Genealogy

My father asked me to find out who his great grandfather was when I was 18 years old.  That single question created a spark and passion for me to find the answer.  When I was 27 years old, my father died at 54 years, 8 months & 8 days.  He never knew the answer to his question.  It took the help of DNA results to find that answer 40 years later.

 I never imagined all the local history and ancestors I would discover. I discovered President Abraham Lincoln is my 5th cousin five times removed,  that President George Washington is my 2nd cousin 7 times removed, that John Thomas Clay, my 9th great grandfather was a Jamestown, Virginia 1613 settler and that Henry Clay, Sr., the Kentucky Statesman who ran for president 3 times (1824, 1832 & 1844) and help end the War of 1812, is my 2nd cousin 6 times removed.

 I have about 50 soldiers that were in the French & Indian War & the Revolutionary War. Some of my ancestors were the first settlers in the area, which include Mitchell Clay of what is now Mercer County, West Virginia, John Compton, Sr. & Jr. on the Bluestone River near Bluefield, Virginia and Matthew & John French (father/son) of Giles County, Virginia.

 Genealogy can be a very large family puzzle/mystery to be discovered and solved along with learning local and U. S. history.  It is my desire this book will create a spark and passion in people who live in this area or used to live in this area or those I went to high school with, to discover their own family history. How do you know who you are if you don’t know where you came from? Our ancestors have stories to be told.  Discover your first settlers and ancestors.