Who do you think you are?

Mr. Big Stuff. You're never gonna get my love.

Just kidding. I couldn't help myself though. :) If you sing that song for the rest of the day, well, you're welcome.

I'm sure you've heard by now there's a new show on called Who Do You Think You Are? where celebs trace their family tree and share it will all America to ooh and ahh over. Several of these celebs were on Oprah the other day and it sparked my interest. Especially when they mentioned that ancestry.com is offering a free 14 day trial. FREE! One of my favorite words. You know after shoes, champagne and Prada (or bet yet, in combination with). Anyway, I decided to check it out to see if I could find anything on my family. Boy howdy (weren't expecting me to say that, where you? I like to keep you guessing) did I! I've traced one branch of my dad's side of the family back to the 1200's and one branch of my mom's side back to the 1300's. Interestingly, both families come from the same area in England.
On my dad's side, I discovered far too few forks for my liking. Far too few. I know back in the day (what day? dunno) it was considered okay to marry your cousin (ewww), but I have the same great, great, great, great, great grandmother and grandfather 5 times. ACK! Of course that could explain a whole lot about my dad's side of the family. Just sayin. On his side I've also discovered Civil War soldiers, a few Revolutionary war soldiers (one of whom was a spy for the Patriots and again for the US during the War of 1812), several DAR "Grand Dames" who helped the Revolution by supplying necessities, hiding the troops and gathering information, a trader who drove cattle from NC down to the Gulf Coast area to trade with the Spanish settlers, a couple of judges, several brothers who were all Baptist ministers (and sons of a Baptist minister) who are credited with bring the Baptist Church to the deep south, and several Native Americans, including 2 chiefs. Not that you'd ever suspect I had a drop of Native American blood in me, being I'm so very pale. I also found several Howards in England during the 14 and 1500's that are believed to be related to both Ann Boleyn and Catharine Howard (2 of Henry VIII's wives).
On my mom's side, I've found several Civil War soldiers, an American Revolution soldier, a settler of Jamestown, several Native Americans (again, why don't I have any of that awesome coloring?) and a man who lived in Strattford Upon Avon, England and was dear friends with a writer you may have heard of called William Shakespeare. In fact he named one of his son's Shakespeare (my direct ancestor's brother).
Isn't that cool? It's kind of nice to see who all these people were who essentially got me where I am today. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here at all. I've been working fast ans furious going through records before my 14 day trial period is over because I don't know that I want to pay for it.
So, where do you come from? If you want to find out, go get your 14 day free trial and find out who you are.

BTW, I'll announce the winner of my giveaway tomorrow!



(who has no trace of the Native American blood that runs through her veins)