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What are the odds that I could be distantly related to someone influential in history? Like one of the founding fathers, or one of the revolutionary war generals?
Apparently in the south, alot of people are part Native American or Black , and they don't even know. Is that the same case with New England? Or was that because it was less economically developed and had slavery?
Does state correlate to where in England they immigrated from?
Often times families have already completed much genealogical research regarding family trees descending down from, say, the Mayflower Pilgrims. Try Googling the name and hometown of your great grandparent whom you know is related to the New England founders. You may be lucky and be able to pick up the information you need right online and then go backwards. Often, a cousin or other relative may have verified information for membership in an organization such as the D.A.R. or the Mayflower Society and you might be able to contact that person. I am a direct descendant of a Mayflower passenger, Frances Cooke, and I find I have all sorts of famous relatives, ranging from Franklin D Roosevelt and both the Bushes, to the Wilsons [aka the Beach Boys] and Richard Gere. Have fun!
From what I have read if you are descended from really early settlers there is a good chance that you will be part Native American because they and the whites were a bit more "friendly" to each other in those days. It was only later that the whites distanced themselves from Native American Indians.
One of my ancestors was from Northampton Massachusetts in the middle 1600s.
A member of my family was able to do much of her research on our genealogy through The Latter Day Saints (Mormons) resources. They have excellent records.
We have our genealogy traced back to 1385.
Last edited by Catavenger; 09-24-2014 at 10:35 PM..
From what I have read if you are descended from really early settlers there is a good chance that you will be part Native American because they were a bit more "friendly" in those days. It was only later that the whites distanced themselves from Native American Indians.
One of my ancestors was from Northampton Massachusetts in the middle 1600s.
Like, one of my ancestors only has a first name and no maiden name. Let's assume she's native, what tribe would she most likely be from? (born 1736 in Rhode Island by the way)
Like, one of my ancestors only has a first name and no maiden name. Let's assume she's native, what tribe would she most likely be from? (born 1736 in Rhode Island by the way)
The only advice I could give you is to research the tribes in the area of Rhode Island in which your ancestors lived. See which tribes the American settlers go along with best at that time.
The only advice I could give you is to research the tribes in the area of Rhode Island in which your ancestors lived. See which tribes the American settlers go along with best at that time.
But how likely in your opinion is it that I could have an ancestor who's native?
But how likely in your opinion is it that I could have an ancestor who's native?
If you count your mother's side of the family with your father's and all of your ancestors who married into those lines, in my opinion (and it's just that an opinion), I would think that there is a good chance.
What are the odds that I could be distantly related to someone influential in history? Like one of the founding fathers, or one of the revolutionary war generals?
Apparently in the south, alot of people are part Native American or Black , and they don't even know. Is that the same case with New England? Or was that because it was less economically developed and had slavery?
Does state correlate to where in England they immigrated from?
Thanks
I found that with my New England ancestors (and ancestors of other people I know) they all started out in MA and spread out from there to RI, CT and NH. They would most likely have started in Plymouth as Pilgrims or around Newbury MA as Puritans. As far as the Puritans go, they didn't stay in one place--very early on, some migrated to the western part of MA. Others (probably desiring more religious freedom) migrated to RI, and still others migrated northward to NH or VT or southward, especially to coastal CT. They kept setting up new towns everywhere they went and they were farmers or served the needs of the settlement as blacksmiths or ministers, things like that.
The churches kept excellent records of the early towns so you can check the church records for each town. These were educated and civilized people. Centuries later (usually late 19th c.) there is usually a town history written by the local town historian and these can contain a wealth of genealogical and historical information. You can just google the town and read the book on line. There are not only names and dates but interesting stories --and sometimes your ancestors are the main characters.
Most of the early settlers came from East Anglia in England. A lot of New England cities and towns are named after the town in England that the people came from. I don't think there's much correlation between where they came from and what state they ended up in. They usually landed in some port like Boston, went to a settlement where they already knew people or had connections, and they would fan out from there.
Later on, maybe by around 1700 or so, you see other groups like Scots Irish, Dutch, and others who actually did seem to settle in certain places. I know of a group of Scots Irish who settled in Haverhill MA and migrated little by little up through NH. Dutch usually landed in NY and some migrated up into NH but most probably stayed and settled the state of NY.
You might be related to someone influential in history. Someone has to be! There weren't that many people so almost everyone who was here had a chance to be famous or at least to be involved in some famous event. I don't think you can have New England ancestors who were of the right age around the Revolutionary War and not at least get a Rev War vet. If they were here, they went to war, most of them anyway.
None of mine were famous, for example, but the same as someone else just mentioned, I ended up being related to both Bushes and the Roosevelts (through Delano). Someone else said they had ancestors in Northampton, MA. My recent family comes from Northampton and I had someone there in the 1600s and another branch there after the Rev. War. The Connecticut River is there and that was a migration route with lots of towns along its banks.
As far as Native American ancestors, a lot of people have legends in their families about an Indian Princess.
It's almost impossible to prove though. The very early colonists, first generation, got along great with the Native Americans, then the second generation fought with them in the French and Indian War, King Phillips War. I tend to think that any intermarriage would have taken place very early on, although during the Indian war, white people were kidnapped and taken to live with Indian tribes. I don't know if that's when the inter marriage resulted that we would have heard about because the kidnapped people were usually either ransomed back or they chose to stay with the tribe and their children would have been considered Native American, I would think. In most cases no one knows what happened to their children as no records were kept.
As someone else already said, it's fairly easy to find New England ancestry because it is so well documented.
But how likely in your opinion is it that I could have an ancestor who's native?
Not all that likely IMHO. This is actually the first I'm hearing of the Pilgrims breeding w natives. I'm surprised this is the first I'm hearing. I'm not sure how accurate it is. The passenger list and subsequent genealogical records are vast and well recorded into the 1800s from what I have seen (and probably beyond. ) I suppose that illegitimate children may not be recorded.
I grew up close to Plymouth and I'd estimate that based on only who ive spoken with, at least 35% from the Plymouth area could trace their ancestry back to at least one Mayflower passenger. Of those who i know whom have had their trees researched, 2 friends could date back to the Mayflower on one side w no native present and one dates back on both sides w no natives present.
Granted this is a very small sampling but it might give you some idea. IMHO, the Pilgrims probably kept to themselves and were snobbish about their interactions. I say this because it is human nature to want to stay within your own group and a lot of people in whom ive met in Massachusetts are still snobbish and/or proud of their "unsullied" pedigrees. (This is just my personal experience, not trying to offend.)
Also, most Native Americans have dark brown eyes. This is the dominant color over blue so it occurs much more often in people w Native American ancestry. All people who date back to the Mayflower who i know have blue eyes. Most residents, especially the elderly, of the Plymouth area also have blue eyes in my observation.
What are the odds that I could be distantly related to someone influential in history? Like one of the founding fathers, or one of the revolutionary war generals?
Apparently in the south, alot of people are part Native American or Black , and they don't even know. Is that the same case with New England? Or was that because it was less economically developed and had slavery?
Does state correlate to where in England they immigrated from?
Thanks
Sorry to tell you but you're probably an ordinary person and you're completely caucasian. Sorry that's not exciting enough for you but relax....you're just like millions of others and your life won't change one bit.
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