How fantastic. I’m often reminded of how short our country’s history is. There were certainly former slaves alive when I was born.
My great-grandfather (Dad's dad's dad) was born shortly after the Civil War.He started his family late in life. My great-grandfather died just a year before I was born, but Dad got to know him well -- a man who grew up during Reconstruction and lived long enough to see men walk on the moon. Telephones, automobiles, computers, airplanes, widespread electricity, penicillin, heart transplants, all came into existence in his lifetime.
His father was born in the 1810s or early 1820s. Which means that my dad is only three generations -- and I'm only four -- removed from someone who was alive at the same time as some of the Founders. Pretty amazing when you think about it.