An interesting fact you've learned about one of your ancestors.

There are so many interesting things I've learned over the 40 years I've been involved in research. I think I would be hard pressed to pick just one interesting fact about only one of my ancestors. I chose this fact to share - My great great grandfather was a Trader who traded good to the Cherokee Nation. He was good at what he did, learning their language so he could communicate at different levels with them. The Indians trusted him more than other white traders and gave him a seat at many fires. When it came time for the Cherokee to be moved from their homes and land, my great great grandfather helped hide a small group of Cherokee Indians inside caves, in the hills of Northern Georgia. The small group of Indians wanted to repay him for his kindness and for his help, so they 'gave him' an Indian girl to wed in appreciation for all he had done for them. That Indian girl became my great great grandmother. Shortly after they were wed (in the tradtional Cherokee Indian fashion), and after spending the next year living among the Cherokee, my gggrandfather took his bride to live among the whites, escaping the infamous "Trail of Tears". Each time a census came around, they managed not to be counted, steering clear of being found out. They kept away from any type of census until 1850. By then, it didn't matter much anymore. For many years, the family hid stories about how my great great grandmother, being Indian and from the area they were, managed to escape the removal efforts of the military. After years of investigation and research, we have been able to uncover the truth of the matter and reveal how our Indian heritage survived those terrible times.

The family you speak of, it wasn't the Parkers was it?

I have been researching my family history since I was 16, and have learned many interesting things along the way. My great Aunt was the first woman to obtain a mortgage in Dallas county, back then that was not heard of. She was also a seamstress for many of the wealthy and well to do women around Dallas. That is just one of the many interesting things I have learned about my ancestors. I did some research on my ex-husbands family and found that his great, great, great uncle was the last man hung in New Mexico, for robbery, banks, stage coaches and mining companies payroll.

My mother's 8th or 9th great grandmother, Beata Lom, was the first child born in New Sweden (somewhere in the Delaware Valley area) in c. 1643. She may well have been the first European born in the area in general. My father's 9th great grandfather, John Chew, was a member of the Williamsburg House of Burgesses in the 1620s. His son moved to Long Island, and one of his sons moved to South Jersey where they remain.