Way OT-Genealogy

So for the past couple of months I've been very interested in genealogy, and have been collecting pics of ancestors and working on a family tree for my parents as a Christmas gift.  On a whim I decided to find out more info about our surname.  I was suprised to find that our last name is Welch and we even have a family crest.  I've been debating on whether or not to spend the money in having a crest made and framed as part of the gift.  As we all know our last name is most likely the result of slavery, and the slave holder's name-so what say you? 

 I have contemplated doing a family tree thing - kinda like Where's Waldo - Where's da white man?  LOL!!!

I say do it.  There's a certain confidence in knowing from whence you came, so by all means - document it! 

Where's da white man?!!!!

You's a fool!  Believe me, I didn't have to go back too far to find him.  When I was getting pics from my mom's side of the fam, I had to pretty much ask her when the hell did we get black, cuz believe me her family is pretty damned white washed.

The origins of our last names may be despicable but it remains a part of our family histories.  The crest should be included.  Wether the crest deserves a place of honor depends on your family and how they see the world. 

For my family framing the crest would be a problem.  For other families your name is your name and deserves a place of honor regardless of its origin.  What's your familiy's perspective? 

Since this is a gift I haven't really asked. Right now I'm leaning on getting the crest, but the framing might just be overkill.

i did mine several years back...VERY enlightening!!!  i found "da white man" and he was a captain in the civil war...took my great-great grandfather with him to fight on the confederate side.  of course, my kin was probably there to be his man-servant.  interestingly enough, i found his (gg/grandfather's) civil war pension approval form...got a copy of it!  i say  DO THAT!  it's very time consuming and addictive but again very enlightening!

That's awesome!  So far Inhaven't been able to get past my dad's great grandfather.

Question for you:  How are you doing your research.  Are you using a geneology site?  I started a family tree on a free site but I forgot which site, lol. 

Did you run into any issues with names?  I know a lot of Black folks that are known by names other than their legal names to the point where I see it as common.  You'll never find half my ancesters or friends if you go by the names we used.  Did you find this in your family?  How did you get around this if you did? 

I did a free trial on ancestry.com.  There's also an old family bible with birth and death dates.  Plus I have an aunt that's helpig me dig around too.

Believe me I understand aboutthe name thing.  Most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins don't know that my legal name is Michelle.  I've always just been Mikki to them.  Luckily I'm one of the few in the family that goes by just their nick name.

GM Michelle! I just sent you a text message to your phone.

Your R&R post inspired me to research mine more. I'm on Ancestry.com (three month subscription)  and I'm finding more information. 

My maiden name is very Irish and my folks get catalogues targeted with all kinds of cool Irish things - official crests, flags.... 

I say do it!