This story goes back over 40 years. My grandmother wanted to know our history and started with a few others, delving into our forefathers. Who are we? Where did we come from?
Many days at the Lee County Library and many nights of writing letters to perspective relatives, she went all in to this unknown journey. She had asked me if I wanted to go and help, but what does a young 18-20 year old say; Uh-Noo why do I want to know about the past? Famous last words to a now 50 something, that is dying to know the history of our families.
My grandmother's journey and her extensive research found that we are related to Princess Diana, the Black Prince of England, Pocahontas, a famous Pirate and Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and also could be related to Edgar Allan Poe amongst others. Well, now this was cool to find out but still, I was not that interested in finding much less helping my dear, tired grandmother unearthing our families history. Long nights and days she had spent and now this was long before any computer or cell phone. Phone calls and letters up the ying yang, trying to find the answers. She had loads of notebooks filled with research and loaned them out frequently.
By the time she had gotten sick and could not remember to whom she loaned them to, they were gone. After her death, mom had came over to the house and we happened to talk about grandma and her research and she, my mother, asked me if we could find our history.. Now, this happened the year, when computers were coming into homes. I said yes, I can do what I can and see where it leads. I worked for a while, as much as the WWW would or could take me back then and came up with very little and I would report back to my mother and keep going when I found the time; being a mother of 3 and going to school and working 2 jobs was taking up quite a lot of time.
I have picked it up time and again over the years with my mother's side of the family, after her death in 1999 and then as my dad laid dying, he asked if I could find out about his side of the family and I started working on it. Calling family members and writing to them by email has been tedious and a long process that it is very frustrating to tell you that I am only as far as my great grandfather, William A Hankins, bless him, I am struggling to find the answers to this question, Who are We?... I know we are part Native American, but during my research I found that not only on my Hankins side but the Green side as well, both Green's are native American. And now it seems that my mother's side her, father, maybe part native American as well. Great findings, if, if I can find the link to the chain.
Finding your history is something that shows you not only who you are and where you came from but it also tells you stories, stories of those left behind that give you a sense of feeling that you had gotten hold of something written by a family member over 100 years ago. The news may not always be good but still, it shows you how the years of days gone by was for those living in that period of time.
If you ever wonder who, where and why you are here, check out your history. You may find as I have the 1st President of these United States and the 1st King of Scotland and an Indian Princess may be in your blood as well.
Go, Seek, Find, Tell your past which can become your children's future.
Thanks,
Many days at the Lee County Library and many nights of writing letters to perspective relatives, she went all in to this unknown journey. She had asked me if I wanted to go and help, but what does a young 18-20 year old say; Uh-Noo why do I want to know about the past? Famous last words to a now 50 something, that is dying to know the history of our families.
My grandmother's journey and her extensive research found that we are related to Princess Diana, the Black Prince of England, Pocahontas, a famous Pirate and Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and also could be related to Edgar Allan Poe amongst others. Well, now this was cool to find out but still, I was not that interested in finding much less helping my dear, tired grandmother unearthing our families history. Long nights and days she had spent and now this was long before any computer or cell phone. Phone calls and letters up the ying yang, trying to find the answers. She had loads of notebooks filled with research and loaned them out frequently.
By the time she had gotten sick and could not remember to whom she loaned them to, they were gone. After her death, mom had came over to the house and we happened to talk about grandma and her research and she, my mother, asked me if we could find our history.. Now, this happened the year, when computers were coming into homes. I said yes, I can do what I can and see where it leads. I worked for a while, as much as the WWW would or could take me back then and came up with very little and I would report back to my mother and keep going when I found the time; being a mother of 3 and going to school and working 2 jobs was taking up quite a lot of time.
I have picked it up time and again over the years with my mother's side of the family, after her death in 1999 and then as my dad laid dying, he asked if I could find out about his side of the family and I started working on it. Calling family members and writing to them by email has been tedious and a long process that it is very frustrating to tell you that I am only as far as my great grandfather, William A Hankins, bless him, I am struggling to find the answers to this question, Who are We?... I know we are part Native American, but during my research I found that not only on my Hankins side but the Green side as well, both Green's are native American. And now it seems that my mother's side her, father, maybe part native American as well. Great findings, if, if I can find the link to the chain.
Finding your history is something that shows you not only who you are and where you came from but it also tells you stories, stories of those left behind that give you a sense of feeling that you had gotten hold of something written by a family member over 100 years ago. The news may not always be good but still, it shows you how the years of days gone by was for those living in that period of time.
If you ever wonder who, where and why you are here, check out your history. You may find as I have the 1st President of these United States and the 1st King of Scotland and an Indian Princess may be in your blood as well.
Go, Seek, Find, Tell your past which can become your children's future.
Thanks,
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