Abraham Davis in Revolutionary War: Privateer

My ancestor Abraham Davis (1740-1792) was an American privateer during the Revolutionary War. Privateers were experienced former ship-owners who .. retrofit their small sloops for war after they received a Letter of Marque from the Continental…

Abraham Davis in Revolutionary War: 1st New Jersey

As the previous post explained (click HERE), I recently added two new 5th great-grandparents in my Homan ancestral ine -- Now let's discuss Abraham's participation in the Revolutionary War.  This one's for you, Dad! There are…

Discovery: 5GGs Abraham Davis and Ruth Smith

There haven't been any significant breakthroughs in the Jonnes Family Tree for some months.  So, what a serendipitous surprise to discover two new 5th great grandparents (5GGs)!  Especially one of whom my father would have been excited about. The…
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Prominent Ancestral Lineages, Part 2

In my last post, I identified the four longest surname lineages in the Jonnes Family Tree: 11 Generations -- (339 years) 10 Generations -- (283 years) (284 years) (263 years) I don't have any surname lineages…
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Prominent Ancestral Lineages, Part 1

It struck me recently that I had never really thought about which surnames in my tree are the most prominent in terms of generational length. Certainly my paternal line, marked by the surname Jones (or more recently, Jonnes) is one that looms…

Bernt Bonn’s 1875 Sea Voyage to America

I discovered that great-grandfather Bernt Olsen Bonn (1856-1937) came to America on a different ship than the one I thought he had. A few years ago, I reported that Norwegian great-grandfather Bernt Olsen Bønsmoen emigrated on the S/S Trondhjem…

My Sundgau Ancestry: A Roman Catholic Twig

My ancestry is overwhelmingly Protestant.  I expected this since my father's heritage involves Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Quakers, Baptists, and other Protestant denominations, and my mother's family was primarily Lutheran; she was born…

Discovery: North Yorkshire Ancestors

While drafting my previous article about immigrant ancestors George Mason (1706-1774) and Jane Foord (1710-1789), I ended up digging into their roots in North Yorkshire, England.((See the post here.))  Because of online church registers, I…

House Built by 5th Great-Grandfather for Sale

A couple months ago, Lucia and I spent a weekend in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.  The mushroom capital of the world lies only three miles from Longwood Gardens and 10 miles from the site of the Battle of Brandywine Creek. Kennett Square…

Uncle Jack in World War I: The Kettering Bug

While researching Uncle Jack at Carlstrom Field in central Florida in 1919 and 1920, I came across an interesting bit of military history. Uncle Jack was born Orville P. Bonn on 18 September 1896 in Montevideo, Minnesota and died age 89 on…