06/15/2020
Hey there, Browns! Katy Brown, here, Tom’s daughter.
Checking in regarding the wild and winding genealogy project I’ve been working on, for several years now. I meant to be further along by now, but my divorce, a few years ago, temporarily slowed things down. I’m back on the task and wanted to send a quick update, as I go back to fill in holes, and work to get things into a shareable format.
My hope is to get it onto a website, with a password, for all of us to be able to access. (Information about living people will be very limited, for safety and security reasons.)
I’ve collected details, historical documents, written histories, interesting rumors (haha), biographies, medical patterns, DNA, photographs, and much more, while learning where we all come from. (Jodi, I still have your materials, no worries, they’re safe!) It’s never going to be a finished project, but it’ll also never be a boring one.
Here are some interesting patterns I’ve noticed:
1) Many generations of farmers on both Grammy (Catherine) and Grampy’s (Laurence/Peewee/Pop) sides of the family.) We were very connected to the land, for a very long time.
2) A lot of well documented history. Many of our ancestors were well known in their communities and some beyond their communities. Several of them founded communities and institutions.
3) LOTS of Revolutionary War participants. At least a dozen, if I had to guess. (No, we weren’t on the Mayflower, haha, not that I’ve seen anyway, but we have been here for around 400 years.)
4) I have found zero evidence of Native American ancestry in our family - this includes historical documents and DNA data. There’s nothing there to support that claim, at all. It would be cool if there was - it just isn’t there. (The DNA for this branch of the family come up based almost entirely in the British Isles, so England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, maybe a smidge of NW France. I have a convenient way to isolate my mothers DNA from my Brown side - she had hers done too and it’s 100% French. Take that out and the rest of me is as stated above, plus 1% Finnish.)
5) Lucy Swallow’s family on both sides (Swallows and Smiths) have an interesting history of college education among women. This means two things - they had an openness toward educating women. They also had the financial and social means to make it happen. (Lucy was Grampy Brown’s mother and the first woman to attend UNH.)
6) There’s an interesting streak of intuitive talents in our family. Many of us have discussed this informally. Would love to hear from more of you for whom this may be true.
7) There are also very clear medical and mental health patterns. There is a predisposition of men in this family to experience colo-rectal issues, for example. There is also a very large amount of us who have been diagnosed with ADHD and related mental health diagnoses. And of course, alcoholism and substance abuse are common struggles in our clan. (These are also closely related to coping with untreated ADHD.) I don’t see a point to not acknowledging this. I think we need to recognize it and give our future generations the best tools available, to thrive. (Many among us are working hard to stay sober, and I want you to know that I’m very proud of you.) I found family histories from the 19th century which could be case studies for ADHD. This stuff isn’t new - it’s just the language available to discuss it, that’s new.
8 ) I also came across historical information which may play into some of our health outcomes, and I didn’t expect this. Several generations of men in Grammy’s family were house painters with regular occupational exposure to lead. Lead exposure can impact the offspring/descendants of men who are exposed. I think this is important for us all to know.
9) I would love to hear any family stories or anecdotes or details you would like to share, to add. (I will keep anything anonymous if asked.)
10) If you have any questions, please please me know. I’m happy to share anything I can.
Love to all of you. I’ll let you know when I have more to tell (and when I can make everything available!)
— Katy
