Deep American Roots - Laterra Genealogy's Blog

Welcome to my Deep American Roots blog, where I'll be sharing discoveries as I continue to research various branches of my family. If you find that we are cousins, please get in touch!

Most of my family has been in North Carolina and Georgia for many generations, but lately I'm finding connections to Virginia and New Jersey as I follow the various lines back in time.

Recent surnames include Rhodes, Roberts, Merrill (or Merrell), Martin, Lee, Marshall.

Our Enslaved Ancestors

It can be painful to discover that our ancestors were enslaved or that our ancestors were owners of slaves. Because enslaved people were treated as property rather than as citizens, genealogical research for enslaved ancestors can be very difficult. But it isn't impossible. In my genealogical research, I often encounter records that mention slaves, so I decided to begin documenting...

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DAR Membership Update

In a previous post, I told you about my application for membership with the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and my patriot ancestor, John Merrill. Well, after my application was reviewed, the DAR genealogist requested more evidence that my third great grandmother was actually his daughter. (I wrote about this problem, in case you...

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Ashes to Art

In a genealogy podcast recently, I heard an interview with a ceramic artist who offers an unusual service. Since I’m not only a genealogist, but also a potter, I was interested immediately. Examples of my art pottery The Extreme Genes podcaster, Scott Fisher, recently interviewed artist Justin Crowe, who makes a ceramic pottery glaze made from...

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DNA and Genealogy

Today's post is about how DNA is helping to fill in a large gap on my family tree. My great grandfather Thomas Rhodes was born to his teenage mother out of wedlock. Family stories said that his father was a Sinclair, but there were no records, such as bastardy bonds, that I’ve found (so far) to support those legends. Other clues support the possibility...

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Joining the DAR

I’m very excited about my recent application to join the DAR, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. In my previous post I mentioned that my qualifying ancestor for joining the FFOB was John Merrill (Merrell), a Revolutionary War soldier. He will also be my qualifying patriot for joining DAR, I hope. Memorial marker for Patriot John...

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FFOB A Local Lineage Society

First Families of Old Buncombe Earlier this year I decided to join a lineage society for the first time. Like most deep-rooted Americans, I have ancestors who fought in the Civil War. While researching beyond those ancestors I ran across a “local” lineage society called the First Families of Old Buncombe. Old Buncombe refers to Buncombe County, North Carolina...

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Why is Grandpa Tom Going to Hell?

When my mother was a child she often heard her Grandpa Tom say he was going to hell, and she always wondered what bad thing he had done for him to say that. While doing research and talking with cousins I began to understand and I wrote this story about it. At the end of the story you can view the source-cited version, if you're interested. Grandpa Tom's Story Just...

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Deep American Roots Intro

Like many genealogists, I began documenting my family's history as a hobby. For me that was back in the 1980's, (big hair and all). At that time there was no way to do research online, except maybe through sharing with other researchers in email lists. Most research involved going to a library, archive, or the county court house, which is what I did...

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