For years my family made no claim to Irish ancestry. We're English and Swedish/Norwegian/Danish, we thought.
But then last year I started a family tree on http://www.ancestry.com/ and through their vast catalog of US and UK census data I found out that not too far back we do have some Irish roots. Which shouldn't be much of a surprise, being that the British Isles are awfully close together. And being that a streak of red hair and tempers most definitely runs through the family! (But I've been told that last one is more stereotype. What do you think?)
The above photo shows my English family, the Adams, on my maternal side. I found it at my Grandma Adams' house a few months ago, right out in the open much to my surprise. I had never seen it before but there it was stuck into the frame of a huge picture of my Great-Grandpa that had been hanging at Grandma's as long as I can remember. The origin of this photo, and how it got to my Grandma's recently, is a mystery to me. Grandma is 89 and senile so she can't help me out on that one, either.
I was ecstatic to find the picture, however, because the woman in the center of it had become quite a source of mystery and intrigue to me. She is Drusilla (Foster) Adams, my great-great grandmother from Kentucky. Seated to her left is my 2nd great grandfather, William Adams. Their children in the front row, from left, are John (seated), Charlie, their only daughter Elizabeth, and Sam. Standing in the back are my great-grandpa Milton Frank, Ben, Fred and Jim Adams.
If you look closely at Grandma Drusilla, doesn't she look tired? She has very dark circles under her eyes, either shadows from the photography or perhaps a sign of weak and exhausted kidneys. She had all those men to feed and only one daughter so I can guess her life was difficult. Not only that, Grandpa William looks like a pretty strict man. I don't know any stories of their lives, so I can't tell you their personalities or anything, but this is my reading of this one picture. Who knows?
I do know their lives are interesting, though. William was born in Alton, Hampshire, England in 1861 and he came to America in 1871 with his father Frederick and mother Eliza (Forder), Eliza's father George and brother John Forder, and his siblings. As far as I know, the Adams and Forders came straight to Minnesota where they farmed. It is the Forder side that has my closest Irish relation--my 3rd great grandfather George Forder was married to Elizabeth, born in 1811 in Dublin, Ireland. Likely they met working in a manor in Hampshire, England, which seems to be what the Adams family did in England. They were agricultural laborers.
Drusilla's family came to Minnesota from Kentucky at about the same time. The census lists their families as neighbors in Meeker County, Minn. in the 1880 US census. Cool! I always wondered if William came through Kentucky from England, picked up a wife and then headed to Minnesota. Through a simple census, now I knew the truth. Perhaps less adventurous, but good to know.
The only thing I'd ever heard of Drusilla (Foster) Adams was that she was from Kentucky and that perhaps she had brought some Indian blood into the family. That speculation was due to all the Adams family members with dark black hair, which added contrast to the rest of us with red/blonde and red/brown hair. Of course, I do know dark black hair runs in the Irish and English peoples too. But the Indian thing made for interesting family conversation, and from a distant relative I have emailed with through Ancestry I got the information that the Foster family did mix a bit with the Cherokees so it's entirely possible.
The Foster family was also English, of course, but back in England they were not working for the manor houses. They owned them.
Through Ancestry I have found out that the Foster family tree runs back generations and generations. It is well-documented because it is full of royal blood. No wonder the woman was so intriguing to me!
The Fosters married with Baileys and Brashears (Brasseuir in its earlier French), Wilsons, Sparrow, Jones', Hopkins in the nearer past, and Fowkes, Arekdeknes (later, Archdeacons), De Jarentes, Edwards and Thoroughgoods back in the Middle Ages. You have to get back to 1328 to get to Joan Plantagenet and in 1311 there's her cousin Eleanor Plantagenet.
If you've studied English Lit. like me, your eyes really widen at that name. The Plantagenets are just a little famous as a family of kings! It was Joan's grandfather, Edward I Plantagenet who was a king and who married Margaret Capet (another famous family) sometime in the late 1200s. Wow! Joan's grandpa Edward's great-grandfather was none other than Henry II and his great-grandmother was the famous Eleanor of Aquitane way back in the 12th century.
Can you see why I freaked out when I found this out?! Through ancestry.com I can trace my Grandpa Earl Adams all the way back to these guys. It's right there on the website! And of course there's others. Where there's royalty, there's more royalty. We've got, nearer back even, French kings, Scottish kings, Welsh and Danish kings, etc.. There's so many in my family tree that the website actually drives me crazy with hints and more hints to keep going further back.
Way, way back there's William the Conquerer, his Old King Cole and his daughter Saint Helen and, well, they're all in there. I was amazed.
But aside from being a cool story, does all this really matter? Well, I haven't inherited any of the Crown Jewels, I'll tell you that! And for all it's worth, there sits Grandma Drusilla, looking tired and worn but surrounded by her family. My guess is that her royal lineage made not one iota of difference in her life (as, unfortunately, in mine). She lived as far as I know a simple life on a farm in Minnesota, though not terribly poor if you look at their manner of dress. Why did her parents move from Kentucky where the Fosters had founded counties and held vast sums of land? Why did her not-so-distant relatives move from Virginia and the Carolinas where there they held plantations?
Well, the move from Kentucky was shortly after the US Civil War. I suspect that may have something to do with it. It was certainly a surprise to me that my ancestors likely held slaves on plantations since I am a Northern, Yankee girl! (And always held the South in a bit of contempt because of the slavery, to tell you the truth.)
Whatever it was that made them move here, it's fortunate for me. I love knowing a bit about her story. I hope someday to know even more. As of yet, I don't even have a death date for her, but I'll hopefully find her grave this summer...
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