Having ancestral roots going back to the very beginning of European/English occupation in America I never had a doubt I'd find some amazing people in, or associated through marriage, with my family tree.
My early emigrant ancestors, all of them on my mother's side of my heritage, run the gamut from the lowest classes to nobility.
I have ancestors who came up out of nothing, who came here as indentured servants, for the free ride to the New World.
I also have other ancestors who were offspring of notable Englishmen of the landed gentry but due to Primogeniture rules in Europe wouldn't inherit anything so they needed to start from scratch to make a life. I guess they figured it would be easier in some ways to do in a new uncharted land.
Then there are still others who came here with wealth and prestige intact and grew that wealth and influence in a society where the sky was the limit.
If nothing else I am inclusive and diverse in so much as my Caucasian ancestry can be. ;-)
Of the ancestors I have tracked back to Europe, so far, I am a 12th generation American born and raised here on some of my family lines. Using an average of 20 years per generation(which is a rule of thumb in genealogy) that's 240 years of living and dying on American soil. That's a mighty long time in anyone's book.
But I've got 2 ancestors I've uncovered so far, that came here 406 years ago to plant the Garnett and Flood families in American soil.
Outside of having Indigenous North American blood 406 years in this land is a crazy long time by US standards.
Over many generations these ancestors who came before have experienced heartache and great gain and everything in between. They have also "married up or down" as the saying goes, and had their lots in life rise and/or fall from one social sphere to another better or worse in our American community.
And all this living and dying over many generations brings me to who I am today and where I am today.
With all these humble, moderately connected, and wealthy notable ancestors, it shouldn't have been a surprise that I would find a few famous folks along the way.
My latest discovery?
You see him every day on your money.
This guy right here........
Yep, George Washington.
The fellow every American wants to be related to. lolz
My connection is through marriage but it's something, right?
Here's the trail--
John Fludd(Flood) came to Jamestown in 1610 on "The Swan", one of the 3 resupply ships owned by Thomas Gates. This fleet came to "rescue" the Colony after the "year of the starving time" as 1609 became known in Jamestown, when most of the colonists died from disease or hunger and reduced their number from 500 to 60.
John was a mere boy of between 10 and 18 depending on which source you quote, from Kent, England. We don't know why he got on that ship as he left no record to tell us.
The Fludd name is Welch in origin, going back to Ririd Vlaidd of Shropshire, an 12th century Earl of Penlyn. A descendant of Ririd Vlaidd was Sir Thomas Fludd who was knighted by Elizabeth I.
Thomas Fludd had a son, John Fludd, who was the father of Richard Fludd. This Fludd immigrated to Drogheda Ireland circa 1645 where the family name was angelicized to Flood. So all us Flood/Fludd descendants in America are cousins to folks in Ireland named Flood.
Sir Thomas Fludd had another son, Nicholas Fludd. Nicholas was the father of our John Fludd/Flood. I suppose John Flood came to America for one of two reasons....
1. He was not the oldest son of his father Nicholas and thus would not inherit anything.
2. He was young and restless for adventure.
Or maybe for both reasons.
At any rate he hopped about the Swan and landed in Jamestown.
John Flood was known to be an interpreter for the local British government with the coastal Algonguin speaking Native Americans living there(mostly Powhatan tribes). He was paid in tobacco, acquired land on the banks of the James and became a wealthy planter.
He survived the Jamestown massacre of 1622 and when the first muster roll was taken in 1624 he was listed living at Jordan's Journey(which was on the banks of the James River across from present day Hopewell, Virginia). His household included a wife, Margaret Finche Fludd(who arrived with her husband, William Finche and their daughter Frances in 1620 on "The Supply").
John and Margaret had as many as 6 children(depending on which researcher you use), one of those being Mary Flood, born circa 1635.
Mary Flood was to marry 4 times before her life was over.
Mary was sent to England to be educated, as many wealthy planters' daughters were, then returned to the Virginia Colony about 1655 to marry for the first time to Richard Blunt of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. They had a son, Thomas Blunt, in 1656, before Richard died shortly after their son's birth, passing at the age of 39.
The widow Mary Flood Blunt then married Charles Ford 9 Apr 1657, and he passed away that same year, and there was no issue.
Mary thirdly married John Washington 13 Oct 1658 and they had a son Richard Washington, in 1660. John also died soon after their child was born, passing away at the age of 30.
Lastly Mary married Henry Briggs circa 1661. We know they had at least 5 children together from Henry's will--Henry, Charles, Samuel, George and Marie(or Mary), before Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs died in 1679 in Surry County, Virginia.
Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs is one of my 9th Great Grandmothers through her son with Henry Briggs, also named Henry Briggs. (My previous research indicated that I was descended from Henry & Mary Brigg's son, Samuel Briggs, but that was false. Their son Henry, who married Elizabeth Lucas, is my 8th Great Grandfather.)
Mary's son with John Washington, Richard Washington, is my 8th Great Grandfather's half brother and my 9 x Great Uncle.
My line as related to the Washington line--
Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs and Henry Briggs
Henry and Elizabeth Lucas Briggs
James and Elizabeth Briggs Chappell
John(II)and Elizabeth Briggs Mason
John(III)and Jane Parham Mason
Joseph and Elizabeth Weatherford Mason
William and Sarah Mason Driskill
James and Mary Agnes Driskill Harper
Robert and Jennie Vie Tucker Harper
Wirt and Lillian Vassar Harper
Francis and Carole Harper Bowman
Me
John Washington, Mary Flood's 3rd husband, is the Grandson of Lawrence Washington(1565-1615)and Margaret Butler(1568-1622). Lawrence had a son Richard(John's father)and another son, Lawrence Washington(1602-1653). This Lawrence married Amphillis Twigden and they had a son, John Washington(1633-1677).
This John Washington immigrated to Virginia in 1656, a young man of about 23 years, aboard a merchant ship transporting tobacco between England and the Colony. He had invested into this shipping venture.
This John Washington was George Washington's Great Grandfather.
Lawrence and Margaret Butler Washington
Lawrence and Amphillis Twigden Washington
John and Anne Pope Washington
Lawrence and Mildred Warner Washington
Augustine and Mary Ball Washington
George Washington
In other words, George Washington is the 1st Cousin 3 removed of the Husband of my 9 x Great Grandmother.
How's that for a kick in the head? 8-)
My family arrived in the US fairly recently: both sets of grandparents left Quebec as middle schoolers in the 1920's to make a better life down here, leaving their sheep herds, potato farms behind. I can trrace my family back to Normandy and Bretagne in the 1640's-still farmers and a few carpenters thrown in. No nobility here. : )
ReplyDeleteIs that why my head is spinning--kick in the head. By the way, the beginning of this post before all the begats was a superb piece of prose.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your genealogy posts - genealogy was my grandmother's hobby and we were always being regaled with tales of who we were related to and how (which is why I can still easily understand 'the chart' in my head when people talk about 8th cousins, etc.). My grandmother published books on our family, and loved traveling to the Los Angeles public library to do research. The Internet would have seemed like a miracle to her.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe we are related somehow! My grandmother traced three direct lines back to the Mayflower on my mom's side, most notably John Alden and Priscilla Mullins and plenty who fought in the Revolutionary War. Family names were Holgate, Conn, Cooper among others. My dad's family started out in the south - Coffins (weird name) was the family name there. I guess that makes me about as WASP as you can get, LOL. Are there Hamptons in your family? That's on of my husbands family names and they're from Virginia.