I was wondering if anybody here is into doing genealogy. If so how far back have you traced your family and how long have you been doing it?

I've been researching my family lines since 1994 and I've been able to get back to my g-grandfather. Not much progress there, too many brick walls and not enough time to get through them.

I do a little bit with genealogy, usually just helping with research for other relatives. It is something I've been interested in -- I've got some pretty unique ancestors.
For the most part, my biological mother is the genealogist for our family. She is a superb researcher, and I've even talked to her about doing it professionally. She did trace one side to Lady Godiva!
On several other branches, she has traced to the 1700's or so. We've run into a few difficulties because so many of our branches are American Indians who married Anglo settlers, and the records just are not there. We've also found that we come from a group called the "Melungeons" as well as having some African American ancestry that was a family secret for many years. At the turn of the century, they decided to become "white". Keep in mind this was the rural South. It is an incredible story.
My husband also does genealogy. I think he has traced his back to 17th century England, but he has a few branches that are brick walls.
Learning the story of your ancestors, their triumphs, tragedies and things they overcame to survive is an awe inspiring and often humbling experience.

I got a crash course in geneology trying to locate Jimmy's birth family. Turns out that his mother's side of the family, one of the many branches of Barnums go back to the 1600's, and her first husband's family, Haines can trace back almost that far back. We had one letter written by her as a Haines. Little did we know that was not her maiden name.
I started last November and just happened to connect through a Haines family message board with the step granddaughter of Jimmy's mom. Just pure luck. Jimmy's mom was a second wife (the story is so long and convoluted I had to do a spread sheet to keep the cast of charaters straight) Very long story short, through trading information found from obituary's, old social security records and just kicking scenario's around,it took under 6 months. I would sit for hours and surf geneology web sites and records, and post tons of messages on boards. If I had not heard from this woman I would be now looking at Later Day Saint records and, trying to unseal 54 year old adoption records. You never know when something you say or read will strike a chord. It does take time, that is why the boards are so popular and worth reading. I don't know what resources you have used but I will go back into my files and give you a list of what I was looking at.

Good Luck, take breaks from looking but don't give up.

I have been interested in genealogy for a few years now, and I also have a couple of cousins who are working on my father's side of the family. About the most interesting part is that we have traced my grandparents (my father's parents-surname Pearce, along with his two older brothers) to St. Austell, Cornwall, England. His father came to the US via Ellis Island around 1900, to make a place for his family and then send for them. My grandmother also entered via Ellis Island in 1900, along with my two uncles who were born in England. My father had another brother and a sister who were born here. They settled in Iowa, and were farmers, for the most part. One of my cousins actually visited the grave of my great grandparents in St. Austell, Cornwall, a few years ago. But, research back any further has been difficult. My cousins may have found more, but I haven't heard about anything additional.

My mother's family is an even greater mystery. I know that they were mixed nationalities (Scotch-Irish, Dutch & Welsh), and my mother's maiden name was Crum. They also lived in Iowa, but I have absolutely very little information about their family. I suspect some Native American ancestry is involved, and I did find a record of a Crum marrying a Kiowa (or maybe Sioux) woman back in 1849 in Iowa. I think there is a posibility that the 'Dutch' they refer to may be 'Black Dutch', which was a term often used in the 1800's and early 1900's to mask Native American ancestry, and thus avoid prejudices in white communities. But aside from that, I have little to go on, and the records in Iowa leave alot to be desired. There are no living relatives who could help me, at least none that I know. So, that is about the extent of my findings, but I may take up the search again one of these days.