I have a German surname, and my mother’s maiden name was what I always thought of as Irish. So most of my life I thought of myself as German and Irish.
A few years ago though I started to dig into my family tree, and was shocked to learn that the vast majority of my lines go back to Tidewater Virginia. Turns out I’m of predominately English descent. Almost no real Irish. Those lines turned out to have been Scots, English, or French Huguenots who made a brief transition through Ireland.
I’ve found a lot of amazing things that I would have never dreamed of in the family history. I would recommend this exercise to anyone. It makes you realize how connected you really are to the past.
I’ve found grandfathers who fought in the Civil War, the War of 1812, and even learned which units they served in and what battles they helped fight. I’ve found a grandfather who fought all the way through the Revolution, including spending the winter at Valley Forge. Another one who fought, along with his father and four brothers, at the seige of Boonesborough and the rest of that vicious war in Kentucky. They went on to help open up the Louisiana Purchase. I’ve found forebears who were the earliest pioneers of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virgina, North Carolina, what become West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oregon, to name a few.
One of the earliest female arrivals was Alice Proctor, who in 1622, in the absence of her husband John, who was in England on business, for nearly three weeks held off the vicious Indian attacks that slaughtered about a third of the Englishmen in Virginia. When the English officers finally showed up they threatened to burn down the plantation if she didn’t return to Jamestown where it was “safe.” Hah.
John Proctor, by the way, had come over in 1609 on the Sea Venture, which didn’t quite make it to Jamestown, being caught in a hurricane and wrecked on Bermuda. They spent the winter there, using the wreckage and native timber on the island to construct two boats which they then took to Jamestown, along with the good tobacco that later made the Virginia Colony economically viable. William Shakespeare wrote a famous play about this whole incident. It’s called, “The Tempest.”
An unprovable but highly credible connection to John Smith and Pocahontas, connections to British nobility, including the family that once controlled London, the man primarily charged with enforcing the Magna Carta, Charlemagne, Charles Martel, who saved Western Europe from the Muslims, the family of William the Conqueror, Viking conquerors of Normandy. I’ve found all of that and more. It’s quite amazing and fascinating.
“One of the earliest female arrivals was Alice Proctor, who in 1622, in the absence of her husband John, who was in England on business, for nearly three weeks held off the vicious Indian attacks that slaughtered about a third of the Englishmen in Virginia. When the English officers finally showed up they threatened to burn down the plantation if she didn’t return to Jamestown where it was “safe.” Hah.”
Love that story! Some things never change.
Yes, genealogy is fun.
I love genealogy. It’s fascinating to ponder how our ancestors had to live and the struggles they faced. Makes one wonder how some of them made it.
I wish everyone could record the stories of their grandparents/great grandparents before they are lost.
I asked my two grandmas some pretty important questions.
Grandma (1) What on Earth did you do here before swamp coolers and air conditioning? A. Hung wet sheets in the windows, slept outside, and swam in the canal.
Nana (2) What on Earth did you use before Toilet Paper. A. The Sears Catalog.
Though family trees get vague before the 19th Century, I think the Proctors are among my ancestors also. People who got here early in the 1600s are ancestors to a high percentage of Americans.
John Proctor is my 11th Ggrandfather on my mother’s side, although there is at least one marriage that is rather tenuous. I am confident that William Parker, who arrived in Jamestown in 1616, is my 9th Ggrandfather. My father’s family, surname Thomas, were relative late-comers and did not arrive in Virginia until 1635.
Fascinating information...but you do know that Pocahontas married John Rolfe, not John Smith, don’t you?