# Researching family history- I keep finding skeletons! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004 "2013-06-03T04:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004/61 "2013-07-02T22:26:32Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > And how do you find such a person (I’m interested in my German ancestors) who is reputable? Any ballpark on what kinds of rates they charge? > Roddy You can find researchers on Ancestry, as I recall. The guy I hired lives in Germany, speaks both English and German, and reads Old German. His rate was $120/hr IIRC. If you send me a PM, I can give you his contact information. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004/62 "2013-07-03T06:19:23Z")
My only ancestor of note was a musician. He was a bandleader during the Civil War. Bands would play while the soldiers marched, or camped, or before a battle. I’m not sure what Confederate unit he was attached to. My mother’s cousin has all the physical documents. I do know we have a letter from him sent while he was making his way back home after the war. He talked about meeting a little Yankee girl along the road and she gave him a flower. There’s a family legend that he wrote the music to “Dixie” but I did some research on that and find it highly doubtful. There’s also a legend that we are somehow related to Pocahontas. I don’t know if there’s actually any evidence of that. I’m supposed to inherit the genealogy from my mother’s cousin, who lives across the country and has done all the research. I’m looking forward to seeing what she has. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004/63 "2013-07-03T10:56:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I don’t know what a ‘bane’ is in the first bullet point, or how much 30 shillings is adjusted to today’s dollars. 30 shillings in 1650 is about two weeks wages for a craftsman. What the ‘bane’ referred to here is, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004/64 "2013-07-03T12:53:25Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > the owner and his nephew who ran the place were close relatives to childless Ferris of wheel fame. Van Giesen and Ferris. > > I worked for a few weeks for them until, basically, they each started telling me what to do, sometimes in conflict with one another. A former employee came back who was better at everything than I, and they tried to keep both of us. I decided to go back to detassling corn for the rest of the summer. > > Good people, really. Good to know. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researching-family-history-i-keep-finding-skeletons/660004.md?page=3)