Roots

A few weeks back Ancestry contacted me to let me know they could link me to a cousin who had apparently done the DNA test. 

I went to the cousin's results, and tried to see if he had created a tree - but I was not allowed to search too deeply as I'm not a paid member of Ancestry - I had just taken a DNA test.

The test results have been updated a couple of times since i first took it back in 2014. The most recent results were that my roots were:

Scotland - 54%

Ireland (with strong links to Donegal) - 29%

England and Northwestern Europe - 13%

Wales - 3% 

Norway - 1%

I had few links to actual names, mostly from contact or family stories. One of those stories was that at some point back in the 1800's a "McCarthy" child was adopted by a Strong, hence the name, and some of the Irish roots (though my Scottish-immigrant mother also had Irish roots).

Now curious, I called a friend who was a genealogist to get some tips on places to search, such as county offices, and if it could be done online or I had to go there. He gave me some tips.

Later, he emailed me even more tips, with some explanations.

And then he emailed a family line! I hadn't asked him to do so, or expected it, but he did.

He traced my direct line back to one "Elder" John Strong, a Puritan who arrived in the colones back around 1630.

1630.

A Puritan born in Somerset, England.

Who helped to found towns in the colonies. 

And not an Irish child whose name got changed. So much for that family legend.

My friend sent me to a link that allowed me to trace the family line back: 

Everett Leroy Strong - my father May 26, 1932 – March 7, 2010
Roy Everett Strong July 21, 1901 – Walton, Delaware NY – August 15, 1995

Robert J. Strong April 1875 – New York – September 13, 1901

John A. Strong October 2, 1855 – Franklin, Delaware NY - 1931

Alanson Strong April 15, 1811 – Franklin, Delaware, NY – February 11, 1897

Alfred Strong November 16, 1777 – Marlborough, Hartford, Conn. – September 7, 1869

Ebenezer Strong March 30, 1738 – Lebanon, New London, Conn. – April 21, 1791

Ezra Strong March 2, 1702 – Lebanon, New London, Conn – March 7, 1785

Jedediah Strong August 7, 1677 – Northampton, Hampshire, Mass. – October 12, 1709

Jedidiah Strong May 7, 1637 – Mass. – May 22, 1733

“Elder” John Strong, About 1605 – Taunton, Somerset, England – April 14, 1699   

I was able to trace a little further back - but I'm not sure how right I am - 

John Strong 1585 – Somerset, England - ?
George Strong 1556 – 1636
John Strang 1515 - ? 

Now, Elder John Strong is credited with being the father of almost all the Strongs in the U.S. - not surprising considering he and his two wives (the first got sick on the voyage over, apparently, and died shortly after arriving) had 18 children, 16 of whom reached adulthood and produced more Strongs. Elder John even has his own Wikipedia entry. According to that entry - 

John Strong (1610–1699) was an English-born New England colonist, politician, Puritan church leader, tanner and one of the founders of Windsor, Connecticut and Northampton, Massachusetts as well as the progenitor of nearly all the Strong families in what is now the United States. He was referred to as Elder John Strong because he was an Elder in the church.

Strong was born in about 1610 in Chard, Somerset, England and emigrated to Massachusetts with his pregnant wife and a one-year-old child in 1635 aboard the sailing ship Hopewell. During the 70-day sea voyage, his wife, Marjory Deane (md. 1632) had a baby while they were still at sea. She and their infant child died within two months of their arrival. With one-year-old son John Strong Jr. to take care of, John Sr. married sixteen-year-old Mary & John (1630) passenger Abigail Ford, daughter of Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde, in December 1635. They settled originally in Hingham, Massachusetts, a New-Plymouth Colony, in 1635. In 1638 he was made a "Freeman" (eligible to vote in town and colony elections and serve in the church), and went to Taunton, Massachusetts. While in Taunton, Strong represented the town in the General Court of Plymouth Colony for four years, from 1641 to 1644.

He later moved to Windsor, Connecticut, on the Connecticut River where he was a leading figure in the new Connecticut colony. In 1659 he moved 40 miles further up the river to the Connecticut River town of Northampton, Massachusetts—then a frontier town surrounded by Nipmuck and Pocumtuc^] Indian nations about 100 miles (160 km) inland from Boston. One of the early settlers of the town, he operated a tannery for many years, helped defend the town against Indian attacks during King Philip's War (1675-1676) and also played an important role in town and church affairs.

In 1661, John Strong was one of the eight men who founded the First Church of Northampton. Of their number, Eleazer Mather, the older brother of Boston minister Increase Mather, was chosen as the first pastor. Two years later, 1663, Strong was ordained an elder of the church. The Puritan pastor Mather died in 1669, and Strong was tasked with finding a suitable minister to replace him. The following year, he and several other church leaders extended a call to Solomon Stoddard, who formally accepted in 1672, and was ordained by John Strong. Stoddard served as pastor for many years, until his death in 1729, and was succeeded by his grandson, Jonathan Edwards, whose subsequent ministry in Northampton would play a major role in the Great Awakening.

John Strong died on April 14, 1699, at Northampton and is buried at the Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton Massachusetts. 

Pretty impressive fellow. 

I've discovered that dates vary when you get that far back, and with at least  one person in the line I've discovered some discrepancies when it comes to parentage. More research is needed.

Pax et bonum