Mother's paternal side limey from Halifax England in the 1830's. Well educated and literate and kept detailed notes on the most trivial stuff California gold fields after the Mexican war. Served the CSA. Donated land for public use later in life .Some ancestor between then and now kept all the money. Some Indians and hillbillies in the mix between then and now. Father's side supposedly allegedly were from Spain and were 3 brothers who were ship captains and brought an Italian guy over here in the late 1400's.. The rest of his side's story is kinda fuzzy, but there's towns all across the south with the name. state park and small town in Tennessee named for one. A lot of folks in the old days that had Indian or "objectionable " ancestry didn't discuss it back in those days, not if you wanted to attend some churches, or attend school, or trade at the store That's just the way it was. Also, a lot of kids were taken in by different families for different reasons without benefit of what we'd call adoption in these days. They just did it for whatever reason and raised 'em. My mother had a cousin raised with her family when something happened to the cousin's parents.
