re: #110 Mattand

Just out of curiosity: since its my lifelong stomping group, where in South Jersey were they from?

Cape May and Atlantic counties — Cape May and Egg Harbor to be specific. My paternal line settled there before 1750.

Funny thing is, I almost took a job after college in Atlantic City. That was before I knew my family had settled there in colonial times. So, I probably could have run into distant cousins without knowing who they were (unless they had the same surname).

One avenue of genealogical research still tantalizes me, though it is not directly related to me. My family name is not especially common and there are African-American families with the same surname. AFAIK none of my direct ancestors owned slaves, but at least one branch of the family did eventually end up in the South. My dad had an AA friend with the same family name, and the two often wondered how that all happened.