizabeth Trewinnard, Lady Killigrew 
Elizabeth was also known as "Old Lady Killigrew".
(b. before 1523- died after 1582), was an aristocratic Cornishwoman and an accused pirate during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. She was the wifeof Sir John Killigrew of Arwennack, Cornwall.She and her husband received and stored stolen goods at their home, ArwennackHouse. In 1582, she was arrested and sentenced to death after she sent herservants to seize the cargo aboard a ship anchored in Falmouth harbour. Queen Elizabeth eventuallypardoned her, and she was released from prison.

Elizabeth was born on an unknown date in St. Erith, Cornwall,the second eldest daughter of James Trewinnard (1490- 1523), of St. Erith, andPhilippa Carminow (died 9 August 1563).
She married Sir John Killigrew (died 1567) of Arwennack, bywhom she had a total of ten children:
Sir John Killigrew MP (died 5 March 1584), married Mary Wolverston (1540- before1671), by whom he had issue.
Peter Killigrew, married Ellen Higgins
Thomas Killigrew
Sir Henry Killigrew, married firstly Katherine Cooke, bywhom he had issue; married secondly, Jael de Peigne, by whom he had issue.
Sir William Killigrew, married Margery Saunders, by whom hehad issue
Jane Killigrew, married John Michell
Anne or Amy Killigrew
Grace Killigrew, married John Tretherffe
Alice Killigrew, married Richard Bonython
Margaret Killigrew, married Sir Francis Godolphin MP, Governor of the Scilly Isles,by whom she had issue.

In the 1540s, Pendennis Castle was built for King Henry VIII on Sir John's lands and then later became the first hereditary captain of the castle which meant he controlled all of the shipping in the Falmouth area; however, he used his privileged position to prey on the cargoes of the ships that came within his reach. In 1567, Arwennack House was fortified as a stronghold and used to store stolen merchandise from raids on ships. Elizabeth and her husband paid large fees to harbor and city officials, bribing them to look the other way when carrying out their illicit activities. Elizabeth played an active role in the piracy, and apparently enjoyed the adventure more than her husband.[1]
Historian Neville Williams described Elizabethas a "tough and unprincipled businesswoman" who managed ArwennackHouse and oversaw the burial of treasure in her garden.
Her husband died in 1567.
In 1582, Elizabeth,by that time in her 60s, heard a rumor that there was treasure aboard the Hanseatic ship Marie of San Sebastian anchored in Falmouth harbour, and she sent her servants to seize the ship and search the cargo.Despite rumors to the contrary, it's not likely she ever personally went on a raid; however she was arrested for having received and fenced stolen goods after the seizure of Marie of San Sebastian where a factor was murdered when the ship was boarded by her raiding party.Her sons, Sir John, Peter, and Thomas, her grandson John, as well as her daughter-in-law, Mary Wolverston, and her grandson's wife, Dorothy Monk, were also charged with having engaged in acts of piracy. Elizabeth was brought to trial and sentenced to death, although she eventually received a pardon from Queen Elizabeth.Two of Elizabeth's sons, Sir Henry and Sir William, secured her release from prison after having paid substantial bribes.
Elizabeth diedon an unknown date in St. Budock, Cornwall.
One of her many descendants, Elizabeth Killigrew, became a mistress of King Charles II of England, to whom she bore adaughter in 1650. Other notable descendants were dramatist ThomasKilligrew, poet SidneyGodolphin, and Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl ofGodolphin.

Mary was the daughter of a former Suffolk pirate. Mary's husband Sir Henry Killigrew, a former pirate himself, was made a Vice-Admiral by Queen Elizabeth I and tasked with suppressing piracy. Whenever her husband went to sea Mary engaged in piracy using the staff of her castle (Arwenack Castle in Cornwall)as crew and possibly with the Queen's knowledge. In 1570 she captured a German merchant ship off Falmouth and her crew sailed it to Ireland to sell. However, the owner of this ship was a friend of Queen Elizabeth who then had Lady Mary arrested and brought to trial at the Launceston assizes.Some sources say she was sentenced to death and then pardoned by the Queen but this is due to confusion with another family member. According to sources, her family either bribed the jurors and she was acquitted or Queen Elizabeth arranged a short jail sentence. Whatever transpired, she gave up pirating and took up fencing stolen goods until she died several years later.

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        The Salem witch trials are among the most infamous events in American history. The witch hunt resulted in the deaths of 20 innocent people, 19 through hanging and one through pressing. There are memorials to each of them in the town square of Salem today, and all but one have been officially pardoned by the town.

One Ancestry user traced a family line right back to one of those witch victims. It turns out she is the 9x great-granddaughter of John Proctor, who was hanged as a witch in 1692. What adds to the already interesting story is that John Proctor later became the main character in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, making him famous for generations to come.

Ancestry DNA has helped me to verify where my ancestors most likely came from. You should check it out! This link is to a PDF that explains what exactly the DNA is tested for, how they use the information and how they figure out where your ancestors came from. 

noun, plural ancestries.

1. family or ancestral descent; lineage.

2. honorable or distinguished descent: famous by title and ancestry.

3. a series of ancestors: His ancestry settled Utah.

4. the inception or origin of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.

5. the history or developmental process of a phenomenon, object, idea, or style.

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Dictionary.com

Genealogical research in the United States was first systematized in the early 19th century, especially by John Farmer (1789–1838). Before Farmer's efforts, tracing one's genealogy was seen as an attempt by colonists to secure a measure of social standing within the British Empire, an aim that was counter to the new republic's egalitarian, future-oriented ethos. As Fourth of July celebrations commemorating the Founding Fathers and the heroes of the Revolutionary War became increasingly popular, however, the pursuit of 'antiquarianism,' which focused on local history, became acceptable as a way to honor the achievements of early Americans.[citation needed] Farmer capitalized on the acceptability of antiquarianism to frame genealogy within the early republic's ideological framework of pride in one's American ancestors. He corresponded with other antiquarians in New England, where antiquarianism and genealogy were well established, and became a coordinator, booster, and contributor to the growing movement. In the 1820s, he and fellow antiquarians began to produce genealogical and antiquarian tracts in earnest, slowly gaining a devoted audience among the American people. Though Farmer died in 1839, his efforts led to the creation of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), one of New England's oldest and most prominent organizations dedicated to the preservation of public records. NEHGS publishes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

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The Genealogical Society of Utah, founded in 1894, later became the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The department's research facility, the Family History Library, which has developed the most extensive genealogical record-gathering program in the world, was established to assist in tracing family lineages for special religious ceremonies which LDS adherents believe will seal family units together for eternity. LDS members believe that this fulfilled a biblical prophecy stating that the prophet Elijah would return to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers."There is a network of LDS Family HIstory Centers all over the country and around the world, where volunteers assist the public with tracing their ancestors.

The American Society of Genealogists is the scholarly honorary society of the U.S. genealogical field. Founded by John Insley Coddington, Arthur Adams, and Meredith B. Colket, Jr., in December 1940, its membership is limited to 50 living fellows. ASG publishes The Genealogist, a scholarly journal of genealogical research semi-annually since 1980. Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, who bear the post-nominal acronym FASG, have written some of the most notable genealogical materials of the last half-century.

Some of the most notable scholarly American genealogical journals are The American Genealogist, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and The Genealogist.

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Historically, in Western societies the focus of genealogy was on the kinship and descent of rulers and nobles, often arguing or demonstrating the legitimacy of claims to wealth and power. The term often overlapped with heraldry, in which the ancestry of royalty was reflected in their coats of arms. Modern scholars consider many claimed noble ancestries to be fabrications, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that traced the ancestry of several English kings to the god Woden.

Some family trees have been maintained for considerable periods. The family tree of Confucius has been maintained for over 2,500 years and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest extant family tree. The fifth edition of the Confucius Genealogy was printed in 2009 by the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee.

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In modern times, genealogy became more widespread, with commoners as well as nobility researching and maintaining their family trees. Genealogy received a boost in the late 1970s with the television broadcast of Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Alex Haley's account of his family line.

With the advent of the Internet, the number of resources readily accessible to genealogists has vastly increased, resulting in an explosion of interest in the topic. According to some sources, genealogy is one of the most popular topics on the Internet. The Internet has become not only a major source of data for genealogists, but also of education and communication.