Showing posts with label Plymouth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plymouth. Show all posts

Friday, August 20, 2010

How far do you roots go? Anywhere famous?

Hi there!

Earlier this week I was working on my application into the Mayflower Society. I'm a candidate as my 10th Great Grandfather is Francis Cooke, who married Hester Mayhieu. I always tell my wife, who is a product of pure Canadian bloodlines, that this is MY country, and if she doesn't like it here, she can leave with the rest of the foreigners! Just kidding; just do what I say because I was here first.

Anyhow, I also stumbled upon another site, "The Order of Founders and Patriots", where you had to be directly related to a person who was in this country since 1637 AND had the same line in the Revolutionary War. I started doing some searches on my known ancestors, when I stumbled upon a page showing famous descendants of the Pilgrims.

Some of the people I am now related (through very long roots in the ground) are: Franklin D Roosevelt, the Bush Presidents, Richard Gere, Grandma Moses, and Dick Van Dyke.

Pretty neat, eh? I am now thinking that I should either become an actor, paint, or become president ... what do you think??
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Monday, August 16, 2010

Where do your roots lead?

I find it interesting to discover my roots. How promising is a family that extends back to England? One side of my family history takes me to Plymouth, as I have not one, but two, relatives that came over on the Mayflower. It flows into Springfield, the City that I have called home for these past 42 years, where one of my ancestors was with Pynchon when they stopped within these boundaries; the same relative who signed the deed along with Pynchon to purchase this land. It continues with statues and books written about another enlightened ancestor of mine (hint: his last name was Chapin).

The other side leads to Scotland and Germany; hard-working tough foreigners who came to this land to allow their families to succeed and grow. They worked in a multitude of common labor positions, such as house painters, truck drivers, and foreman. The only expectation they had for working hard was to earn a honest buck.

I look back on all of these roots and ask myself, "where will my generations roots lead to"? What will my descendants think about what we do today and who we are?
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