One of my joys as a child was attending a family reunion where the oldtimers would sit out on the porch and tell stories of "their" childhood.
Uncle M. (my great uncle) told a very interesting story.
As a small boy, Uncle M. was placed on a steamship somewhere in North Carolina and shipped to Houston, Texas.
Upon his arrival, Houston was mostly a tent city, mud streets and little, if any, development.
From there, he was placed on a steam "packet" (a small steam boat) where he traveled up the Trinity river. Pre 1900, it was controlled by locks and dams to make it navigable.
Well up the river, he got off at Magnolia Ferry. Today, Magnolia Ferry exists as no more than a bend in the river.
From there, he was transported by horse drawn carriage to Palestine, Texas.
At that time, Palestine had boardwalks, civic bands, a thriving businesses, a railroad and a locomotive (steam) works.
That lineage seems to disappear with a lady named Nancy Epps in North Carolina
Uncle M. passed in 1973 at 98 years of age. That was my mom's paternal side.
Her maternal side is in a book that traces lineage back to the 1300's in Germany. Not a lot of royalty. 😜
Dad's lineage comes from England and appears to begin with a stowaway on a ship from England that changed his name upon arrival in America. Somewhere in the late 1700's, early 1800's. He would have been my grandfather's, great grandfather. Not much but hearsay and "some" oral history until my grandfather's grandparents.
