I can't believe my 40 days are nearly over. My wine merchant is so glad to know I'll be back soon. Actually, not too soon. I have 6 beautiful wines that she has picked out for me just waiting to be sipped and savored.
It's been a very interesting week. After my family weekend, there has been a lot of family activity. It all started because my oldest brother Jim wanted one of us girls to do a mtDNA test. He and my sister Nancy have some notion that there is a Native American Indian somewhere in the family blood line. They are a bit disappointed that I am only finding English and German ancestry. So I have sent for a kit and will be testing. I don't expect to find anything terribly surprising - but if there is one thing I've learned with my family history work it's that there are plenty of surprises.
Last week on NBC's WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?, Ashley Judd found out that she was related to one of the original Mayflower Pilgrims - William Brewster. I was distracted during the program because I had the distinct feeling that I had seen that name in my own family history. I knew that through my grandmother Allie Spooner, I had a connection to the early Americans, and to Plymouth Mass. So I pulled up my family tree on my computer and searched for the name William Brewster. There he was! It turned out that his half-sister, Prudence married a man named Richard Peck, and their daughter Ann was married to John James Spooner. They had two sons, William and Thomas who came over to Plymouth as indentured servants in 1638 - 18 years after the Mayflower. I am descended from William's line - and it's very clear descent because it's all sons until my grandmother Allie.
Also this week, I may have found a long lost cousin. Actually, she's probably no longer living - she was a child of my Uncle Bob's first marriage and was always just a rumor until I stumbled on a name in a census and that led to a birth record. I'm waiting to see if some of her living relatives can confirm this for me. Or if she even knew who her real father was. (My Uncle was an alcoholic and a bit of a rascal in his young years. He was my father's oldest brother and all this happened long before my parents even met.)
There is another, more recent discovery that still has me a bit stunned. I'm not ready to share it quite yet. I want to verify my line a bit. I'm looking way back into my English line now - back to about 1312 to be exact. If it proves to be true, it may be a bit of a shocker! I'll keep you informed. ;-)
And we'll see who I think I am!
It's been a very interesting week. After my family weekend, there has been a lot of family activity. It all started because my oldest brother Jim wanted one of us girls to do a mtDNA test. He and my sister Nancy have some notion that there is a Native American Indian somewhere in the family blood line. They are a bit disappointed that I am only finding English and German ancestry. So I have sent for a kit and will be testing. I don't expect to find anything terribly surprising - but if there is one thing I've learned with my family history work it's that there are plenty of surprises.
Last week on NBC's WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?, Ashley Judd found out that she was related to one of the original Mayflower Pilgrims - William Brewster. I was distracted during the program because I had the distinct feeling that I had seen that name in my own family history. I knew that through my grandmother Allie Spooner, I had a connection to the early Americans, and to Plymouth Mass. So I pulled up my family tree on my computer and searched for the name William Brewster. There he was! It turned out that his half-sister, Prudence married a man named Richard Peck, and their daughter Ann was married to John James Spooner. They had two sons, William and Thomas who came over to Plymouth as indentured servants in 1638 - 18 years after the Mayflower. I am descended from William's line - and it's very clear descent because it's all sons until my grandmother Allie.
Also this week, I may have found a long lost cousin. Actually, she's probably no longer living - she was a child of my Uncle Bob's first marriage and was always just a rumor until I stumbled on a name in a census and that led to a birth record. I'm waiting to see if some of her living relatives can confirm this for me. Or if she even knew who her real father was. (My Uncle was an alcoholic and a bit of a rascal in his young years. He was my father's oldest brother and all this happened long before my parents even met.)
There is another, more recent discovery that still has me a bit stunned. I'm not ready to share it quite yet. I want to verify my line a bit. I'm looking way back into my English line now - back to about 1312 to be exact. If it proves to be true, it may be a bit of a shocker! I'll keep you informed. ;-)
And we'll see who I think I am!
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