It helps to know where we came from in order to understand ourselves. We have eight branches or four generations in our family tree as far back as our great-grandparents. The author was able to trace her ancestors even further back. Though she knew a lot about her ancestors, she did not know a lot about their struggles and little about the contributions they made toward advancing the African American race. This book will be of particular interest to those who find they are connected to this family tree. For those unrelated, it will serve immensely as a blueprint for one's own ancestral journey. For others, it is simply interesting and historical and a point of reference in time. Some prominent and determined people are a part of this family tree. In addition to portraying this particular family, this book captures ancient and historical events focused particularly on the enslavement, servitude, segregation and the ultimate success of the African American people. The author's goal is to document her family history and to locate her distant relatives. Simultaneously she desires to help others in search of their past since our past is a part of who we are as a people.

This is a family story which traces the live of two family - Packards and the Fosters. The Packards left England in 1638, settled though out New England, and produced a Mississippi Steamboat Capt.- Charles H. Packard. The Fosters fought the British in Old Charles Towne, S. Carolina. In 1775-1778 and were part of the Old Three Hundred who settled in Texas in 1822.

This volume is a surname study of the Gilbert and Hopkins families of Messick, Poquoson, York County, Virginia. Every census record from 1790 to 1910 known to pertain to these Poquoson families has been abstracted and cited. The current volume brings each family from its earliest mention in the colonial era down to the present. Many female lines have been followed for one or more generations, but most female lines have not been followed for more than one or two generations. The text is well illustrated with early photographs and includes a bibliography and an index of every individual known to be related by birth or marriage to the families studied in this volume. Most of the family photographs in this volume have never before been published. This is Mr. Willett's tenth volume of family history, and his seventh volume on the Messick area of Poquoson, York County, Virginia. Mr. Willett is related to most of the Poquoson families through his maternal Martin and Hopkins ancestors; he is a family history researcher and recognized authority on the Willett surname and on his maternal families of Poquoson, York County, Virginia