Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was the son of William McKean from County Antrim who came to Pennsylvania via the city of…

You probably know the wild west part, some fact and some fiction, depending upon which movie you watch. 

William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (1853 –  1921) was a figure of the American "old west" known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler,…

James Smith was born in Ireland's province of Ulster in 1719 and went to the American colonies as a boy. A member of the Continental Congress 1776-1778,  he  served in the war of independence as a Colonel of the Pennsylvania Militia from 1775-1776. Smith died on 11 July 1806. He was also a…

When European settlement of North America started pushing inland from the coast, transportation problems repeatedly occurred. The biggest problem was the Appalachian Mountains, 400 miles from the coast.  This made it difficult to transport goods as well as…

Thomas Fitzsimons was born at Ballikilty, County Wexford, Ireland in October of 1741 to Anthony Fitzsymons in the mid-1750s.  We know his mother's name was Jane, but we do not have a record of her maiden surname.  Fitzsimons immigrated to Philadelphia where his father…

William Paterson (December 24, 1745 – September 9, 1806) was born in County Antrim to William Paterson and Unknown named mother. (How about it, Ireland – who is she?) He immigrated to the U.S. at the age of two, and entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton…

James McHenry (November 16, 1753 – May 3, 1816) was born into a Scots-Irish family in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland in 1753.   Sent at age 17 to North America McHenry lived with a family friend in Philadelphia before deciding to finish his preparatory…

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (1888 – 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. Born in a Broadway hotel room in Longacre Square (now Times Square), in the Barrett Hotel. He was the son of Irish immigrant actor James O'Neill, Rosbercon, County…

After posting the DNA and genetic explanation of red hair - here is a list of famous people. Note the people from the bible. Genetics (our cellular makeup)has always been with us, of course, we know that, but hair color was noted many years ago by historians. We all carry genes from our ancestors of long ago. If you search hard enough, you will find a picture of all of these people on the internet with red hair - Google Images. Those who were living before cameras-were painted from…

Where does red hair come from?  There is a lengthy and complex discussion of the red hair genetics here. Be sure and read the comments (everybody has an opinion and is an expert!) Within this…