Last week’s Relatively Speaking column of the Norman Transcript newspaper featured “Finding Immigrant Ancestors”, a great story about how to research your ancestors by beginning with their arrival, moving forward to today, and then going back in time over the sea.

For many years when fellow researchers shared their plans for an overseas trip I would tell them I had to get my ancestors to the shores of America before I could plan an overseas trip.

I no longer can say that as I now know the immigrating ancestors for many of my family lines, which begin with my Hatt line and branches off to include Stout, Throckmorton, Compton and others.

…Check to see if others are researching your family names, as this research step has been a lifesaver for me.

As a descendant of John Throckmorton, who was in Rhode Island by 1631, research has opened many lines that would take me to England, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, France and other countries.

All this was made possible by the research of Robert Coggeshall, who shares John Throckmorton (my 11th great-grandfather) as his ancestor as well as mine. Mr. Coggeshall is descended from John’s daughter, Patience, and I descended from her sister, Deliverance.

I’ve heard many times things like “who cares if they are our 6th cousin three times removed - that’s not related!” Well, folks, it is. And if I, a sixth cousin three times removed, is researching my family line that ties into your family line, we have something in common: clues to our family history puzzle.

One of the great keys to tracing your family history is not just finding those family connections, but finding those family connections with information on your family connections. That will help you get on the boat and cross the sea to trace your family’s history beyond the border.