Interesting Things…or not. You choose!

Ok, so another blogger award. Not sure the real purpose of these awards, but hey they can be fun learning more about each other. A little tid bit here, a little tid bit there. 🙂 I’m just not really keen on being the center of attention. I like to cower in the corner, be the wall flower, watch others as they make fools out of themselves. It’s always more fun that way. So, both Michelle and Valerie tagged me and here I am, having to talk about me. Ugh!

Hey, I know, maybe I will tell you seven things about my family history. That’s about me, in a way. I used to be a part of Ancestry.com and researched a lot of my family and as much as I could of my husband’s without buying the Worldwide subscription. I’ve since put that hobby on hold until I can dedicate more time and money to it. I have English, Hungarian Gypsy, German, and Cherokee blood. The English history was the easiest to track down. I would love to learn more about my Hungarian and German as well. And I know the Cherokee will be near impossible. All my relatives have passed. And those that are still alive cannot remember. It’s frustrating to say the least. But I’ve always loved puzzles. (If you want to check out my tree, visit My Roots)

Claypool/Claypoole Family Crest

1. I’ve always been fascinated with my English heritage. My maiden name is Claypool. There are several spellings I’ve come across in my research: Claypool/Claypoole/Claypole. I’ve been able to trace my maiden name back as early as 1500, in northern England. It was a Claypoole/Metcalf merger. When Adam Claypoole Esquire married Lady Dorothy Wingfield in 1586 they brought a long history of royalty lines into the Claypoole family along with many stories that need substantiating.
2. With documentation being what it was (nearly non-existent or lost) these are stories, nothing you can prove matter of fact. However, every so often there is some information that comes up during an obituary search someone does about their ancestor. Perhaps a news report or a mention in a journal. Even without it though, the stories are still fascinating. There are even stories that say we may be related to the original King Author (or at least been part of the Templars), as well as Constantine and the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. The stories go even further back to possibly descendants from James, Jesus’ brother.
   (Yes, yes, I know. I’ve had this conversation with my family many times. Jesus didn’t have a brother. Well, if you are Catholic, like my family, attended youth ministry lessons,
   and believe that the Bible is the ultimate, the FINAL irrefutable word of God, well, then…yes, Jesus never had a brother. However, there were so many more texts and “books” written from many more people. If my memory serves me correctly, there was never a specific list of these texts until Constantine converted in 4th Century AD. And even with the King James Version, men chose what they thought should be included. Even today, pick up a Protestant Bible and there are only 66 books. A Roman Catholic Bible has 73. And we are finding more and more “lost” books. Were they truly lost? Or just forbidden? But I digress).
3. One of my family members, Elizabeth Claypoole, is buried in Westminster Abby. She was the favorite daughter of Oliver Cromwell. If you know your English history, he was an English military and political leader who helped overthrow the Stuart Monarchy (Mary, Queen of Scotts, James I, and James II) and subsequently became “Head of State” in 1653.
4. One of my family members, James Claypole, was supposedly best friends of William Penn. He helped finance the settlement of Pennsylvania and was one of the first 13 original families to join William Penn on the Concord to Philadelphia in 1683.
5. One of my family members, David Claypoole, owned the first printing press in Philadelphia. He printed the original, as well as several copies, of The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and George Washington’s Farewell Address.
6. One of my family members, John Claypoole married Elizabeth Griscom-better known as Betsy Ross. He was her 3^rd husband. They had 5 children, 4 lived to maturity.
7. My Great Grandfather dropped the final “e” in our name for some reason I can never find the answer to.

Want to see more about my Genealogical research? Click here!

So, interesting? Boring? You tell me. Also, I’m supposed to tag people. So consider yourself tagged…or not! Your choice. 🙂