Written: 2013-01-22 0937 a.m.
Note: This is a personal entry that I am writing for you and to you, my blog reader, as I process what happened yesterday.
I wrote in a earlier blog post today how Jamestown is my most favorite place on the planet to visit. Do you know why it is?
Well, let me give a little history lesson of the place first, before I write anything more from my perspective.
If I were to ask you where the United States of America started, what would your answer be?
As I was born and raised in Colorado, I learned that Plymouth, Massachusetts -and the MAYFLOWER, was where the USA started. This is wrong.
The Mayflower was in 1620.
Jamestown, Virginia, is the correct answer--in 1607. Jamestown was the first English settlement for the USA in 1607. (This is important. Jamestown is the true birthplace of the United States.)
That's quite the disparity. It all depends on who writes the textbooks as to whether the real truth is shared. I do not want to get into all that here and now.
My husband and I moved to Virginia, because of relocating for his job, in July 2011. I had no idea about Jamestown--nor about what I am about to share.
My husband and I both fell in love with Yorktown and Jamestown when we moved here to Virginia. He took a few weeks off from work so we could get settled and so we could have a vacation. (I have my entire house unpacked within a week, let me add. This is always my goal when I move--and preferably within a couple of days.) We visited both places often (and still do, of course).
Then, on 15 June 2012, I learned something that has thoroughly, completely, entirely, decisively, totally changed my life. (I used all of those synonyms for a reason. It's to make a point.) I learned of a relative, Bryan Penny, who lived in what is now known as Hampton, Virginia in 1670. My family never knew about this, mind you. And, Hampton is near where we live.
This information staggered me.
I realized that I was here in Virginia, at this time, for a reason.
So, I started to work on my family tree.
I've learned that my family consists of some of the Tudors and Plantagenets, royal houses of England, and I had over 50+ relatives executed at the Tower of London. I also learned how I am a descendant of Nero. He's the one who played the fiddle as Rome burned. I am also a descendant of Constantine.
But, I also learned that I had three family members come here to Jamestown in 1607. Three! And, I also had one, John Arundell, who went to Roanoke in 1585-1586 (See the Lost Colony of Roanoke. But, he wasn't one of them.)
Amazing!
This rocked my world--and still does whenever I think about it.
I thought my family had only been here in the USA for four generations or so one one side, three generations on another, and two on another. That was wrong.
But, that's not all. I also learned how by 1640, I had over 35+ family members in Jamestown (or surrounding areas). Also, how I've had family members fight in every single war the U.S. has ever seen. And, I learned that I had over 30+ people fight in the American Revolutionary War (aka the War of Independence). But, what I found really remarkable was how a father and his 12 sons fought in the American Revolutionary War.
The fact that I had three here in Jamestown in 1607--and had over 35+ by 1640, is what really stands out to me.
{Note: Written: 2013-01-22 11:51:47: I just went on an errand and am now back to continue writing this personal journaling entry, addressed to you, my blog reader.}
Now, I am sure, you can see why Jamestown is so important to me. It's the birthplace of the nation I call home, the United States of America, and is where I am from. I've always been patriotic and support 100% the military and all they do. And, I love my family. Jamestown represent both in my life so are meaningful.
It's rather interesting knowing my true family tree and I see things through a totally different lens. My point-of-view is radically different. When asked my ethnicity, I say I am 100% American. I even add it on forms that has an OTHER option. I might have English, Irish, Skottish, German, Swedish, Italian, etc. blood in me, but that was from long ago. I am all American.
