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Ten years of research have uncovered 8,288 ancestors and Cousins. Of these, 433 were our direct ancestors dating back to Robert Russell, my 20th great-grandfather, who was born in 1125 AD in Berwick, Dorset, England. Our Tewksbury line goes back to Henry Tewksbury born 1621 in Greenwich, Kent, England.
The ancestry of my mother Myrtle Mae Berkey-Tewksbury-Baribeau born 4 Nov. 1900 is of German and Swiss origin. Her parents were Laura Heintzelman and Peter Berkey. Our Heintzelmans came to America in 1749 aboard the "Chesterfield". (His signature is on the manifest.) The Family came from Steinenbronn, Wuerttemberg, Germany. The Heintzelmans were Lutherans.
Our Berkey ancestors (Mennonite-Dunkers) arrived 8 Oct 1737 on the ship "Charming Nancy", Charles Stedman, Commander from Rotterdam to Philadelphia, PA. They were from Salles, Bas Rhin, Switzerland. Both the Heintzelmans and Berkeys followed the same route from Switzerland and Germany. The traveled by boat, up the Rhine River through Germany and Holland. The boarded ships to Cowes, England where they took on additional supplies for their hazardous journey to America. I have many stories to tell about their journeys. It is amazing what they had to endure. Their persecution in their native homelands is almost unbelievable as is their treatment along their trip to Freedom, which was only found in America at that time.
While doing this research 65,502 files were created during the process. Over 400 pictures of our family are also part of our family archives. If I have an image of you, your descendants will be able to view them 1000+ years from now. This file is permanent and is kept in several forms such as book, CD, digital file and in my paper files. No matter what technology changes take place the records printed on acid-free paper will always be available.
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