Genetic Memories Anyone? (or, my fascination with Daniel Boone . . .)

So, I am on a Facebook page with frontier re-enactors / enthusiasts.

Recently, someone posted about the old 60s television show Daniel Boone. Of course, there are a number of inaccuracies in the show. Boone wore a felt beaver hat not a coonskin cap (although Davy Crockett wore one). Boonesborough and the surrounding environ looks a LOT different than the television suggests. The Shawnee, and not the Cherokee, populated the Kentucky area. Boone and wife Rebecca had ten children not just two - Jemima and Israel - as the show suggests (and later Jemima, played by Nancy Cartwright, was dropped).

I loved, loved, loved that show, however. I watched it religiously. I remember getting upset one day because we had to go somewhere and I could not watch it that afternoon. (By the time I was watching the show - it was on reruns in the afternoon after school).

Most of the pics of the real Boone are as an older man. This one appears to have been drawn from those but as he may have looked when he was younger. I am not certain where it originated from.

Such a fascination as a ten year old girl was certainly strange. It gets stranger when I later started working on my genealogy ten years later and learned that my 6th great-grandfather - David Crews - was at Boonesborough at the same time as Boone. As a matter of fact, it appears that Crews was one of the few people that supported Boone after his court-martial after the capture of the salt makers in February of 1778. He also later housed some of the land records at his own station, Crews Station, during Boone's trial.

Anyone want to explore inherited memories?

But, I digress - so I make a post on said FB page of reenactors about how much I liked the show and how I later found out my ancestor was there, and I got a TON of likes - and they are all men. LOL. I may be one of only a handful of girls on the whole page. Maybe I am the only girl?

And - so - Fess Parker / Daniel Boone is my Manspiration Monday for this week.

Now, time to go dig up those old shows just for the fun of it . . .

What about you? Do you have a favorite memory as a child that defies rational explanations? Drop me an email at donnahechlerporterbooks@gmail.com! I would love to hear about it!

About Donna

Donna Hechler Porter has always had stories in her head. When they were not swirling and gnawing, she had her head in a history book - both fiction and non-fiction. Now, she puts her love of old things, including her genealogy, to good use by writing both genealogy books and novels. She has published five historical novels, several of which have won awards, four genealogy books on her family history, and several smallish books including a book on the 1778 Big Siege of Fort Boonesborough and a book with tips and tricks for bringing history to life for young people. A graduate of Texas A & M University, she currently teaches middle school English and literature at a small private school east of Houston and runs a private tutoring business. She stops for all garage sales and to collect treasures from the side of the road. She dreams of life in a log cabin in the woods, even as she is addicted to antique and thrift shopping.

_________________________________________________________________________

If you live in southeast Texas and would like Donna to come speak at your reading, genealogy, or history club, please contact her. She is more than likely to say yes! 

Need a topic for Donna to present? Check out her already created topics here or suggest one of your own.

_________________________________________________________________________

Sign up for Donna's newsletter "A Petticoat & A Pen" by clicking on the link below or scrolling back to the top of the page and clicking the link. You will get the first updates on my latest projects, tips for your own writing journey, insights into my writing world, and more! Best of all, a FREE gift is waiting for you at the other end!

I want to join Donna's community of readers and writers . . .