Poking around one's bloodline can provide plenty of opportunities for self-reflection. I've met lots of feisty Puritans; some cobblers, millers, and blacksmiths; a few burgesses and huguenots; a couple of privateers; and still more feisty Puritans. Ten generations of research can reveal more than 1000 individual life stories, a figure which doubles with each subsequent generation. The sheer number of ancestors upon whom our entire existence depends and the mantle of responsibility for recognizing that heritage can be quite intimidating.

Yet the fascination remains...

The link below connects to information on more than 800 direct ancestors of Alice Bartlett Stimson (1921-1998) and James Dunbaugh Smith (1932-1980), with many lines traced back 11 or 12 generations (and some continuing much further).

Here is an annotated list of books in print.

TWO GRANDMOTHERS

Isabelle and Helen

The link below connects to the companion video to:
Collected Letters of Wm. Peartree Smith and Elisha Boudinot

Wm. Peartree Smith and Elisha Boudinot: Committees of Correspondence

The link below connects to the companion video to:
Four Henrys and Appendices

A Stimson Saga

Other Interesting Grandparental Wikipedia Entries...

• Sir William Spencer (c.1496-1532)
• Sir Richard Brydges (1500-1558)
• Rev. William Noyes (1568-1622)
• Gov. Thomas Dudley (1576-1653)
• Hon. Nathaniel Tilden (1583-1641)
• William Vassall (1592-c.1657)
• Rev. John Wheelwright (1592-1679)
• Maj. George Fawdon (c.1600-c.1654)
• Col. John George (1603-1679)
• William Beardsley (1605-1661)
• Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton (1607-1661)
• Mary Perkins Bradbury (c.1615-1700)
• Maj. Robert Pike (1616-1706)
• Capt. Joseph Judson (1619-1690)
• Susannah North Martin (1621-1692)
• Col. Thomas Ballard (1630-1690)
• Roger Toothaker (1634-1692)
• Capt. John Grout (c.1643-1697)
• Hon. William Peartree (c.1643-1714)
• Maj. John Stith (fl. 1656-1691)
• Hon. John Rice Jones (1759-1824)
• Rev. Dr. Samuel Colcord Bartlett (1817-1898)