So after that ringing endorsement of my writing, please do read on! I love history and part of that interest is genealogy. I think it is important to know where you come from and your family's history. It can be a great source of pride as well as a sense of identity. Up to this point what I knew about my family's history was somewhat limited and fairly uninteresting.
My father's side of the family was of English heritage. My great grandfather helped write a book detailing the genealogy of that side of the family and the only fact I always remembered was a Mathias Button, my Great^10 grandfather who came over
to the colonies on the ABIGAIL with Governor John Endicott's party and landed in Salem in 1628. Also, one of his early homes was burned down by Indians. It was interesting enough for my 2nd grade heritage project but not exactly mind-blowing today. I almost forgot that my dad also believes we are distantly related to John Adams, and subsequently his son John Quincy. They are of course the 2nd and 4th Presidents and John was a founder of this nation. My mother's side of the family was for the most part a complete mystery. I mostly recall hearing that we were of Irish and German descent but there were never any specifics.
Over the past month this would all change. From this moment on my family history would be something to be really proud of with 3 big discoveries. The first of these happened at my grandmother's funeral. This was my grandmother on my mother's side. I have long had a fascination and admiration for Jewish culture and I also had a hunch that parts of my mother's ancestry were of Jewish heritage. To my surprise and joy I discovered this hunch to be true. Granted, this is based on a brief conversation with relatives I barely knew. Nevertheless, according to them my grandmother was of Jewish descent and they think her ancestors came to this country and changed their name to Brenning. They were unsure what the original last name might have been though. These details are incredibly fishy to be sure, but it still made me quite happy to hear.
My father unearthed the next 2 discoveries. My great interest in history and genealogy most likely came from my father, which he got from his father and grandfather. He has included me in emails he has sent out regarding these discoveries.
My dad had for some time been looking for a family connection to the American Revolution. In the past he had been unable to find a direct line to someone involved.
The other week he found one that had been under his nose the entire time. Gad Lamb was a Revolutionary War Veteran. With this information I can join the Sons of the American Revolution, an organization that includes many luminaries and, to a lesser extent, our current President. While I have been writing this blog entry I have been "googling" some of these relatives and I just discovered that through Gad Lamb I am related to the late Christopher Reeve. It is a pretty close line as well. Gad Lamb was my father's 4th great grandfather as well as Christopher Reeve's. His mother's maiden name was Lamb, which is the maiden name of my great grandmother. It appears we are descendants of different children of Gad Lamb. That's right baby, I have Superman blood in me! Mess with me now! hahaha If you go on other more distant offshoots of Gad Lamb then I am also distantly related to the current political loser, Mitt Romney, as well as George Eastman. These are of course very distant.That is what is pretty cool about genealogy. You can find out these relations completely out of the blue. Before I started this blog I had the knowledge of being a Son of the American Revolution and poof, just after putting a name in google I find I am related to Christopher Reeve.
Anyways, the last discovery is actually the most significant. I know what you are thinking. How can you top Superman? I received another email from my
father tonight with a discovery that blows the others away. I am of Royal descent. We have a direct line, funny enough also through Gad Lamb, to the House of Plantagenet. The direct line includes King Henry III, his father King John and his father Henry II. Though not a direct line, Richard the I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, was the son of Henry II and brother to King John. So I am related to him as well. Through this line I am also directly related to William Bradford who was a leader of the Plymouth Colony of Mass and author of the Mayflower Compact, who came over on the Mayflower. Through him the amount of notable people I am distantly related to becomes ridiculous. I understand that this fascination is pretty lame to most people and I apologize if this was an incredibly boring read. But I find it tremendously interesting how connected we all are. A month ago I thought my family history wasn't anything of historical significance. Now I find that I am directly related to English Royalty, a famous Plymouth and Mayflower leader and, though not directly, but related within 4 generations to Superman. Plus I have a history of Jewish culture which is something I greatly admire.
