Ok, bloggie friends. I’ve been not only discovering neat genealogy things, but I am STILL doing major organizing and de-cluttering in many areas of my life . I needed to take a little sabbatical, and allow my interest in other things to flourish for a little while. I enjoy indulging in all sorts of research topics. We all have our favorite indulgences, and mine just happens to be information binging. :-p Oh, the topics I will compulsively research…I love the internet age.

I also having some neat and exciting things going on at work too, so that’s been capturing my attention as well.

Anywho…I’m still here, I just have some interesting things in my life things going on. I’ve had a perspective refresher, and my mind is all over the place right now. So, hang on for the ride…I have no idea what adventures await! :-p

But, I don’t want to leave y’all completely in the dark. I want to report on some of my interesting genealogy findings. I’m by no means done with my genealogy research, but I’ve compiled a fairly large family tree with some fascinating people in the branches.

Let’s start with some direct connections, then I will move on to some interesting cousins.

Family that came over on the Mayflower!

My 11th Great-Grandfather:
William Bradford (March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and was elected thirty times to be the Governor after John Carver died. His journal (1620–1647) was published as “Of Plymouth Plantation” (I should read this). Bradford is credited as the first civil authority to designate what popular American culture now views as Thanksgiving in the United States.

My 10th Great-Grandfather:
Edward Doty (May 14,  1598 – August 23, 1655) was a Mayflower passenger, a signer of the Mayflower Compact, and a permanent settler of Plymouth Colony.Doty was one of two indentured servants obligated to Stephen Hopkins, and as such accompanied Hopkins and his family aboard the Mayflower. The first duel in Plymouth Colony occurred June 18, 1621, when Doty and Edward Leister fought with swords and daggers until one was wounded in the hand and the other in the thigh. They were to be punished by having their ankles tied to their necks for twenty-four hours without food or drink. Within an hour they were begging to be released, which the governor allowed upon their promise to behave.

Royalty and Nobility

The Family of Montgomery
My Montgomery line goes all the way down to my 3rd Great-Grandmother, and all the way back to the ~900s. My 8th Great-Grandfather, William Montgomery, was the first to come from Scotland to America. Before him come 600 years of nobility in Scotland eventually leading back to France. There are many interesting family members I am still learning about in this large tree branch. My 27th Great-Grandmother, Lafracoth Munster Ua Briain, was an Irish princess that married into my Montgomery line. I fully intend in reading this book: A Genealogical History of the Family of Montgomery (How Neat!!)

My 28th Great-Grandfather:
King Muirchertach Ua Briain was a son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain, a previous Dalcassian king of Ireland. In 1086 his father died and the province of Munster from which he had claimed kingship of Ireland had been split between his three sons: Tadc, Muirchertach and Diarmait. Tadc died soon after, and Muirchertach banished Diarmait from Munster, claiming its kingship for himself.

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Inventors:

My 2nd Cousin 7 Generations Back:
Samuel Colt – founder of Colt’s Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now known as Colt’s Manufacturing Company), and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver.

My 4nd Cousin 8 Generations Back:
Charles Goodyear was the first to vulcanize rubber, a process which he discovered in 1839 and patented on June 15, 1844.

Presidents:

My 6th Cousin 6 Generations Back:
Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.

My 8th Cousin 4 Generations Back:
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms.

My 9th/10th Cousins 2/1 Generations Back:
George H. W. Bush & George W. Bush, the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States.

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I have Grandfathers that fought on both sides of the Civil War.

I have Grandfathers that fought in the War of 1812.

I have Grandfathers that fought in the Revolutionary War.

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I have a LOT of German ancestry. A lot. Followed by a good deal of English ancestry with the rest predominately Scottish with a touch of Irish.

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My 10th Great-Grandmother, Mary Lacye, was tried as a witch and drowned during her trial (I suppose she was innocent then). Here is the story: The Witches of Shropshire.

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I want to read more about the lives of many of these people. One thing that saddens me about doing genealogy is that I have a huge tree of names, and each name represents a human life that I will never really know much if anything about. All these wonderful life experiences reduced to a name, a list of family members, maybe a few immigration/war records, and a grave marker somewhere.

I’m in the revolution against our faulty evolution…..one day we will prevail over death!