The Mayflower & The Pilgrim Fathers: An Astonishing Statistic.

[tinsel]

My maternal grandfather has recounted to me his family history back to 5 generations before him. My grandfather's great-great-great grandfather was a Cherokee Indian who married a a Swedish girl whose family immigrated to America when she was very young. His family has resided in the west Ky/northwest TN area ever since.
I'm not completely sure, but I believe my father's family (and our name) goes back to the very large "Tinsley Plantation" in the Clarksville Tn area. Some online research I have done leads me to believe that the Tinsley plantations across the southeast were almost entirely owned by descendants of a man named Thomas Tinsley who came here from England in 1638.

 

[aldecaker]

@mayfair- I know what a couple of them said. Squanto said, "Eh, these guys seem alright. What's the worst that could happen?" Geronimo said, "Hm. We'd better kill these bastards before they steal all our shit".

 

[warren]

As an ÓBraian, that side of the family should go right back to the Ard-Ri. I keep promising myself I'll check it out next visit. But, the reality is, I don't want to find out different.

 

[sittingbear]

Although we've always known we're pretty much Norwegian, English, and German, my parents both did the DNA test and--lo and behold--I am 1% Jewish and 2% Mongolian! I told my Jewish friend, and she said (and I quote), "MAZEL TOV!!! Welcome to the tribe!" She then went on to observe that not only am I of Viking and Jewish descent but might also be descended from Genghis Khan, to which she added, "I love that!!!! "Oy, all of this sailing and horseback riding is giving me heartburn!""
In short, I'm an American mutt.

 

[sablebrush52]

My ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower. They were busy dodging Cossacks and stealing horses around that time. Further back they were priests in the Temple of Solomon, but that probably wouldn't get them admitted to many country clubs.
They could have come over on the Mayflower, but all the outside cabins were taken. Besides, the food wasn't kosher, there was no borscht offered with the cheesy buffet and the comedians listed in the brochure were all schmegeggies.

 

[warren]

My father used to say the first of his family to come to America came with a price on his head. Truth? Fabrication? Who cares. Gotta love it! His side of my family was Scots-Irish of "plantation" notoriety. So, one side of my family could very possibly have dispossessed the other side of their property.

 

[judcole]

I'm descended from Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins, through their daughter, Mary. I don't have the necessary paperwork to join the Mayflower Society or anything, but I'm pretty confident in my research.

 

[oldreddog]

My lot landed their ship on Sliabh an Iarainn and I can trace my lineage back to Nuada.

 

[bigpond]

My moms family is descended from the Fuller Bros, one of which was the colony's physician. Which brother? Well, both. A marriage between grandchildren joined the lines. The family tree was traced to two generations before the brothers. The Fuller House is a stones throw from "Plymouth Rock".
My parents still keep a house in Plymouth, though they spend progressively more time as they get older at the house in Hyannis Port. I didn't grow up there but I did live there briefly and being a Mayflower descendant was both a big deal and very rare thing.

 

[deathmetal]

That's probably about right. The original WASPs are still the backbone of this country.

 

[mso489]

To reverse engineer this thread, does this mean that Yankee WASPS are disproportionately pipe smokers? I think the majority of Forums members aren't Yankee WASPS, and are also the backbone of this country, but I guess that's a judgement call. My extended family has a variety of ethnicities, and I like most of them. Both my late wife and my current wife had/has diverse lineage along with Yankee WASP ancestors.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Some interesting historical names are cropping up here, names I have heard from only the two books I have read on the subject thus far.
Thinking about it I do have an illustrious relative myself though with no Mayflower connection that I am aware of...my uncle. He lives in a 130+ roomed (they stopped counting at 130) Elizabethan mansion situated in over 10,000 acres of parkland (I live in a two bedroomed apartment), he also happens to be a Marquess...something I am neither envious of nor would ever be. We all are who we are born to be.
I still find it amazing that there are so many Mayflower descendants, as Philo said, they took 'be fruitful and multiply' quite literally ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[ashdigger]

My family didn't come over on the Mayflower because some of them were already here. Others came later from Wales, Germany and the Netherlands.

 

[jpmcwjr]

On my father's side we are proudly descended from disposed Scottish squatters."
Dispossessed surely John? But then again, if they were squatters then they possessed nothing other than their clothes on their backs. Or do you mean they were simply disposed of in the highland clearances?

I meant indisposed, as they had constant stomach aches from the wretched food.
Yes, reference was to The Clearances, and while they had no legal right to whatever they built or grew, when they were hauled off, shacks, cows and grain were left behind. So, in a sense they were dispossessed; so, yes, a typo; careless proofing.

 

[beefeater33]

...my uncle. He lives in a 130+ roomed (they stopped counting at 130) Elizabethan mansion situated in over 10,000 acres of parkland

Longleat, perchance?...............

 

[mawnansmiff]

Beefeater, well guessed! A glorious place to visit though I think I'm the only member of my family who hasn't actually had that pleasure yet :?

I shall forgo an image of my humble abode, you've seen one you've seen 'em all ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[deathmetal]

To reverse engineer this thread, does this mean that Yankee WASPS are disproportionately pipe smokers?

Most WASPs aren't yankees. Might want to read Albion's Seed for more information.

 

[bigpond]

Um, no. That term has value only as it pertains to Yankee's. No one would use it to refer to a Quaker nor a Scotts slave owner despite their origin and religious background.

 

[deathmetal]

That term has value only as it pertains to Yankee's.

I have to disagree here, based on experience. We're in the South and we use the term, as do all that we know. It is still our identity.
Yankees are a different story...

 

[mawnansmiff]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a WASP?
Regards,
Jay.