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As for my direct line of the family, my g-g-g-g grandfather made the mistake of heading west, where he became nothing but a poor dirt farmer in Ohio. If only he would have stayed on the East Coast with the rest of the family. :-)
Oh yeah, I have quite a few of those who just should have stayed put!
I am investigating my own Andrew Jackson connection. My Grandfather was Herman Dollinson Jackson, which is awfully close to Rachel Donelson (Andrew Jackson's wife) and he is supposedly descended from the adopted son of Andrew Jackson and Rachel, who was Rachel's nephew..? I think? Anyway all of this is just what I have found on Ancestry and have no way verified.
If it is all true, I wish I could have figured it out before my Grandma died. Herman was her father and she would have gotten a kick out of all this since all she knew about him was negative and she didn't know anything about his family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
If your ancestors crossed the seas early on, they were of one of two groups. They were younger sons of titled houses who were landless and hoped to stake out their piece of dirt since there were none to have at home. Younger sons lost value once the heir had a son. Or they were servants, personal or indentured. The early attempts at settlments were attempts to find wealth. One of the reasons Jamestown was a near complete failure was that gentlemen did not do manual labor and the natives were not incline to either, leaving insufficent bodies to do the hard work. Had they brought a bunch of farmers who knew how to grow a crop they would have done much better.
A LOT of Americans can trace ancestry back to those who arrived under indenture, voluntary or otherwise as well. The people who later moved on from the coast were the people who became farmers and settled living off the land but early on this wasn't the main reason. Even the Pilgrims were largely urban types who didn't come equipped with the skills they immediately needed. Hoping to find the riches the Spanish had found, most first settlements were actually commercial in nature.
I have one ancestor that is believed to have crossed as an indentured servant (from Ireland), in his mid 20's, in 1664 , but later married into well known Massachusetts early family (Chase) even though his own origins were not anything fancy. He was a planter. Would this have been normal/common? Would he have been deemed an acceptable husband based on his own merit back then over and above where he'd come from?
Last edited by Sally_Sparrow; 06-14-2013 at 04:25 PM..
I'm a direct paternal descendant of one of the first settlers of New France,
at Trois Rivieres, there's quite a few articles about him online.. but
I'd rather not say his name only because if I said so, I'd be saying my own.
My 'Grand Uncle' was Otis 'Doc' Crandall...baseball player early 1900's as well as my Grandfather, Karl Crandall... it's embarrassing that I can't even throw a straight line...
Koale
I have one ancestor that is believed to have crossed as an indentured servant (from Ireland), in his mid 20's, in 1664 , but later married into well known Massachusetts early family (Chase) even though his own origins were not anything fancy. He was a planter. Would this have been normal/common? Would he have been deemed an acceptable husband based on his own merit back then over and above where he'd come from?
Planter was their term for a farmer, a frequently found and very necessary occupation when you're moving a population into a wilderness. Being a farmer was a respectable occupation. Some became quite prosperous. Anyone who came over indentured and worked his way up to owning his own land was fulfilling the dream of land ownership that would have been all but impossible for people of humble stock in Ireland. He must have been hardworking, careful and intelligent. Let me put it another way: He done good!
Not super famous, but certainly interesting. On my mother's side, her great-great-great grandfather (maybe too many greats there) was James R. VanZandt, one of the founders of the Baldknobbers- a pro-Union vigilante group in Missouri.
Not super famous, but certainly interesting. On my mother's side, her great-great-great grandfather (maybe too many greats there) was James R. VanZandt, one of the founders of the Baldknobbers- a pro-Union vigilante group in Missouri.
One of my current third cousins (living) sings with the Baldknobbers, a musical group named after the famous vigilante group from the Ozarks. They are the oldest musical act in Branson. They have been performing their show every night for 54 years. Their theater is so old that they are sometimes referred to as the "Grand Ole Opry of Branson" because many famous country stars used to sing there before Branson boomed. (Examples: Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Glenn Campbell.)
Oh yeah, I have quite a few of those who just should have stayed put!
I am investigating my own Andrew Jackson connection. My Grandfather was Herman Dollinson Jackson, which is awfully close to Rachel Donelson (Andrew Jackson's wife) and he is supposedly descended from the adopted son of Andrew Jackson and Rachel, who was Rachel's nephew..? I think? Anyway all of this is just what I have found on Ancestry and have no way verified.
If it is all true, I wish I could have figured it out before my Grandma died. Herman was her father and she would have gotten a kick out of all this since all she knew about him was negative and she didn't know anything about his family.
I have one ancestor that is believed to have crossed as an indentured servant (from Ireland), in his mid 20's, in 1664 , but later married into well known Massachusetts early family (Chase) even though his own origins were not anything fancy. He was a planter. Would this have been normal/common? Would he have been deemed an acceptable husband based on his own merit back then over and above where he'd come from?
In 1664 certainly. Very very few had the money to come any other way and as a result by 1776 three quarters of the native born residents could trace their arrival to an indentured servant. My g gx5 father arrived as a convict and left for Kentucky as soon as he could, but left land to all his sons as he was able to make settlement claims. Many left the place they arrived because the good land was already gone. The most common path from Maryland or Virginia was to Kentucky and west, many families arriving in the midwest in a few generations.
By the time of the revolution, those who came as 'servants' were not so readily accepted as a few generations on, families were successful and class distinctions had begun and many simply never said why that ancestor came. Convicts were generally not accepted in the coastal areas even in 1719 when mass shipments began and they usually went west where it wasn't a social stigma.
Planters were simply someone who owned the land they farmed, so it did not mean wealth, but was indeed a solidly respectable profession.
My third cousin is Frank Serpico (of the Al Pacino movie and previous book by the name Serpico), a very famous police officer who helped clean up the NYPD (to an extent). I have some very distant relations on my mom's side who were some kind of royalty/highly placed family in Russia long ago. My grandfather's grandmother's grandfather or something ... it is a family story passed down and one of the things I hope to track down in trying to do my family tree and learn more about my family history.
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