History Repeats in Family Trees

You may think you are the first, but the patterns in family trees are absolutely mind-blowing. A specific date is often repeated every generation as a milestone. It may be the day your fifth great-grandparents arrived in America, and, unbeknownst to you, it is the same date you selected for your wedding day. Is this a funny coincidence or something much more?

Like me, you may be foolish enough to think you are the first business owner in your family, and I am for this generation, but I am definitely not the first. 2 out of 4 of my great-grandfathers had their own businesses. One immigrated to this country with $2 in his pocket and worked as a button salesman (a pushcart peddler) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before having his own tailor shop in what is now Chinatown in Manhattan. The other was a prominent builder and had his own contracting company in the hills of Tennessee.

Or, you may be like my nephew and believe you’re the first drummer in your family, only to discover you come from a long line of musicians tracing all the way back to drummers in the American Revolutionary War.

Imagine never knowing who your father is, only to learn that he worked as a car salesman for most of his life, like you. Or finding out you have a twin who was put up for adoption, and you each named your firstborn daughters Deborah. Stranger things have happened, and it’s hard to believe it’s just a coincidence!

Do you know of any patterns in your family history?