01-12-2021, 02:47 PM
My paternal grandmother, Grandma Schweickhardt, was big into genealogy (way before it was cool or easy). She researched (I don't know how but it couldn't have been easy in the pre-internet days) and discovered some interesting things about our lineage. She discovered that we are pretty directly descended from Edward Rutledge (my grandma's maiden name) who was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence. Moving forward, apparently Davy Crockett is a branch in the old family tree. Another interesting find has to do with Abraham Lincoln. Apparently, Abraham Lincoln's first love (at least that's how the internet describes it) was Ann Rutledge. We were almost related. They probably would have married had Ann not inconveniently died from typhoid. All of this to say that, because of her research, my grandmother became a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).