What a great topic!!! Love reading about all of you.
My many times great-gf on Dad's side was William Bradford --2nd Governor of Plymouth colony -- he came over on the Mayflower). With so few folks living there in the early years, there are some others I am related to as well. Had many relatives in the various wars -- am eligible for DAR. My Dad's parents were share croppers. My Dad was in Pearl Harbor when it was bombed.
My Mom's folks came through Ellis Island -- hard to trace family history when the names were badly botched. Mom did not speak English until she was 8.
DH paternal GP were German -- and one side created a geneology that goes back to the 1500's. Really sad looking at it -- some had 13 kids and only 1 or 2 survived. A lot of entries had "died by plague". When I saw this over and over (the plague was not one event, but several waves), I realize how hard it was on our ancestors.