Tales and Tidbits about This American Family Tree

Peter Fore (likely born Pierre Faure)   7th Great Grandfather Peter Fore was born in 1706 Manakin Town, a Huguenot settlement in what became Powhatan County, Virginia, the son of Mary and Pierre. His story is so interesting that more than his military record will be relayed here. He married Marie Godwin and was willed land by his father in neighboring Goochland County (about 300 acres). According to the will, Peter already lived on that land before his father's death. For reasons unknown, Peter sold his son Joseph the land in 1778 and moved to Prince Edward County onto 130 acres of land.   At 73 years old, he moved with some his younger children to Martin's Station in what was then Kentucky County, Virginia (now Kentucky state). He settled on the banks of Stoner Creek during the winter of 1779-1780. Peter, despite his age, was on the muster roll of Captain Gatliff's company at Martin's Station at the time of an attack by local Natives that had sided with the Britis...

In 2005 I joined Ancestry. But that is not how my interest (nay occasional obsession) with my family roots began. My father used to tell me family lore when we were spending time together in my youth, which seemed gravely important to me at the time. That he would take me aside and tell me family tales really grabbed my attention and are some of my dearest memories with him. And I suppose growing up in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., I had the impression of history being all around me. Not just the museums and historic sites but the experience of going there, multiple times and getting to know these places. The Clara Barton House, Old Town Alexandria, the streets of Georgetown, Arlington Cemetery, and countless battlefields. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting a place and then reading every biography I could get my hand on regarding the people who lived there or helped shape a moment in time in that place. I still do. As I have researched and uncovered our act...