I love family history and digging into the "family legends" to find out what's fact and what's not. I am the typical "Heinz 57" Euro American with roots extending from England, France and the Netherlands.

My American roots are deeper on some sides and not so deep on others: I am a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins and William Bradford through my maternal grandmother.

Both maternal and paternal grandfather's were first generation born in America. My maternal great-grandfather, Prosper Capsel was born in France (legend has it that he peeled potatoes on the ship to pay for his passage to America) and my paternal great-grandfather, Henry Bensema, was born in the Netherlands.

I am continuing work on the Bensema Family tree that was started by Hattie Huizenga Schweigert in the late 1970's, early 1980's.

Other family names researching on my side of the family: Hartley, Tillman (and all it's variations), Capsel and Bach.

Family names being researched on my husband's side: Johnson, Williams, Harman (he is a direct descendant of Philip (or Andrew) Harman who was scalped by Indians in the Ligonier Valley, PA area in 1777; Bretzman and Snyder.

I love family history and digging into the "family legends" to find out what's fact and what's not. I am the typical "Heinz 57" Euro American with roots extending from England, France and the Netherlands.

My American roots are deeper on some sides and not so deep on others: I am a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins and William Bradford through my maternal grandmother.

Both maternal and paternal grandfather's were first generation born in America. My maternal great-grandfather, Prosper Capsel was born in France (legend has it that he peeled potatoes on the ship to pay for his passage to America) and my paternal great-grandfather, Henry Bensema, was born in the Netherlands.

I am continuing work on the Bensema Family tree that was started by Hattie Huizenga Schweigert in the late 1970's, early 1980's.

Other family names researching on my side of the family: Hartley, Tillman (and all it's variations), Capsel and Bach.

Family names being researched on my husband's side: Johnson, Williams, Harman (he is a direct descendant of Philip (or Andrew) Harman who was scalped by Indians in the Ligonier Valley, PA area in 1777; Bretzman and Snyder.