Family Pioneers

The theme for the 59th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is Politic & Our Ancestors.

Politics has never been really big in my immediate family--we do our duty and vote, but that's about it. Having said that, I knew there was a governor somewhere in my tree. In search of more information, I found that I have at least three relatives who were considered pioneers in their time with regard to politics.

Initially, I knew that Robert TREAT (my tenth-great-granduncle) was the Governor of Connecticut (then a colony). I found that he served as governor for 15 years, from 1683 to 1698. Prior to and after, he also served as deputy governor for a total of 17 years.

Digging around a little more, I found that I had another relative who served as governor of Connecticut (then colony) even before Gov. Robert TREAT. John WEBSTER, my eleventh-great-grandfather served from 1656 to 1657. He was also the deputy governor at some point. Although Robert and John are both related to me, they are not related to one another.

In my search of Robert TREAT, I kept coming across Robert Treat PAINE, who signed the Declaration of Independence. A little more digging revealed that Robert Treat PAINE is the great-grandson of Gov. Robert TREAT. Although Robert Treat PAINE is my third cousin nine-times-removed, it's neat knowing that someone I'm related to had huge part in out country's independence.

Robert Treat PAINE (permission granted under the GNU Free Documentation License)

Robert Treat PAINE's Signature (public domain)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I am curious to learn more about these men who took part in making our country what it is today.

Julie