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I got a surprise this morning, a good one. Some years ago, I started to use the genealogical site Ancestry. I did it because I remembered in my youth seeing a book of our family’s history and was fascinated that our time here in the United States began in the 1600s. It took me a good deal of time to work backward from my parents to Thomas Angell. He came to the United States with Roger Williams. Roger Williams was a minister who founded the Colony of Rhode Island after a theological disagreement with senior members of the Massachusetts Colony. He was one of the first abolitionists. That fact is important because my ancestor, Thomas Angell, either worked for him or was an indentured servant. Nothing I could find could clarify that relationship. It seems plausible to me that since Roger Williams was an abolitionist that my ancestor was simply a man who worked for him. Thomas Angell was the son of a fishmonger in London, England.

Much to my surprise, I found ancestors who had fought in the French and Indian War, 1754- 1763, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and I went to Vietnam. I can’t decide if our country is Warlike or it is just my family. I did happen to find some interesting facts along the way. For instance, George Washington Angell fought in the Civil War but died of disease and is buried at a national cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. The exciting part is that his wife, Celinda, received a military pension of five dollars a month.

Returning to my surprise this morning, I got a note from Ancestry telling me they had found a yearbook picture of my first wife. For those who have not looked at my full site and are just reading blogs, my first wife and our baby both died in childbirth. That was 53 years ago. The picture you see is from Ancestry and her high school yearbook.

I have no connection with Ancestry other than I’ve used it to learn about my past. It’s easy to use and can provide some surprising facts or even exciting pictures such as this morning’s surprise. You might want to try your genealogical history.