Tonight's Blog Post #3: Family History - I Am Doing It

Well, actually I'm just mooching off of what other people have done. Last Saturday when I should have been studying for a midterm, I decided to "confirm" some things I suspected about my ancestors. I just got really curious, suddenly, out of nowhere, and it immediately seemed crucial that I spend several more hours over the weekend looking around here to explore a little of my family tree. Here are a few of the things that made me excited enough to call my parents and tell them:

1. I have an ancestor named Thomas Brackett who was killed by Indians. Killed by Indians! In Maine! In the 1600s! Readers, that's like something you'd read in a history book! And you know how I feel about history.

2. On my Dad's side, with a few significant exceptions, I am almost nothing but English. And they almost exclusively came over in the 1600s to Massachusetts, which means they were probably Puritans, which is fantastic because I kind of love love love Puritans and early colonial history. (See #4 for further evidence of their Puritanness.) This is nothing but fascinating to me. Do you KNOW what the early colonists went through? How exciting!

3. I will also note that the non-English exceptions are interesting and important and include a decent line from Scotland and Ireland, one random French guy, and a very solid line from Wales and Austria-Hungary on my mom's side (my great-great-grandparents were ethnic Germans who went to live in what is now Serbia in an effort to strengthen the borders of what was then the Austria-Hungary empire... COOL.)

4. Names of some of my female Puritan forebears include Thankful, Experience, Mercy, Patience, and Mehitabel. OH, and HAZELELPONI (I feel like it's safe to say she was accused of being a witch). And they came from quaint English villages like "___________- on-the-Moor."

5. The surname "Snow" is of English origin (clearly) and was a nickname for someone with really white hair or an "exceptionally pale complexion." I like this.

6. Cute English last names: Pickering, Woolley, and Curbishley.

I could go on for a long time about how incredibly (and suddenly?) fascinating this all is to me, but this is probably enough for tonight.

Nighty night.