

Kirtley Lineage
From the present to the past, across 9 generations
Delaware, Maryland, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia
When did the first Kirtley come to America? This was the question that compelled my father, Donald Kirtley, to hire a genealogist in the mid-1990’s. He knew the family stories and lore, and wanted confirmation.
And so the investigation into this great story began...
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The information the genealogist found not only confirmed what my father believed, it allowed him to petition for membership into the General Society of Colonial Wars, a hereditary society of men who are lineally descended from a person who served either in a military capacity or held public office in one of the original 13 colonies prior to the American Revolution. My father has been a member of the society for more than 25 years.
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All of this set my father on a journey to do more extensive family research. And this passion flowed over to me and set me on my genealogical research path.
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The great story that is a branch of my paternal lineage is in the following narrative timeline.
