How often do you think about all the people that lived on Earth before you? How did all the utility poles, the buildings, the roads, and the trees in the parks get here? They were all created by the people before you – life was created by the generations before you.
Your immediate family is what made your being alive possible, and the least you can do about it, it seems, is honor them by finding out who they really were. One genealogy enthusiast recently shared his family roots going back to the 1800s.
His journey down memory lane prompted others to do the same, soon inspiring a trend online of folks sharing vintage photos of family members from every generation in their family tree.
Bored Panda reached out to Pierre, aka @the.family.historian, who was the first to honor his ancestry in this way, and he kindly agreed to tell us more about how his genealogy journey started, what goes into the process, and why it's important for each of us to know where we come from. Read his thoughts below!
A genealogy enthusiast started a trend online of people sharing their family trees
Image credits: the.family.historian
His family tree made others reflect on how little they know about the generations before their grandparents
Many people realize they'd like to know more about their family tree when it's already too late
Pierre, the person behind this trend, isn't a professional genealogist. For him, it's just a hobby that's been going on for the past 15 years of his life. He works as a marketing professional, but is currently taking a gap year to travel around the world.
Pierre tells us he became interested in genealogy at the age of 14. "It all started with a school assignment from my French teacher: trace back your family history. That simple project led me to talk with my grandmother about her childhood, her parents, and her grandparents. I found it fascinating and decided to dig deeper."
From there, he started to map out his family tree branch by branch. "Looking back, I'm really glad I started so young," Pierre adds. "I had the chance to speak with grandparents, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins — people often 60 years older than me — and gather stories and memories that would otherwise be lost."
Pierre notes that many people don't get that kind of chance or realize they want to start mapping out their family tree too late. "Over the years, I've met so many people who said, 'I wish I had asked my parents or grandparents before it was too late.' That stuck with me. Starting early gave me a rare opportunity to preserve and explore my family’s history while the voices who knew it best were still here."
Another woman was able to trace her family roots to the 1700s
Image credits: brynowens
Conversations with grandparents are the starting point for any ancestry journey, and then civil records
Pierre has traced back his roots 200 years, but that feat certainly wasn't easy. "It took me 15 years of research to get a truly in-depth picture of my roots. And actually, for most branches of my tree, I've managed to go back over 500 years," he shares.
The easiest method to go back into your genealogy 200 years or so, according to this family historian, is simply to talk with your surviving relatives. "Talk to your parents, your grandparents, your older cousins, great-aunts and uncles… anyone who might remember names, dates, places, or stories. That's how you get started."
From simply having conversations, Pierre was able to find out where his grandparents were born, where they lived and passed away, and what their occupations were. That's where looking up official documents comes in: birth, marriage, or passing certificates.
Pierre was lucky that France has such an amazing system of records; that made his research process much easier. "They often include not just names and dates, but also the parents’ identities, occupations, and places of residence. With each document, you get a clearer picture — and then you keep going back, one generation at a time."
This genealogy journey doesn't end with your direct ancestors, though. It's quite fascinating to learn more about your extended family as well. "It helps you understand migrations, family dynamics, and even some of the patterns, traumas, or strengths that might still shape your family today," Pierre notes. "It's a long process, but incredibly rewarding."
Another person, Grace, knew of her ancestors from the 1700s, too
Image credits: grace_noethe
People can find all sorts of spicy family secrets during their ancestry research
Tracing back your ancestry is important, Pierre believes, because we all should know where we come from. "I know it might sound a bit cliché, but for me, it's true: it's easier to understand where you're going when you know where you're coming from."
He says he was driven to do his research in order to understand the struggles, joys, pains, and resilience of his ancestors better. And, throughout the process, he learned more about history, and about his own family as well: why his parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents were the way they were.
Pierre has uncovered an interesting story about his grandfather's mother. "She was born without a father, and later her mother married a man who officially recognized her as his daughter. My grandfather and his siblings believed he was their biological grandfather — but he wasn't. It was a family secret that nobody talked about. Knowing this later on helped explain so much: the secrecy, the silences, the family dynamics that shaped their lives."
"On another branch of my tree, I remember my great-grandmother singing old folk songs from Normandy when I was a kid," he said, sharing another interesting family snippet.
"Years later, I found photos of her as a child, growing up in a watermill in Normandy. Seeing those pictures, imagining her childhood, the meals they shared, the stories they passed down — it made all those songs, all those memories, come alive in a new way."
A guy traced back the history of men in his family to the 1800s
Image credits: ethanjohnson333
Pierre encourages people to research their family trees if they're able: "It's incredibly meaningful"
Ancestry research is like putting together a spider's web, connecting all the different generations with their patterns, values, traumas, and migrations.
So far, Pierre has only discovered he has ties to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. But he believes people with more diverse migratory backgrounds might have even more fun. "Discovering different cultures, languages, and traditions that all form part of who they are today," he observes.
At the same time, Pierre understands that not everyone has the luxury to trace their roots to hundreds of years back. "Depending on the country or the circumstances, records may be incomplete or simply nonexistent," he notes.
"But even so, I truly believe that researching your family history — or at least your cultural background — is incredibly meaningful. It's not just about names and dates. It's about identity, memory, and belonging."
And another genealogy enthusiast shared the photos of her ancestors spanning eight generations
Image credits: genzgeneal0gy