52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Nearly Forgotten

It is Week 13 in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks’ writing challenge. While some of these themes have been more difficult than others for me, this week’s writing prompt, Nearly Forgotten, juxtaposed well with a post I had already planned on writing today.

This post is about an unforgettable, yet almost forgotten woman, beloved by her family and friends and respected by her community, about whom I did not even know until a few years ago: Cynthia Ann (Payne) Watts, my 3rd great-grandmother.

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Popular

It is Week 12 in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. This week’s writing prompt, Popular, was a tough one. Maybe it’s because the concept is so foreign to me personally that I had difficulty finding a “popular” ancestor in my tree. I did, however, identify several unpopular ones, including my 21st great-grandfather, Edmund of Woodstock. As you will read, Edmund was not particularly well-liked by his contemporaries.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Luck

It is Week 11 in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. This week’s writing prompt is Luck.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Favorite Discovery

For more than 20 years, I have been actively researching and documenting our families’ histories. Over the course of two decades, I have learned lots of interesting historical facts and made quite a few interesting and/or noteworthy discoveries.

So many, in fact, that this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks’ writing prompt, Favorite Discovery, has proved more difficult for me than I thought. With so many from which to choose, how am I supposed to select just one favorite discovery?

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Long Line

It is week three in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. This week’s prompt is titled Long Line.

I immediately thought of the many lines I have traced back through history the farthest. A few years ago, I became fascinated with identifying and proving lineage for several “gateway ancestors,” colonial immigrants whose ancestry can be traced to Old World gentry, nobility, or royalty. So far, I have determined that the following ancestors are direct descendants of Charlemagne: Edward Foulke (1651-1741) of Pennsylvania, my spouse’s 8th great-grandfather; Lawrence Smith (1629–1700) of Virginia, my 10th great-grandfather; Edmund Hawes (1612–1693) of Massachusetts, my 11th great-grandfather; and Peter Worden (1569-1639) of Massachusetts, my 12th great-grandfather.