Our Somers Family Heritage

Piedmont Trails has received a huge amount of questions and queries concerning free genealogy techniques. Due to the overwhelming response, Piedmont Trails made the decision to dedicate a blog segment covering the subject. This article will focus on the advantages and the “know-how” of researching without a paid subscription or any type of membership fee attached. Subscription fees can add up very quickly when it pertains to genealogy. Some companies charge as much as $400.00 yearly to acquire genealogy records and separate fees for DNA testing results. Family lineage software varies as well from $25.00 up to over $200.00 depending on the size and the capabilities of the software. You have to ask yourself, are the fees really worth it? Genealogy research is so much more than researching online references. It involves an adventure, an expedition, a journey that you may be totally missing. Continue reading here... Editor's Note: Please see also Piedmont Trails North Ca...

Great Grandfather Henry Francis Somers Indications are I'm Scottish through my mother's family line (the Lawson's) and the oral family history from my father's side handed down from my Great Grandfather Henry Francis Somers to his son, my Grandfather, William Henry Somers, and to my father, Jesse Cecil Somers, is that we are descended from both the Scots and the Cherokee.  So, I'm sharing these informative excerpts and resources for the Somers family researchers. The Cherokee Indian Nation (Scottish Tartans Authority) : It may seem strange to link tartan with some of the great tribes of north American Indians and you could be forgiven for querying the link. It is however, part and parcel of the legendary global spread of the early Scots adventurers who permeated all walks of life and all cultures. The modern appeal of tartan as a unique identifier with those adventurers - whether the links are by nature or nurture - is a fascinating phenomeno...

A Rare List of Covenanter Baptisms #History #Scotland #genealogy By Dr. Mark Jardine - Posted March 30, 2016 Image from Jardine's Book of Martyrs Excerpt: A remarkable document survives from the field preachings of the late 1670s. It is a list of baptisms conducted ‘in Fields and other places’ in Torphichen parish, Linlithgowshire, between 1675 and 1679.  One of the things that makes individual Covenanters of the 1680s and their children hard to trace is their withdrawal from the established church that produced records of births and marriages.  Among those who had children baptised were two individuals of particular significance, Edward Marshall , who was hanged in 1685, and George Hill , one of the leaders of the United Societies. A third name, Patrick Walker in Slamannan parish is probably Patrick Walker ‘in Drumcria’, aka. Drumclair. He may be the Patrick Walker who wrote the lives of Cameron, Cargill etc. Walker did know people in Torphichen parish and ...

In the mid 1970's my dad traveled to Scotland while serving in the Air National Guard. When he returned home, I remember him telling me that while he was there, he visited Edinburgh Castle and found a book that contained the names of those who had served in the Scottish military hundreds of years ago... And much to his surprise, there were many named "Somers" listed in the book. Dad also tells the story of a bed and breakfast owner who spelled the Somers name correctly when he first checked in.  He was surprised because most folks want to add an extra "m" or spell it like the season. He complimented her for getting the spelling correct, to which she replied "Is there any other way to spell it?" These two events prompted him to do some family research while in Scotland and when he returned home, he was convinced the Somers family had roots there. Yesterday while researching the Somers family from Caswell, County, NC, I came across information ...