Sassygenealogist: Really? Which Ancestor Would I Like to Meet? Are You Serious? (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4

Early CT showing Aaron Stark's Property & the location of the Pequot Fort.

The writing prompt this week in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge is “I’d Like to Meet…” My answer to that is: REALLY? I want to meet them ALL! How can I possibly narrow down that field and choose just one?

Ultimately, I just can’t. It’s my firm belief that every family history researcher has an insane desire to somehow go back in time and meet their ancestors. I know I do. In fact, I have a few words I’d like to say to some of them, don’t you? You know, like, “Stop! Don’t do that!” Or maybe, “Why in the world did you do that? What were you thinking? Where the heck did you go?”

I guess it’s a good thing we can’t really go back in time and give them our words of wisdom, since that might possibly at some point change the course of history. (We have to keep in mind that ol’ time paradox theory!) Nevertheless, I’d love to travel back in time!

In this blog post, I’ll try my best to choose some of my ancestors because I do have a few choice questions for these particular people.

First, I would love to go back and visit with my Dad, who died when I was only ten. I have so many things to ask him. I really never got to know him. I want to know about his years as a young man, growing up in the early part of the 20^th century in Memphis. He joined the US Marines in 1937 and re-upped right before Pearl Harbor. I want to know about his years teaching as a Master Sargent at Parris Island. I want to find out what it was really like to be a part of the battle of Iwo Jima. There were so many things to ask, but I was too young to even think about them before he passed away. My question to my Dad would be: WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THESE THINGS?

And then there was my Grandfather, the one who left my Mother and Grandmother when Mother was only a little girl. I’d like to ask him why he never tried to see her again. Or did he try? Maybe he did, and my Grandmother kept him from seeing her. My question for him would be: WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

Going further back, I’d like to find my 2x great grandfather, Charles R. Sanford (abt. 1843 – aft.1875). I want to know when he was actually born. I thought it had been before 1839, but when I read his father’s letter to the judge in Tuscaloosa Co., AL in 1859, I knew I must be mistaken. The letter was to give consent for his son to marry, something that he wouldn’t have needed if he had already been 18 years old. And why didn’t he appear with his family in the 1850 Census? Lemuel Sanford clearly acknowledged him as his son with that letter, but Charles wasn’t living with them in 1850. Did he really die sometime after 1875? (That was the year his last child was born.) I can’t find a trace of his death - yet. Then again, here’s another thought: Did he leave that life to take up another one with another family? There are hints out there that this may have happened. Oh, Charlie, I HAVE QUESTIONS FOR YOU!

There are so many ancestors in between with whom I would love to have a conversation, but my final two choices include some of the earliest immigrants to this New World.

My 8x great grandfather, Aaron Stark (1698 – 1685), came here from Scotland before 1637 and (according to page 806 of The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. VI Immigrant Ancestors), served in the Pequot Wars in 1638, the Narraganset Wars, and in King Phillips War around 1653. I want to ask him what brought him to this new land; why did he leave Scotland? Were the circumstances there so bad for his family that he felt he had to leave? And why did I read so many accounts of his getting in trouble and being put in the stocks? Really? WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?

Finally, I really want to meet another 8x great grandfather, William Love (abt. 1636 – 1680), the first of my Love Family line to come to this new land. He came from England and settled in Maryland. In the MarylandArchives, the CAREER FILES of Dr. Lois Green Carr, it states that he was in the province of Charles County by 1662.

But was his last name really Love? DNA testing has proven that our family does not match any other Love families that settled here, except one. (We know that we are cousins, but we’re still searching for that connecting ancestor.)

When my brother submitted his DNA to the FamilyTreeDNA site back in 2003, we had no idea that our last name wasn’t originally Love. Our ancestral origins appear to be mostly from Sweden, Denmark, and other Scandinavian countries. Some of the names that match ours include Olen, Ostrander, Andersson, Gustavsson, Sonvik, Hansen, Axelsson, Bostrom. Well, you get the picture. None of those names are anything at all like Love, nor do any of them appear in our family tree.

Therefore, to William I would say, WHO WERE YOU AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?

I have one small hint that I found in the book Early Charles County Maryland Settlers, 1658 – 1745, published by Heritage Books in 2006. On page 171, William Love was listed in the index with the name Loofe in parenthesis behind it. The name, William Loofe, appeared right below that, appearing to be the same person. In researching the name Loofe, I found it to be Dutch in origin. Well, I guess that makes sense. Hence, the Scandinavian roots and DNA matches.

Yes, I have a huge desire to learn more about all of my ancestors, and, as you can see, I have some burning questions for them. There really are so many things that we could ask them, aren’t there?

Perhaps, though, it’s best that we have to seek those answers as researchers. The ‘hunt’ is the fun part, isn’t it?

The hunt is definitely on for that surname Loofe. And Charlie Sanford, watch out. I’m gonna find you one day soon!