#52ancestors: Week 7 Favorite Discovery
In the couple of years I have been researching family history, I have made so very many discoveries! I have found a “new world” of ancestors out there just waiting to be recognized! The whole process of researching can be undaunting but also exciting. But my very favorite discovery came as a great surprise to me.
Last year, my daughter and I were attending a genealogical conference and taking advantage of the wonderful sessions given by professional genealogists. We learned new ways to search and find information on our ancestors. The Mayflower Society of Wisconsin had volunteers that would help with any of your research so we signed up for a slot to ask some advice. As I was going through my lineage that I had found so far, the volunteer realized that my lineage was going to end up at Stephen Hopkins – a Mayflower Pilgrim Ancestor. Seriously? I was floored! I could hardly believe that I was a descendant of someone who came on the Mayflower in 1620!
Then came about four months of intense research for records on all my direct descendants to prove my connection to Stephen Hopkins. That’s 15 generations of records! It was a ton of work but it paid off as I am finally admitted to the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Wisconsin! The whole process of discovery was pretty exciting! As an added bonus, the Mayflower volunteer who first helped me determine my correct lineage turned out to be a cousin! He was also descended from Stephen Hopkins! So I gained a new cousin and dear friend!
In my lineage are some of the people who I have been researching and have written blogs about without realizing where their lineage would take me! Of course, the line starts with my father and his father, Clarence Lyons. The continuing line includes Susannah Ashlin, my great grandmother and her mother, Mary Ann James. My recent blogs are about the James family including Mary Ann. Her mother, Susannah J Porter and her grandmother, Mary Polly Thomas are next. Freelove Cole, mother of Mary Polly Thomas and her mother, Remember Cole completes the lineage that I am familiar with and have written about. The surprising thing about this lineage thus far is that all of them are females in a maternal line starting with Susannah Ashlin!
My future research will include the Cole, Paine, Snow and Hopkins families, the rest of the Mayflower lineage. However, I still continue to research the other line as one never knows where it will take you!
The Lyons Tracks 