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Category Archives: 17th Century
Into the Unknown: Our Intrepid German Ancestors
We are nearly all the descendants of immigrants, those hearty people who risked everything to start again in a new land. Their bravery and fortitude made our country what it is today, made each of us what we are today. … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, 18th Century, Germany, Pennsylvania
Tagged Germany, Palatines, Pennsylvania, William Penn
3 Comments
John Bailey and the Angel Gabriel
No sailor approaching Pemaquid Point, Maine, can look upon that black coast with anything but dread. Monolithic rock walls jut from the ocean floor like fists, waves crashing and wind howling the names of all those lost at this ocean … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, Strange Facts
21 Comments
The Family Ties that Bind
I did not set out to write a multi-part series on the Blue Ridge Mountain evictions, but as the original post became longer and longer, I decided to split it into parts, all of which I will post in upcoming … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, 18th Century, 20th Century, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah
Tagged Blue Ridge, Eviction, Meadows, Merica, Shenandoah, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
8 Comments
Let’s Play Ancestral Name Detective!
First names, like eye color, tend to run in families. In my (ex) brother-in-law’s family, every first son is James, every second son is John. It has been like that for generations. He broke the tradition by a hair, naming … Continue reading
Posted in 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Strange Facts, Uncategorized
Tagged ancestor names, Anglo-Saxon, Battle of Hastings, family naming patterns, names, Norman, Pilgrim, Puritan, Ruth
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Least Popular Baby Names for 2014
My seventh great grandmother was Fear Brewster, daughter of Elder William Brewster of Mayflower fame. Fear’s siblings were named Love, Wrestling, Patience, and Jonathan. Jonathan was apparently named before the Brewsters got their hands on the Geneva Bible, which became … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, Strange Facts
Tagged Biblical names, Brewster, Fear Brewster, Geneva Bible, Pilgrim, Puritan
4 Comments
I’m Thinking About the Children
Searching for your ancestors teaches you a lot. When you start to see past the organizational structures of genealogy, past the dates and towns and who begat whoms, you find small truths that touch your heart, or hidden stories that … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Old Photos
6 Comments
America: Conceived on a Beer Bender?
It’s time for a break from our John Fitch series. File this under strange facts…. The Mayflower wasn’t heading for Plymouth Rock back in 1620. It was heading for Jamestown, Virginia. It might never have landed at Plymouth at all … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, Strange Facts
Tagged Allerton, beer, Continental Army, Isaac Allerton, Mayflower, New Amsterdam, Phymouth, Pilgrims, Revolutionary War, Roanoke, William Bradford
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