Are you one of the many people who have taken the Ancestry.com DNA test? It's really a great way to feel connected to your ancestors. My wife got me a DNA kit last Christmas and the results were amazing. She also has an Ancestry.com account so we can take the information and build our family trees.
Sunday while we were relaxing around the house and inputting names and information into my tree we discovered something pretty spectacular. On my Father's side of the family we have a relative named John Waggoner Sr. who, along with his brother Jacob Wagner and his cousin Peter left Wasselone, France in June 1771. They sailed on the ship TYGER from Rotterdam and landed in Philadelphia on November 19, 1771. He fought in the Revolutionary War and eventually became a member of George Washington's Life Guard. He is said to have saved General Washington’s life on several occasions and was within 15 feet of Washington when General Cornwallis surrendered and was by his side at the formal surrender ceremony. Washington said of him that “this man was not afraid of a thousand devils”. He was personally presented with a sword and cane by George Washington! Since then the family donated the sword and cane to an Ohio museum.
To think that without my relative, George Washington wouldn't have become our first president and a different face would be on our $1 dollar bill. The history books would have been totally different. These are the things you can find when you dig into your own family history. Look into Ancestry.com and even use free resources right here in our own community. Hackley Public Library has an excellent local history and genealogy department.
Thanks for letting me brag a little bit. I would love to hear who you find in YOUR family tree!