Geneology

[J. J.]

Through my paternal grandmother, Hendrick Sellen is my sixth great grandfather.  He's mentioned here.  http://books.google.com/books?id=8dgLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&dq=%22hendrick+sellen%22+germantown&source=web&ots=aoHme54hqL&sig=-uJwFLRFkvSeFdILFZV1d8YXhV0

He came to Germantown (now part of Philadelphia) in December of 1685 and owned land within five miles of where I live.  He was one of the first 30 German families in North America and was born in Krefeld, Germany.  The land was bought from a man who bought it two years before from William Penn.

On the day that my father died, I touched his body and within 12 hours, touched the wall that Sellen had helped build and still has his named carved in it, thus completing the cycle.

To be honest with you, I find the genetics oppressive at times. 

My paternal grandfather's family were the Amerindians.

His grandaughter married

[J. J.]

Some other things -

* My great-great grandmother's parent's dairy farm on the Isle of Wight supplied Queen Victoria at Osbourne House.

* I'm 1/16th Aboriginal

* My great-uncle was a member of the Underground getting Jews out of Germany.

One of my mother's cousins was supposedly in the French Underground.