'KNOW YOUR HERITAGE'

"To Know Your Heritage Is To Know The Story Of You"
                                                                           - Barry D. Jennings

Your heritage is not simply names, dates, and place names set in ink on some paper chart. Your heritage is the story of who came before you, how they lived, how they died, and most importantly, the neat little bits of information that makes it all interesting.     

I know that not everybody’s a history nut, like I am.... but I’ve yet to see anybody that didn’t show at least a li’l interest when it comes to hearing about what their ancestors were like and some of the stuff they did back in their day.

There ain’t nothing more fascinating to people than other people, living in a different time, in different circumstances.... and when you know those people are your kin.... well.... that just seems to make it even more so.

Before I started digging into my own family’s history, I had always thought of my ancestors as just your average, every day, run-of-the-mill country folk; cotton farmers mostly, with a logger or two thrown in for good measure. Boy, was I wrong!

I can now boast that my ancestors were amongst the very first to settle in the New World. My 9^th-great-grandfather Captain John Thomas Clay, Jr. arrived at Jamestown, in February of 1613, aboard the ship ‘Treasurer’, and as a Grenadier in the King’s Army (which back then would’ve been their most elite group of soldiers), it’s not only probable, but highly likely that he was amongst those that captured/kidnapped the Indian princess Pocahontas, later that summer.

Then there was the case of one of his sons, my first ancestor of that line to be born in America, who later got himself all tangled up in America’s very first rebellion, taking up arms against the colonial government under Nathaniel Bacon, back in 1673.

The story of French Huguenot Bartholomew Dupuy's
               escape from France is absolutely spellbinding. 

          I also found out that one of my great-grandfathers was a French Huguenot, of all things. I would never have thought that. A much-respected Lieutenant in the King of France’s Household Guards, he and his family, with the covert assistance of the King, had narrowly escaped religious persecution and possible death at the hands of the Catholic church, finally settling in Colonial Virginia, right around 1700.

One of my favorite stories, though, is of the first of my Jennings ancestors to come to America. Captain William Jennings, Sr. was a decorated officer in the British Regular Army. He had served in the British Indies, as well as, the colonial Indian Wars, before finally settling in Colonial Virginia, around the year 1700. There, he owned a tobacco plantation and tavern, raised a total of ten children, and led a very long and productive life; finally passing away at the ripe old age of 99-years.

Because of his strong disapproval of the revolutionary processes then going on in the British American colonies, as well as, his pride in his own service rendered to the Crown, Captain Jennings left instructions that he should be buried in his British Army uniform. Well.... his family did their level best to comply. They really did. Capt. Jennings was laid to rest with his sword by his side.... but the uniform.... well.... it had to be draped over his body instead of put on him. You see, he had grown excessively fat by the time of his death, and it just wouldn’t fit anymore. LOL

         Make no mistake, though.... as loyal to the Crown as ol’ Grandpappy Jennings was, his sons and grandsons were just as dedicated to the cause for freedom, with every single one of ‘em taking up arms against the British and/or rendering aid and supplies to the American forces. I had other grandfathers that also served - Clays, Pittmans, Lockharts, Springers, et cetera – some were in the Continental Line, others amongst various militia units; many were privates, some sergeants, while others were officers.

WOW!! My family’s history ain’t near as bland as I first thought! And that’s just a few examples out of the many, many generations of my family that I've researched. As it turns out, my ancestors actually played some pretty cool parts throughout the past 400-years of American history. They were the hardy settlers that, despite near constant Indian attacks, were ever moving westward, opening up new lands for settlement. They cleared land for planting and built homes and farms and even plantations. There were some small farmers, Bible-thumpin’ preachers, one-room schoolhouse teachers, millers, and even some wealthy slave owners and political figures. They volunteered for or were conscripted to fight for the Confederacy; their families back at home suffered through four bloody years of a not-so-civil war. They survived Reconstruction, two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights turmoil of the 1960’s; not to mention scores of other lesser unnamed events. 

After Grandma passed away, 'Paw' Jennings
                came to live with his eldest son and his family.

          My ancestors were independent-minded, God-fearing people, who held their religion and family above all else. With just a little bit of digging around, it’s easy to see that my family never seemed to have much need for orphanages nor nursing homes, as they always seemed to come together to take care of their own. That same dedication to family is still so very strong in our family, even today, and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of as a Jennings.

My Momma has asked me several times before, how on Earth do I remember all that I do about our families’ histories. My answer is simple.... their stories are so unbelievably interesting. It’s almost like reading a favorite book or watching a great movie; the more you discover about the central figures, the more you want to learn about them.

Knowing and understanding details from our families’ histories give us a deeper, fuller appreciation of where we’ve come from and who we are as a person.A big part of who we are, as individuals, comes directly from our ancestors. Not only do we inherit our looks and temperament from them, it’s also where we get much of the attitudes and outlooks towards many things that we have. It’s not surprising then, that research suggests that when we have intimate knowledge of our family history, we feel more grounded and self-confident compared to individuals who don’t.

The stories are there, folks. With just a bit of effort on your part, you can begin uncovering long-forgotten details about your family’s history. I should probably warn you, though. It can become addictive; this learning where you come from.