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Exactly, ladywrite.

jon, my parents raised me. I was totally accepted into my adoptive family, and couldn't have been loved any more than I was. I belonged and belong to that family. I don't lack a sense of belonging. I lack the basic knowledge of looking in the mirror and knowing that I have my grandmother's nose, my father's eyes, and my mom's smile. It'd be kind of cool to know that even now.

GG, thanks for the info about Ellis Island records being online. i may go do some rummaging around.

My nephew did some research and was able to go back maybe three generations and after that reached a dead end. I would also love to research my native american side but I know tha twould probably take me the rest of my life.

I have same problem ladywrite2, My mothers side were romany gypsy and many of them never registered more to the fact that they were never in one place for long periods of time.

It would be wonderful to obtain more information. I only have photographs of my grandparents. I plan on doing a "roots" search, perhaps through ancestry.com. It would be fascinating to discover more information about my ancestors. To even imagine that I had a strong physical resemblance and similar characteristics to an ancestor from long ago makes me pause for a moment...and smile!

Ancestry.com is a good start they have more records than many of the other genealogy sites.
On my fathers side i was able to go back to 1706 with his father's ancestors and 1500 with his mothers ancestors. Another good site to check is familysearch.org this is a free site and you never know you may find some records.

Like the other person said, genetically you could carry some of the genes, but the person who might seem like you in your past family history, came from two different individuals and so on and so on and so did you. Family triats, yes,(watered down)- twin, no. Curious, yes, but so what? God created each of us to be different - even identical twins.

i understand the curiosity entirely. as a genealogist, i seek my roots, information, not to uncover good or bad, but, more as a journalist, and, also, to define my roots, ancestors, and, to pay them homage, not to forget them, to try to cement their efforts, struggles, for posterity. i don't think they should be forgotten, whether in the 1500s, or just a generation ago.
i do encounter of course, just the opposite attitude, with absolutely no interest whatever. just human diversity.
i think there is a strong possibility that we all had ancestors that duplicate to a great degree , our characteristics, physically, personality, and mental . i think it is amazing, how caricatures, mannerisms, etc are passed on infallibly, for so many generations.

Of course family members share some traits, but I wouldn't expect to resemble anyone in the distant past -- certainly not to the point of "twins" or anything even close. Genetically speaking, after a few generations that's simply not possible: you have only half of your mother's genes, a quarter of her mother's genes, an eighth of your great-grandmother's genes, a sixteenth of your great-great-grandmother's genes. That's going back only three generations from yourself & the pickings are already getting mighty slim.

I've used Ancestry.com & found some fascinating things about my dad's side of the family. (My mom's side is being documented by one of her brothers, very convenient for me, lol!) I'm having trouble getting much past 1830, because naturally recordkeeping gets worse the farther back you try to go. And anytime there are Native Americans or slavery involved, murky doesn't even begin to describe it. Sometimes you just have to accept a dead end.

There are U.S. census lists, marriage licenses, property & tax records, birth & death records, Social Security records, courthouse records, cemetery records, all available online. There are all *kinds* of relatives you never knew you had. I connected with a 3rd cousin in Missouri thru Ancestry.com & we were able to correspond & share some family history. It was pretty cool :-) There are also local genealogical societies & online sites by state, country, city, locale, etc. If you start to search, you're going to find some clues eventually. You never know what -- or who -- you could turn up. It's worth a try if you're curious.

Someone exactly like me way, way back there? For some reason that seems like a really spooky idea.