What is the earliest European ancestor that produced an unbroken lineage within the lower 48 states of the U.S. and parts that lineage stayed in the U.S. the entire time.
What is the earliest surviving last name from an earlier settler that was passed through continuous habitation in the lower 48 of the U.S.
Let me explain my reasons for asking. I was just reading about the Roanoke colony in North Carolina in another thread. That was an early colony but none of them made it. There were also settlements in San Augustine, FL. I don’t hear much about those descendants.
I am a male who descended from the first colony at Jamestown around 1610 and I have the same last name. My ancestor was Richard Pace 1st . Don’t worry, I have the full genealogy that encompasses the work of a much older cousin and others, predates the internet, and cross-checks perfectly with every other source. I can even do a DNA test through the society if I want.
I live in Massachusetts now where people love to talk about those stupid “original” Pilgrims. I want to scream" Jamestown is where it’s at!". My lineage dates back 20 years before the Pilgrims.
I am just wondering if there are unbroken European lineages that go back further in what is now the Lower 48.
You may have competition from an unlikely source: New Mexico. There are old Hispanic families there that go back to the earliest settlements, which date to the same time frame. Santa Fe was founded in 1607-08, and San Juan in 1598. (Cite.) Whether there are provable lineal descents from the first settlers, however, is a different story (see article).
I assume you are referring to some Spanish groups that moved up. What are those? This question isn’t really about me, I would really like to know the earliest unbroken line of last name.
However, I am scared the answer is going to be something like Rodriguez and then things will quickly go downhill.
My grandmother from the 1500’s was named Smythe (Smith) so I am glad it didn’t that way for research purposes.
But the conditions were “an unbroken lineage within the lower 48 states of the U.S. and parts that lineage stayed in the U.S. the entire time.”
Any family living in New Mexico when it was under Spanish control was not in the US for the entire time. In fact they weren’t in the US for most of that time.
That’s OK. You could argue that none of it was the U.S. until much later. I am just looking for the lineage and ideally the last name that never left what is now the lower 48 once they arrived.
What about the Spanish settlements in Florida dating to the early 1500s? Did any of them survive or were they all abandoned until aftet the New Mexico/Virginia/Massachusetts colonies were established?