My name is Bette Brownlow. I am a 7th generation descendent of William and Jane Brownlow who emigrated to the American colonies via Charlestown, South Carolina in 1767 from County Armagh.
I began my genealogy research quite by happenstance in 1992. I struck up a conversation with an ancient Dutch sea captain while crossing the English Channel. I made some inquiries about an ancestors' Dutch name on my mother's side of the family that really provoked my curiosity. Since most of my family members who could answer those questions were deceased, I followed the leads and began tracking those lines.
It was not until 1993/94, I discovered a Brownlow cousin (Beth Evans Novack) living near Phoenix who had done significant research about the Brownlow's from NC>SC>GA. I was living in Tucson at that time. We met, we shared (she more than I), and it was not too much longer (1994), I took my first trip to Northern Ireland without a clue as to where to begin. Again serendipity led me to a man named Kieran Clendinning who very graciously gave me a tour of the various places John Brownlow had lived since arriving in 1608/9. He gave me some compendiums of his Brownlow family research and launched me on the Brownlow quest to discover how all the various Brownlow branches fit together.
There are so many Brownlow family researchers and each has his/her own special area of interest and they are quite good at it. My interest mushroomed in a compelling interest to tie the lines together via Y chromosome testing. I knew the dna testing would help resolve many questions, as well as, potentially, create conundrums.
I have a BA in History; an M.Ed in Counseling Services; an MS and PsyD in Clinical Psychology. My passion remains to this day conducting research, history and the ancestors.
I have been taking classes at Duke University to learn how to make documentaries. My goal is to live long enough to make a documentary about the Brownlow clan. I do hope you will all assist this process by contributing oral histories about your Brownlow branches and should I be able to get to your area, to allow me the privilege of videoing you telling your family stories.
I first heard this quote in the movie "The 13th Warrior". I do not know who wrote it but it moved me deeply. It was spoken by an individual when facing death.
"Lo! There do I see my fathers.
Lo! There do I see my mothers, my sisters and my brothers.
Lo! There I see the line of my ancestors back to the beginning.
Lo! They do call to me. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live together."
The 13th Warrior, Film source
Genealogy Wit:
And think on these statements (authors unknown):
I think that I shall never see a completed genealogy
Every family tree has some sap in it.
Genealogists live in the past lane.
Only a Genealogist regards a step backwards as progress.
A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots.
An Invitation:
If anyone visiting this site has found ANY errors, I invite you to write and let me know what they are. I am much more interested in establishing the truth than in being right.
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