On May 31, 2014, I made the following post on this site: All my life I've been told I have Cherokee ancestry through my Knighten forebears. There are even a few interesting legends about how John L. Knighten escaped the Removal (a decade before he was born) and of family members visiting from the Cherokee … Continue reading The Dangers of DNA Testing
Category: History and Heritage
Essays examining the people, places, and traditions that shape historical memory. This category includes genealogy, regional history, and the study of cultural inheritance.
The State of the Alabama State Defense Force
Back in December, I stumbled across an article online that the Alabama State Defense Force had been stood down. Having once been an officer in the ASDF, I was a bit disappointed to hear that. Being a bit of a militia advocate, I've commented on "militias" at various points on this site, and I used to maintain, as "signal … Continue reading The State of the Alabama State Defense Force
Blazon of William Blethyn’s Armorial Achievements
Arms recorded on William Blethyn's Pedigree Roll A couple years ago I posted the William Blethyn pedigree roll with the promise of transcribing it. I'm a little behind schedule in following through with that, but I would like to make an attempt to blazon the arms attributed to him. Arms: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Gules, three chevronnels argent … Continue reading Blazon of William Blethyn’s Armorial Achievements
Elisha James Blevins
As is often the case with genealogy, excellent research has already been done on a particular ancestor, if only you can find it. With regards to my 3rd great-grandfather, Elisha James Blevins, the research has already been done by Robin Sterling. For the sake of posterity, I'll provide the link to original and a cached … Continue reading Elisha James Blevins
Honor amongst adversaries
This is a great story of honor amongst adversaries: Why A German Pilot Escorted An American Bomber To Safety During World War II: I learned of the following article through a link posted on the Western PA Dieselpunks Facebook page. It’s an article posted at the web site Jalopnik.com titled, “Why A German Pilot Escorted … Continue reading Honor amongst adversaries
My connection to Clan Douglas
Some time back I became interested in my Scottish roots and discovered that my maternal ancestors, the Blackwoods, were historically associated with Clan Douglas. I understand that normally, Scottish clan association is paternal, but given that my paternal ancestry is Welsh, I was curious if I could actually claim clanship through my mother's line, so … Continue reading My connection to Clan Douglas
Henry Blethyn: apprentice on the Submission
Henry Blethyn is a bit of an enigma to many Blevins researchers. Little is known of his life, but his emigration to the American colonies is well documented. He was an apprentice on William Penn's ship the Submission, which departed from Liverpool on 5 July 1682. The Sailing of the Ship "Submission" in the Year … Continue reading Henry Blethyn: apprentice on the Submission
