Well, I have taken on a project that I have always wanted to do, but have never had the time. I've started to trace our ancestors.
I started with Philip's side of the family since that is where I had the most information to go with (his mother was very quick in answering some questions).
I have come across some very intersting finds. Through is grandmother, Zelma, I have traced his ancestors all the way back to ADAM & EVE. This is a very tough and long process. However, I lucked upon a professional geneology expert in whom we share a common ancestor. So, from that point back, I was able to take advantage of her research. He descends from the line of Noah's son, Japeth on one side, and Noah's son Schem on the other side. It was very interesting to trace him back that far.
It was a strange feeling to find yourself "rubbing elbows" with people like Adam's son, Seth or Abraham. We all know that we ALL descend from these people (with alot of inbreeding! HA!) in one way or another . . . as we know that God created the first and only people at the time, Adam & Eve. But it takes on a whole different meaning when you can physically trace your lineage to that point and know exactly who you descend from.
Some other interesting people to whom he is "related" are St. Arnold, Bishop of Metz (The Patron Saint of Beer Brewers - There will be absolutely no living with him now!), LOTS of royalty . . . Alfred the Great, Charlamange the Great, etc. Believe me, I haven't heard the last of THAT yet!
"I'm a descendent of Royalty . . . "
I also came across some ancestors who were reportedly involved in the fall of Troy. Now, I know that this is from Greek Mythology, and I wasn't sure how "true" this was at the time. However, I did some research, and it looks as if Greek Mythology is a collection of stories about not only their "gods", but also their heros and heroines. From what I could gather, when there was someone who was particularly heroic, or a great battle of some sort, they would imortalize them and there would be tales written about that REAL people or event. They used these far-fetched stories to add some grandeur to the facts.
So, I have taken these people and put them in our tree - knowing that they were real people and events, but that the stories behind them were not necessarily true. However, it is very interesting to read the stories that were created about them. So I have included the legendary information in our tree under the "notes" section on each person. I figured it would add some interesting coversational tid bits to the tree.
If anyone knows more about this than I do, and see that my findings are incorrect about Greek Mythology, let me know - I will have to cut these people out or add notes to the effect that we don't necessarily know if this person really existed or not. . . . it's all very confusing.
Until next time!
