Many times while I was growing up, my father would say to my brother and I, "You cannot fully understand yourself if you do not know and understand where you came from." Our family history was very important to him, and he passed that on to me.
My particular "White" family was originally from County Kildare, Ireland, and I still have distant relatives there. It's true that it is a very common family name found in England as well, but we have family records to verify our Irish roots.
The first of my Irish ancestors came to the American colonies in 1621. He had apprenticed to a merchant in Dublin and had been sent to Holland to handle the company's business interests. While there, he met Elisabeth Chilton who was part of the English Pilgrim community there. Her cousin, Mary, was part of the original Pilgrim group who sailed across on the Mayflower in 1620 and established a colony in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. Roger and his wife Elisabeth came over the next year. Their son, also named Roger, was one of the original settlers of Concord, Massachusetts and his nephew Jonathan Chandler was a Minuteman on the momentous day, April 19, 1775 when the American Revolution started.
The Scots side of my family is connected to the Lamont Clan. Taken captive fighting for "Bonnie Prince Charlie" against the English at the Battle of Cullodon, my Scots ancestor was sold as a slave to an English farmer in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He received his freedom for fighting against the local American Indians. His children were part of the original group to establish Waterbury, Connecticut.
Eventually, both families moved West and met and intermarried.
As a result, I am both Irish-American and Scots-American and proud of both. There are no famous names in our family history, except for our connection with the Pearce brothers, Patrick and William, who were leaders of the 1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin against the English (which resulted in them both being executed by firing squad by the English) and David White, known to many television viewers worldwide for his role as "Larry Tate" on the popular American TV series, "Bewitched".
I am who I am, in part, because of all the Whites, Lamonts, O'Farrells, Pearces, Carpenters, Chandlers, et. al. who came before me. My sons, Collin and Patrick, and my granddaughter, Bridget, carry on the family name, traditions and heritage - and the pride in it. We are all proud to be "Hyphenated-Americans"
"You cannot fully understand yourself if you do not know and understand where you came from."
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