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To: EternalVigilance
Your comments are a great example of why I find genealogy research so fascinating. It is a popular American hobby because many Americans have an overwhelming desire to discover who they are and where they came from. That's because it's not simply a matter of going back a couple of generations to locate the village where all the ancestors lived for hundreds of years. American genealogy is by its nature a journey of mystery and intrique, with each participant clutching his own personal treasure map, heading out on an exciting and rewarding adventure into the unknown. I don't think this is an accident of history, but an instinct imprinted deep within our American DNA.
58 posted on 05/01/2007 7:53:17 PM PDT by Thinkin' Gal
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To: Thinkin' Gal

If you know where you come from, you understand better where and who you are - which makes it easier to discern where you’re going.


59 posted on 05/01/2007 7:58:32 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Thinkin' Gal

I also found others who were among the earliest in Jamestown...including one of its earliest preachers. The family tree has lots of roots in the Tidewater.

Another branch were Quakers who came into PA in the earliest days with William Penn.

They were among the first families that went into KY with Daniel Boone. The first into Missouri right after the Louisiana Purchase. The first into Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and CA. One of my great-great-great grandfathers was Joel Estes, who discovered what is now Estes Park, CO. It is said that his wife Patsy swept the cabin with eagle’s wings. :-)

One more thing: My grandmother’s great-uncle was a man named Jesse Hiatt, one of the early settlers of Madison Co., IA. He planted a big apple orchard there. In between the rows a wild apple tree sprung up. He cut it down, but the next year it grew back. So, he cut it down again. The next year, it grew again, so he famously said, “If thee must grow, thee may.” So, he let it grow and tended it for ten years before it bore a single crop. But, when it did, it was the best apple they had ever tasted. He named it the “Hawkeye.” He took it to a fair, where a rep for a MO nursery company tasted one of these delicious apples. He was crazy about it! But Jesse had already gone home, and there was no way to contact him. So, they waited until the next year, praying he would come back. And, sure enough, he did. So, they bought the rights to the Hawkeye apple from him, which gave him a modest amount of money to fix up his house and pay some bills. The punchline? They changed the name of the Hawkeye to “Delicious,” and the rest is history! :-)


60 posted on 05/01/2007 8:26:27 PM PDT by EternalVigilance ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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