Aslan's Son
New member
I know there was a thread like this before, but I'm too lazy to go back through the pages and dig it up.
So anyway, as the title says, who were your ancestors and/or whom are you related to? I'm big on genealogy (study of family history and family trees), and I find it interesting to see who other people are related to.
I guess I'll start with me. On my dad's side, I'm directly descended from two of the first settlers to RI and two of the original charter members of the first Baptist church in America, William Carpenter (directly) and William Arnold (William Carpenter's wife, Elizabeth, was William Arnold's daughter). William Arnold's son Benedict was a governor of Rhode Island (thus, one of my great-something uncles), and Benedict was also the great-grandfather of the traitor of the same name (making us cousins). A descendant of William Carpenter's, my 6th great-grandfather, Solomon "Solly" Carpenter, was the first Caucasian child born west of the Alleghany Mountains, and family tradition holds that the Carpenters had the first Christmas tree in WV. Solomon's father, Jeremiah Carpenter, was well-known throughout the WV backcountry, and was a Patriot of the Battle of Point Pleasant (Lord Dunmore's War), which is the first battle of the American Revolution as declared by Congress.
Grandpa (my dad's dad) may also be descended from the Clan Hannay, who held Castle Sorbie in Scotland, and came from Galloway. I'm currently investigating this supposed link.
Through my dad's mom (Grandma), I have a royal descent; however, I'll start with the descendants of royalty in my family in America. The lineage comes from the Felton family of Salem, MA; Nathaniel Felton (the immigrant) and two of his sons, Nathaniel Jr. and Benjamin, signed a petition during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to defend John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse from being hanged, but as we all know, John and Rebecca got hanged anyway. Nathaniel was married to Mary Skelton, who was the daughter of Salem's first minister, Rev. Samuel Skelton. A great-something uncle of Nathaniel's, Nicholas Felton, was the Bishop of Ely and helped translate the KJV of the Bible. Nicholas's brother, John Felton, was a member of the House of Commons and fought in the English Armada against the Spanish during the reign of Elizabeth I; he hung out with such historical figures as Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Frances Drake.
Directly, Nathaniel's ancestry traces to a Knight of the Garter, Sir Thomas de Felton of Litcham. Sir Thomas's father, Sir John de Felton of Litcham, was Admiral of England, and Sir John's father, Sir Robert de Felton of Litcham, was a warrior at the Battle of Bannockburn, though he died valiantly. Sir John de Felton's mother, Sibyl, was related to Philippa of Hainault, mother of Edward "The Black Prince" Plantagenet, and thus, Sir Thomas de Felton was a cousin to him. However, if you trace through Sir Robert de Felton's wife, Hawise le Strange, you can trace descents back to the Earls of Chester, Gloucester, Henry I, and William the Conqueror. Basically, my line of descent goes like this:
On my mom's side, her ancestry isn't traced much. My grandpa always said that his mom, Laura Lee McCoy, was a descendant of the McCoys who fought with the Hatfields in the famous McCoy-Hatfield feud, but if we are descended, we don't know how and of which line the descent comes from.
Can't wait to hear everyone's else's!
So anyway, as the title says, who were your ancestors and/or whom are you related to? I'm big on genealogy (study of family history and family trees), and I find it interesting to see who other people are related to. I guess I'll start with me. On my dad's side, I'm directly descended from two of the first settlers to RI and two of the original charter members of the first Baptist church in America, William Carpenter (directly) and William Arnold (William Carpenter's wife, Elizabeth, was William Arnold's daughter). William Arnold's son Benedict was a governor of Rhode Island (thus, one of my great-something uncles), and Benedict was also the great-grandfather of the traitor of the same name (making us cousins). A descendant of William Carpenter's, my 6th great-grandfather, Solomon "Solly" Carpenter, was the first Caucasian child born west of the Alleghany Mountains, and family tradition holds that the Carpenters had the first Christmas tree in WV. Solomon's father, Jeremiah Carpenter, was well-known throughout the WV backcountry, and was a Patriot of the Battle of Point Pleasant (Lord Dunmore's War), which is the first battle of the American Revolution as declared by Congress.
Grandpa (my dad's dad) may also be descended from the Clan Hannay, who held Castle Sorbie in Scotland, and came from Galloway. I'm currently investigating this supposed link.
Through my dad's mom (Grandma), I have a royal descent; however, I'll start with the descendants of royalty in my family in America. The lineage comes from the Felton family of Salem, MA; Nathaniel Felton (the immigrant) and two of his sons, Nathaniel Jr. and Benjamin, signed a petition during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to defend John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse from being hanged, but as we all know, John and Rebecca got hanged anyway. Nathaniel was married to Mary Skelton, who was the daughter of Salem's first minister, Rev. Samuel Skelton. A great-something uncle of Nathaniel's, Nicholas Felton, was the Bishop of Ely and helped translate the KJV of the Bible. Nicholas's brother, John Felton, was a member of the House of Commons and fought in the English Armada against the Spanish during the reign of Elizabeth I; he hung out with such historical figures as Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Frances Drake.
Directly, Nathaniel's ancestry traces to a Knight of the Garter, Sir Thomas de Felton of Litcham. Sir Thomas's father, Sir John de Felton of Litcham, was Admiral of England, and Sir John's father, Sir Robert de Felton of Litcham, was a warrior at the Battle of Bannockburn, though he died valiantly. Sir John de Felton's mother, Sibyl, was related to Philippa of Hainault, mother of Edward "The Black Prince" Plantagenet, and thus, Sir Thomas de Felton was a cousin to him. However, if you trace through Sir Robert de Felton's wife, Hawise le Strange, you can trace descents back to the Earls of Chester, Gloucester, Henry I, and William the Conqueror. Basically, my line of descent goes like this:
That's pretty much all that's interesting on my dad's side.
On my mom's side, her ancestry isn't traced much. My grandpa always said that his mom, Laura Lee McCoy, was a descendant of the McCoys who fought with the Hatfields in the famous McCoy-Hatfield feud, but if we are descended, we don't know how and of which line the descent comes from.
Can't wait to hear everyone's else's!
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