Historical Question

[Erinesque]

I’ve been working on my family tree, and have found out that I am a direct descendant of The Joseph Jewett, who was born in Yorkshire in the 1600s, and traveled on a ship called the John of London, in 1643, to Massachusetts.

What I haven’t been able to discover is why did he and two of his brothers travel to the New World at that time, while the others remained in Yorkshire. I haven’t been able to discover what the climate in England was at the time that would have encouraged them to leave and settle here. Does anyone here know what was going on at that time? I’m quite curious about this aspect.

[Ironclad Alibi]

It was at the time of the English Civil War. Perhaps they were escaping or avoiding being involved in that event.

[Erinesque]

Thanks, this looks interesting to learn about. If I ever get a chance to visit England, Yorkshire is where I’d like to go.

[Food Lady]

I don't have an answer for you but it's a cool thing to know about your roots. My family is similar--Mayflower descendant over here.

[Erinesque]

It is really interesting to learn about my family’s roots. Yours is even earlier than mine. My maternal grandfather, who was a Jewett, apparently considered himself more British than American, and was very proud of that, and raised my mother to be proud of her British heritage, too. I didn’t get the opportunity to ever meet him, as he passed away in the 60s, but as i learn more, I am also happy to be descended from the UK.

[Tanasi]

When doing family research be prepared for what is now considered bad but back then not-so-much. I learned that not only did my great-great-great-great-great personally know several of our founding fathers but they also knew him. He was also friends with Andrew Jackson and was challenged to a duel bu Jackson over a horse race. Jackson backed down when he learned that GF was an very experienced pistol shot and was a veteran Revolution and Indian fighter.
My dad's family is mostly Cherokee, Scotch/Irish and French Huguenot via Switzerland.
Mom's family is Dutch. My wife's family is all Irish/Cherokee.
Good luck with your research.

[Ironclad Alibi]

He was also friends with Andrew Jackson and was challenged to a duel by Jackson over a horse race. Jackson backed down when he learned that GF was an very experienced pistol shot and was a veteran Revolution and Indian fighter.

One of my ancestors was in Jackson's army during the Seminole wars. The letter I have from him mentions that Jackson was concerned about the care the wounded received, and that the Indians were wanting to join up with the army, I guess to be on the winning side.

[Tanasi]

Before he became POTUS Jackson vouched for GF when he was trying to get his pension from the Rev War. Ancestory .com is a good source for information. I like exploring the census data.

[Victory Sabre]

My namesake hired a young man to survey his land in western Virginia in 1751. That young man hired was George Washington.

[protege]

While looking for saps in the family tree (pun intended ), I found that I'm descended from a Norman knight, who assisted in the Conquest of England in 1066. As such, he was rewarded for his service with extensive lands in Pembrokeshire and Wales. Later, some of the family assisted again when the Normans invaded Ireland 100 years later. Again, they were rewarded with baronies and a defunct kingdom. Barryscourt Castle was also home to some of them.

However, after living in Ireland for generations, they considered themselves Irish. That became a problem--they pissed off the Crown during a failed revolt. Even though they were pardoned, they became tenants on their own land under the brutal rule of Cromwell during the 1600s.

While the family name can be traced back that far, I'm having trouble filling in the blanks. I do know that my ancestors left Ireland during one of the potato famines and came through Canada before settling in the US. Also, one of them had a kid, who was born on the way over, and got Canadian citizenship. (So I can tell those Canada jokes ) Apparently, I still have very distant relatives in Ireland (County Cork area), but have yet to find them.

[dalesys]

My patronymic is from my great-great-grandparents, who emigrated from Stepaside, Pembrokeshire (Little England Beyond Wales) in 1860 at the ages of 30/27, spent a year coal mining in Bevier, MO and arrived in Salt Lake Sep 6, 1861, so I'm 1/16+ Welsh.

They were latecomers... I have ancestoral lines who were in Nouvelle-France, New England & Nieuw Amsterdam in the 1630's and one in Canada about 10,000 BP or so. Also Danish, German, Swiss, Scots, Irish and Manx. 11 variety mongrel stew.

[EricKei]

I'm mostly German & French (on Mom's side) and German & Cajun (on Dad's side) -- tho Mom's side also includes a (literal) boatload of Welsh folks from Clan Cran(e) who came over during the Colonization era.

[Luna Baby]

While looking for saps in the family tree (pun intended ), I found that I'm descended from a Norman knight, who assisted in the Conquest of England in 1066.

My father's birthname was Knight (he was adopted by his stepfather so we ended up with a different last name).

[Erinesque]

I am descended from English and French families, primarily. I have a smidgen of Native American, Welsh, and Scottish. (I was so thrilled to learn that I had Welsh ancestry). My mother’s maiden name was Jewett, and her mother’s was Kimball. I’ve done more research with those two families, but got back as far as Charlemagne in my dad’s history. I think there was another king in there too.

[dawnfire]

I've done a bit of searching in the family tree. I would love to know the whys. Why did they come to Australia, namely Tasmania from Somersett.? Tasmania back then was pretty wild, still largely a penal colony. No they came as farm laborers to help provide a more lawful society. 30 years later the family uproots and heads to New Zealand which is probably more wild and untamed than Tasmania. Why?