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Jrj84105 t1_j8ll5s5 wrote

Martha was my 13th great grandmother. TIL somehow also Taylor Swift’s 7th great grandmother. Don’t know how she has so many fewer generations in there.

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Procrasturbating t1_j8mbdhd wrote

The financially better off branch probably had kids at a later age after they or their husbands were educated and started careers. There are advantages to this, and it makes building multigenerarional wealth easier. I know plenty of 30 something year old grandparents, teen pregnancy follows a trend in working class families. By the time I had my first kid, my classmates that had children right out of high-school were showing me their grandkids photos. A 2:1 ratio in generational age gap seems pretty plausable. Also possible, her branch just tended to be the youngest siblings and yours tended to be the oldest siblings and I am just pulling things out of thin air.

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Jrj84105 t1_j8pyvgw wrote

That tracks. My line was wealthy and very prominent until the Yankee-Pennamite War. Charles II deeded the Susquehanna river region- the Wyoming Valley- to both New York and Willam Penn.

My ancestors were imprisoned and all their property taken by the Pennamites. They were left homeless and penniless an had the life skills of essentially being rich people.

Generations later they were still blaming their misfortune on “those damn Pennamite bastards”. They basically Forzt Gumped their way through American history from Martha’s Vineyard to the Sutter’s Mill being tangential side characters in lots of American history.

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