During these days of quarantine, there is still a popular pastime that can be pursued quite safely — genealogy, or the study of families through history. At one time or another, everyone has wondered where they came from. This set me off to interview Erich Snoke, a Limestone County hobbyist in genealogy. Little did I expect the remarkable discussion we’d have. 

So Erich, what can you tell me about how you got interested in genealogy?

First and foremost, I’m far from being a professional. I actually became really interested in genealogy in about 1969. Prior to that, it was just general questions I would ask my parents. They would tell me what they knew, which was limited, based on questions they had asked their parents. Things like, “Where were your parents born?” and “Your grandparents?” It was all word of mouth, and vague. My father thought his ancestors came from Germany, but his father believed England. So I really wanted to find my roots. In ‘68, Reader’s Digest had an article concerning genealogy which piqued my interest in the years before the internet. In 1970, I joined the Air Force and was stationed in Utah. I found out about the LDS (Mormon) Genealogy Library. I was able to visit that and do some actual research with some success, but it was a slow (and painful) process. 

What sorts of resources are available now for researchers?

There are lots of resources on line. Some cost, like Ancestry.com. Some don’t, like      Familysearch.org. The first thing to do is ask your parents. Names. Dates. Places of Birth. Sibling’s names. Grandparents. Dates and places of marriage. Death. Get the spellings of names. Just because your name is Smith doesn’t mean your grandfather’s name wasn’t Smyth, Smythe or Schmidt. And even the forename spelling can change; or the person gets called something different. For example, in my case, I go by my middle name. Of course, anything you find, you need to document and verify. And believe it or not, when in doubt, Google a name, such as “genealogy + John Doe + 1853 + Athens, Alabama.” You just might get a free lead.

What intrigues you most about genealogy? What keeps you going? 

Strictly self-satisfaction. Not only in the chase and the investigation, but in finding out who my ancestors are. I have six great-great-great-grandfathers who fought in the Revolutionary War. One was wounded at Brandywine and served with Washington at Valley Forge. Another was a 14-year-old drummer. It makes me appreciate my country even more. Going back further, one direct ancestor was executed for heresy by the King of England. Further still, William the Conqueror and Charlemagne are direct ancestors. And when one researches these, they find they’re also direct ancestors of presidents, kings, queens, outlaws, poets, inventors, actors, etc., which make them distant cousins of mine. My paternal ancestors arrived in America in 1743. My maternal ancestors arrived about 100 years earlier. And when I look at the dates they arrived in America, and from whence they came, I know why they left their homeland. On my mother’s side, it was because they were the second- or thirdborn. Usually, the firstborn inherited any land, money and titles. The secondborn got to look for a job and seek their fortune. On my father’s side, it was religious persecution. 

What do you find most rewarding in the search? Or, for that matter, most disheartening? Do you have some noteworthy examples of the kinds of things a researcher might find?

Sometimes when I get discouraged with my tree, I turn to my friends and co-workers to keep me going. I’ve done some research for them and put a smile on their face. One woman is the eighth great-granddaughter of Pocahontas. Another woman is a distant cousin of Manfred von Richthofen, also known as “The Red Baron.” A friend of mine is a distant cousin of Washington. Another of Gerald Ford. Another friend of African origins asked me to research what I could. He didn’t have much information beyond his grandparents. I did find a set of his great-grandparents. I then found another set of great-great-grandparents and discovered his great-great-great-grandparents were sold as slaves from Virginia. I couldn’t find their names. Very disheartening. Even my wife is a fourth cousin of William Clinton, and she never knew. But I was surprised to find a woman that I was working with is also my ninth cousin on my father’s side. And my wife, as it turns out, is a very distant cousin of mine as well, related on my mother’s side and her father’s side. I learned I had a third cousin who is missing in action from World War II. He was captured at Corregidor in May 1942 and spent the next 31 months as a prisoner of war. In December 1944, he was placed aboard a Hellship arriving in Formosa, now Taiwan, in January ‘45. There, his ship was bombed and he, along with over 300 others, was killed. They were buried in a mass grave and recovered after the war. Unfortunately, most were unidentified and reburied as “Unknowns” in the Punch Bowl National Cemetery in Hawaii. I also helped a complete stranger. Having a “Life” magazine from 1943, I found a picture of a funeral Mass of an Australian sailor who died in New York City. Essentially, the caption stated, “At the funeral of George Coles, who died 11,000 miles from home, without any family or friends in attendance.” I researched him and found his niece in Australia. Although they knew he had died, they didn’t know where he was buried. I filled a blank piece of their family puzzle and also sent them the magazine. Once, I got curious — but because it wasn’t family I didn’t keep the information — (and) I researched President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald. It turns out they had a common ancestor several hundred years ago. That made them distant cousins several times removed.

 What advice would you give someone who wanted to research genealogy?

Persistence and patience are virtues. And they are required. It’s easy to become discouraged. DNA testing of ethnicity also adds a different element to genealogy. It can put one in touch with relatives who have also tested that you didn’t even know existed. They may have information in their family tree that you don’t have. But going beyond that, it makes the world smaller and shows how we are all related through some ancestor. Although my DNA shows that I am primarily European, I have distant cousins that are part Indian, Asian, Hispanic and black. I have relatives that are Jewish. I’ve talked with people who have been researching one name for 20 or 30 years. It’s a stonewall they can’t get past. But they are persistent, chipping away at what seems like the Great Wall of China with a dental pick. Suddenly, the wall collapses and it’s either another stonewall or they’ve opened up the floodgates. It can be very discouraging or very rewarding. Sometimes you just have to walk away and revisit it later. Other times, when you are researching another person, suddenly something shows up on the other name that’s been your Great Wall of China, and a years-old problem suddenly disappears. And it’s easy to get distracted. You can be researching your great-great-grandfather and find out his brother rode with Jesse James. In my case, I’m a distant cousin of John Brown, the abolitionist. His heart was in the right place, but he went about it all wrong. He was a murderer, tried for and hanged for treason after he raided Harper’s Ferry. And who did he surrender to? Major Robert E. Lee, a distant cousin of my wife. 

Have you come across information you’d rather not know? 

Personally, I like uncovering the warts and all. My direct ancestor’s brother was captured during the Civil War and spent time in a Confederate prison. While there, his wife got pregnant. Obviously, he wasn’t the father. She tried to get an abortion but the doctor accidentally killed her. The doctor went to jail for two years. The family covered this up for over 100 years. However, my ex-father-in-law had an ancestor that was a swindler and con man. Rather than face the truth, he listed his occupation as a “dealer’. 

 

What a remarkable pastime, Erich. What a broad collection of intriguing tales. I can well imagine readers will be tempted by your stories to start their own research. I guess they will catch us up on any successes they have, or strange stories they encounter in their searches. Thanks for this remarkable information.

 

— John William Davis is a retired U.S. Army counterintelligence officer, civil servant and linguist. He was commissioned from Washington University in St. Louis in 1975. He entered counterintelligence and served some 37 years. His published works include “Rainy Street Stories: Reflections on Secret Wars, Terrorism and Espionage” and “Around the Corner: Reflections on American Wars, Violence, Terrorism and Hope.”