I have bought every book I can find .. of our ancestry that I share with you we need an entire room of books I have found some amazing ones .. some day I can try to read them

True. I hope that those of us that connect in this way can become a social panacea for the troubled times that we live in. Prayer changes things. I see that you also descend from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. It is so sad that His Savoy Palace was burned down, it must have been impressive. Be well and God bless you, cousin from the long ago past. I see from my readings that many of the old graves were desecrated during the French Revolution, by grave robbers and the like. I would love to go quietly pay my respects, at least by where they once were laid to rest.

How sweet of you to reach out. God bless you. Do you know where we connect? Do you also descend from Anne of Exeter and of York? Which DNA ancestry did you test on? I have to say that there are thousands of DNA relatives, in my heart I love them all. The dilemma is that I can’t separate them into categories that explain through whom and how we are related. in the future, databases that tell or explain all of that will be helpful. AI might be able to help in the long-term. Do you have any family recipes to share, Lol? Folk stories? it appears that I have quite a few relatives in the Midwest are you one? Do you hail from Virginia? Are you a York or Lancaster descendant, or like me both? Those trees didn’t fork a whole lot, :). I guess it was because of fewer numbers of marriageable peers. Maybe we can talk on the phone(if you would feel safe doing that) if we have more to discuss. For now, though, this is very nice. My best to you and yours.

I’m sorry that I haven’t responded to your kind welcome, til now. I frankly have been working on multiple ancestry lines. I know that according to DNA results and my research, I descend from multiple Plantagenet lines. John of Gaunt and His wife Katherine Swynford is one. The other is through his brother Edmund. Anne St. Leger is the closest Matrilineal line relative that I know of for certain, that there are three other lines of descent, which need confirmation. I have run DNA tests on MyHeritage , 23&Me and i have one pending on Ancestry.com. I am using these as multiple citations. One ancestry that I am working is through John Henry Hankins(1804-1870), the former owner of Bacon’s Castle, in Surry Virginia. He had a child with his body slave, my Great-great-grandmother, Nancy Drew. His name was Solomon M. Travis, Sr. with no formal education. Private lessons in Reading, Math and English, done as a regular form(with his half-siblings)of play left him able to get a good job, after Emancipation. Collis Potter Huntington gave Solomon the first job, before anyone else, with the Newport News Shipyard, as its first employee, keeping record of tools. John Henry Hankins, it seems descended from John Lackland. The Ancestry.com result will hopefully connect me with some relatives who can inform me of missed details. It appears that I descend through the line of Richard Thomas Hankins and Marilyn Mary Jane Ewing. Who knows? I’m just trying to pull all of the ends of the sheet together that make a 100% me. the final ancestor that I can trace on that line(?) is William Hankins, Sr. William Hankins, Sr. married Katherine Wilsheere in St. Mary’s, Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey, England. It is here that the trail appears to grow cold. I hope that the DNA clarifies things. Time and blood, will out.

Shannon, it seems we are cousins as well! My 30th great grandfather was William the Conqueror and Geoffrey, Henry II, John Lackland, and Henry III were my ancestors. I’m particularly interested in Eleanor of Aquataine and Eleanor of Provence. Very interesting history!

Lenora, what an amazing family .
You should be proud.
We are cousins from way back.
Joan

Shannon- we are cousins.
It is just such an amazing and humbling
history we share. So few would understand.
Thanks for sharing.
Joan

Joe Garonzik
Genealogical.com