My father is a Rodgers and my mother is a Berry and with names like that, I was not surprised when my DNA results came back indicating I was around 75% from Scotland, Ireland, and England.
Family History?
Growing up, I remember (probably in the early 1960’s), my maternal grandmother showing me a research paper she had done on her family history. As I remember, it was about 10 to 20 typewritten pages and showed her lineage back to Robert the Brus, Mary-Queen of Scots and William the Conqueror. Additionally, the research provided her with enough evidence to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I regret that I do not have a copy of that paper today but the memory of that document stayed with me.
On my father’s side, his father also had an interest in genealogy. He told me that one of his early ancestors was Nathanael Greene, a prominent general during the Revolutionary War. His daughter, Sarah (Sally) was said to have married Jesse Rodgers, Sr., my 4th great grandfather. Great story, but from what I have found so far, not true. I cannot find any records that mention Nathanael Greene as having a daughter named Sarah or Sally. Further, I have not found any proof that Jesse Rodgers, Sr., is actually my relative. I am fairly confident that I am related to Jesse Rodgers, Jr. and one could infer that his father would be Jesse Rodgers, Sr., but written evidence to back that up has eluded me so far.