Welcome!
All information for living individuals is designated as private, and will therefore not be visible. If you are a close family member who would like to see living people, please register for a user account. User accounts will only be given to people within a couple of generations of the four core ancestors listed below.
I would like the information on this site to be interesting and accessible. The links on the left, and the stories below, provide many ways of accessing the information on the tree. But I'm always interested in hearing new ideas, or from any relatives. Please get in touch.
What this site contains
This site contains trees built around these four core ancestral lines:
- the ancestors of Metta Tomlinson (1913-2001) and her husband, John Lansdale, Jr. (1912-2003)
- the ancestors of Helen McLellan (1906-1999) and her husband, Gustave Pitard (1903-1988)
These links list what's known of their ancestries for eight generations. You can discover the names of many wider relations by using the charting buttons at the top of any person's page.
What's in a Name? The European origins of the surname "Pitard" are obscure, but some facts can be deduced. It was originally French, and judging by current distributions of the name in France, Pitards originated along the Loire river valley and Normandy, in the north and west of the country. "Pittard" also exists as a family name in the southern U.S., but that family seems to have immigrated from England. |
The Revolutionary WarThis is often provisional. This is especially complicated because many genealogies claim that ancestors served, though documentation can be scarce. I have put this up looking for suggestions if they are out there. Please get in touch if you can help. |
Quaker AncestorsQuakers (also Friends) kept very good records, which means that their histories are very traceable. Quaker familes on this site concentrate especially in south-eastern Pennsylvania and southern Maryland. This page describes the direct Quaker ancestors on this site back to immigration, and tells of other families to which they connect. |
The Civil War Wars leave behind trauma, one result of which is the bond formed between soldiers. One measure of this--especially interesting for family history--is that the children of veterans often intermarry. This page lists more than 100 people for whom I have found Civil War records. |