Thomas Cooper 8th and 9th Great Grandfather

Thomas Cooper, born 31 Aug 1630 in Hingham England. Moved to MA and raised his family there. There were a lot of 'Cooper' families, perhaps more for the occupation than for the family relationship. So some of the records are intertwined and hard to interpret. We come through two of his daughters, Elizabeth, born in 1662 and Deborah born in 1664. Debra Cooper is the Great Grandmother of Polly Peck on her Dad's side and Elizabeth Cooper is the 2nd great grandmother of Polly on her Mom's side.

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Sarah Catherine Egbert Despain: 1st Great Grandmother

Mom's Grandma, Sarah Catherine Egbert, born 29 Aug 1859 in Fillmore Utah. She married William J Despain a few weeks after she turned 15 in 1874. William had previously been married, his first wife having died in 1872. He had three kids ages 4 to 7 at the time of the marriage. Together Sarah and he had 13 more children, including her 8th, Grandma Maynes. Sarah died in 1933 while Mom was still a toddler. Her father had been part of the Mormon Battalion so her mother crossed the plains without him. He died when Sarah was 4 years old, which may have been another factor in her young age at marriage.

Richard the 1st: 26th Great Grandfather

RICHARD I "Sans Peur" "The Fearless", Duke of Normandy is a 26th great grandfather. (26th through 34th great grandfather, at least 100 different ways) born 28 Aug 933.
...During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the feudal system and Normandy became one of the most thoroughly feudalized states on the continent.

Alpheus Gifford; 3rd Great Grandfather

Alpheus Gifford was born 28 Aug 1793 in Barnstable MA. His son Samuel wrote his history in a journal now available online.
extracts:
My father, … (although he had no learning save just enough to read the Bible which he did not neglect), became convinced that there was a God in Heaven. At the age of eighteen he commenced preaching what he supposed to be the Gospel of Salvation, not for the money but for the salvation of souls. He continued to preach in the Reform Methodist Church.

April 27, 1817 he married Anna, daughter of Azar and Lucy Nash. She was born in the township of Butternuts, Otsego County, New York February 17, 1800. My father spent most of his days in preaching until the spring of 1830 when he heard of a set of people called Mormons who were everywhere being spoken evil against, and he, being a believer of the scriptures, and also being convinced by the power of God that there was something worth looking after, went and hunted them up and found them to be the people of God organized under the name of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized, ordained a Priest and returned home with five Books of Mormon, which he distributed amongst his friends. He was then living in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Soon after that he went to Kirtland, Ohio where the Saints had planted a Stake of Zion. … He was then ordained an Elder. They returned home rejoicing in the Gospel. He then commenced preaching for the salvation of souls believing the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the truth. He baptized many in Tioga and Bradford Counties and in the regions round about. The gifts of the Gospel were made manifest amongst the Saints in that place and signs followed those that believed. The sick were healed, devils were cast out, some prophesied, some spoke with new tongues and some interpreted (which was the first of the two later gifts made manifest in the Church). In fact, the gifts were enjoyed to a great extent. Father baptized Heber Chase Kimball who is now Councilor to President Brigham Young.

My [family] started for Jackson County, Missouri sometime in June, 1831. ...

John A Maynes: 2nd GGrandfather

John A Maynes, 2nd great grandfather was born in Ireland on 26 Aug 1826. He married Jane Watson in 1847 in England. She joined the church in 1850. He joined later in 1857. They moved to London around 1862. One of his sons, Joseph Watson Maynes was also born on Aug 26th (1858). His son (our ancestor) John A Maynes II moved to Salt Lake City in 1879 at age 20 and lived with his married sister who had come earlier. Their mother came later and lived in Salt Lake when she died in 1898. John A Maynes the 1st is believed to have died in New York in 1883 (age ~57). Both Joseph and John A the II returned to England as missionaries with their wives and both died during their missions, in their 50's. When we lived in Delaware (~1985), there was a young missionary, Sister Maynes assigned to our ward who was a descendent through Joseph.

Something interesting

I know that August is a quiet month for our family so I thought I'd throw out this link. www.sunshinespeechaz.com
It is a website for the company I work for. The owner used my picture on the home page. I'm kind of proud of it even though it shows just a part of what I do with kids.

Oh and CONGRATS to Cherry and Ross!!! That is sooooo cool.

:-)
Patti

Geoffrey V : 25th Great grandfather

Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151), called the Handsome (French: le Bel) and Plantagenet, was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144.

Geoffrey was the elder son of Fulk V of Anjou and Eremburga of La Flèche, heiress of Elias I of Maine. Geoffrey received his nickname for the yellow sprig of broom blossom (genêt is the French name for the genista, or broom shrub) he wore in his hat as a badge. King Henry I of England, having heard good reports on Geoffrey's talents and prowess, sent his royal legates to Anjou to negotiate a marriage between Geoffrey and his own daughter, Matilda. Consent was obtained from both parties, and on 10 June 1128 the fifteen-year-old Geoffrey was knighted in Rouen by King Henry in preparation for the wedding.

On 17 June 1128 Geoffrey married Empress Matilda, the daughter and heiress of King Henry I of England, by his first wife, Edith of Scotland and widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. The marriage was meant to seal a peace between England/Normandy and Anjou. She was eleven years older than Geoffrey, very proud of her status as an Empress (as opposed to being a mere Countess). Their marriage was a stormy one with frequent long separations, but she bore him three sons and survived him.

Together they had a son, Henry Curtmantle, who became the English King Henry the II and founded the Plantagenet dynasty to which Geoffrey gave his nickname.