Our ancestors hated each other

I have written a column for the local paper, Christian Courier, for the past 36 years. In this recent entry I describe the discoveries my wife and I made during our recent travels in Maryland: Our ancestors hated each other. An excerpt:

When we first visited Maryland in 1996, I had no idea that my own ancestors had lived in the colony in the early decades. But as increasing numbers of records were posted online and genealogical sites established, I discovered one ancestor, Cornelius Howard, Sr., who served in the Maryland assembly and may have been descended from the Dukes of Norfolk. Howard was my ninth great grandfather. This was during the Calverts’ proprietorship.

During our most recent visit, I discovered that two more ninth great grandfathers also served in the assembly, but only after the Calverts had been overthrown in 1689, following the Glorious Revolution in the British Isles. One of these was Nicholas Gassaway, whose fourth great grandson, Senator Henry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia, was the Democratic Party’s candidate for vice president in 1904.

Read the entire article here.