52 Weeks-January Wk#2...Favorite Find

 Week 2 ~ Prompt ~ FAVORITE FIND

There have been hundreds of surprising even shocking 'Finds'.  It's hard to narrow down to just one, but in keeping with Irene's research done before the Internet, I'm going with her positively, no question about it identification of her Great Grandfather....my 2XGreat.  

First, though, she made me take an Oath of Truth and Dedication as the next Family Historian.  So on a stack of Bibles I swore to continue her research and stay true to the Family History.  I swear I tried, but some things just did not add up.

Aunt Irene's family history was gathered the 'Old School' way...through libraries, historical societies, court and city records and passed down word of mouth from family members. 

At the TOP of the Pittman Family Branch, Irene had traced as far back as Rene Marion Pittman from Alsace Lorraine, France who came to America and married a Black Dutch woman...no name. Right off the bat, I'm wondering how a Frenchman...which could be with a name like Rene, got a surname like Pittman which I knew was not French, and how his wife could be Dutch and black. 

Finding Rene Marion Pittman's information on Ancestry was not only a favorite find, but blasted an opening in Irene's Old School Brick Wall that led the Pittman Ancestry all the way back to Colonial America.

Rene Marion Pittman Myth .... Debunked

Rene Marion Pittman was Born, Raised

 and Died in Georgia, USA!

His wife, Mary Anne Howell Pittman was 

Born, Raised and Died in Georgia, USA..
.was not Dutch or Black. 

Link To

Rene Marion Pittman ~ Notable Ancestor