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My father traced one line of his family tree to a (very homely!) German Duchess, who emigrated to the U.S. in the mid-19th Century. Another line of the tree traces back to John Endicott, who became Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. John Endicott died March 15, 1665 which is, coincidentally, my son's birthdate. (Well, not the 1665 part, but the month and year ..... )
Wow, all of you with the early roots to this "New World" we could be related. LOL!!!
I did my husband genealogy and my families as well. I was able to go back to the Mayflower with one side. That side was the one I'd LEAST suspect THAT! Can you say POOOOOR Southerners.
Most I was able to get back to the early 1600's and when they came to The New World. Every single family line on my husbands side and mine were in this country by the late 1600's. This is why I got a good kick out of my dd's history teacher when she told them most of us had relatives that came thru Ellis Island. LOL!!! Um, NO. My family had already been here 200+ years BEFORE Ellis Island was even built.
States they settled in:
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Long Island (one family line was the first settlers there till our branch moved South)
Virginia (husband has one that served on the Continental Congress)
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Alabama
Mississippi
Missouri
Indiana
Texas
I've been doing family history for about 10 years now. Both my parents and 3 out of 4 grandparents can be traced back to medieval times. My paternal grandfather through both English and Norwegian lines. Paternal grandmother through English lines and paternal grandfather through German ancestry.
I've got everything. I have ancestors who migrated here from Norway and Germany in the late 1800s, and a lot who came in the 1600s from England and France. Then I also have Native American ancestors who were already here.
I noticed someone mentioned Hingham...some of my dad's family also lived there in the 1600s. I'm descended from William Hillard who came on the ship the "Elizabeth and Ann" and lived in Hingham with his wife Esther and children William (my ancestor), Esther and Mary.
And it is so true about people being more related than they think. An old roommate of mine ended up being a distant cousin twice over. I met a woman online (not through a genealogy site) who is related to me back in the 1700s. And then there is an old co-worker who is also related to me twice over through an ancestor in the 1600s. Go back far enough and it's not that hard to find connections. I've found that in the U.S. if you have ancestors in 1600s New England or French-Canadian ancestry, you're probably related.
I didn't see the one post until after...The Endicotts...I'm descended from John's sister Mary who married John Porter. (Who also lived in Hingham). See, we're related!
From my father's side back to 1736 to Etienne, France. When Jean (****) came to America, fathered two families, one white one black, and upon his death gave half of his property to the white and half to the black. I still go to Church Point, LA and can see the road that divides the properties and families. Every once in a while, both families get together for a whole familiy reunion.
On my paternal side, I have not been able to trace back very far because my father's father was an immigrant from Scotland, and he was lost at sea the year my father was born (1918). Very little documentation or memories to trace from. My paternal grandmother was the daughter of immigrants from Bremen, Germany who came to the USA in the 1870s.
On my maternal side, I found a web link that traced my grandfather's family back 11 generations to an immigrant from England who arrived in New London, CT in 1635. Further back, their family name originated from Dordrecht, Netherlands (near Rotterdam). My mother's ancestors were signers of the town charter that founded Bolton, CT (near Hartford) in the early 1700s. They participated in the American Revolution, and later settled near Keene, VT. Others moved on to Broome County NY (near Binghamton) in the late 1700s, then to Stirling, NE in the 1880s. My maternal great grandfather and grandfather left Stirling, NE in the 1890s and settled in Tustin, CA (Orange County, CA) when the population of this area was just a few thousand (compared to present day 3 million).
On my mother's side I can trace my family back to 1300's Hitcham UK. The family also lived in Rattlesden, where they left in 1620 on the Ship Elizabeth for MA. I have a family book that traces them down to my Grandfather's father.
And here i thought you had Charlemagne's royal blood in you .....lol.....
On my Father's side our family was able to trace our routes back to the Civil War and found that even that far back our ancestors lived in Texas.
On my Mothers side, they were traced back before that when my Grandmothers (my Grandmother was born in 1898 in Texas) Grandmother who was born in Ireland came over to the US.
No one famous, no royal blood, just good salt of the earth, hardworking people in my lineage.
My family can be traced back to 600 AD, Much of the history is hard, and I wonder how they survived over time. In 1650 one branch came to the colonies from Germany, and were required to change their name thus sounding English, the other branch came into South Carolina in 1680, and to North Caroling in 1710 again from Germany by way of Ireland.
I think it is common for old Southern families to have their family history taught to them as part of recognizing their identity and where they came from. As a child I took great pleasure in having my grandparents read the trials and tribulations we had suffered to reach a safe harbor. I do the same for my family, and as a result we watch the powers who on several occasions almost wiped out our genetic line.
One period that stands out in my family history and is mentioned in the French history is when Louis XIV mother had 600 Huguenots burned at the stake along the streets of Paris as a gift to the pope. Her quote to the pope was “it was the only way to see an enlighten Calvinist”, that line of my Family was brought to within 6 members of being lost, and to this day that line’s history is filled with a struggle against the Catholic Church. One of the first battles in the American Revolution was a member of this family fighting not only the British, but a regiment of Catholic Scotts crossing her land. She kicked their butts, and changed the direction of the war in the South Eastern US.
The stories are a lot of fun to review, and I feel are a gift much greater than any I could ask for. I see history as my view of the future, and my family history as a view of how to live and what to take care to watch.
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