Pedigree

In our quest for origins, we focus on a litany of records to link our present family to our ancestral roots. One such record, or identifier rests in mysterious family coat of arms. From my paternal grandmother's diligent genealogical research she documented from connections to previous generations, two family coats of arms, that of the Greenlee (paternal name) and Shaw (paternal grandmother's maternal name) families and, I'll explore each of these in detail as my research continues, while reviewing additional unsubstantiated coats of arms I have found related to my other family lines. For now, I wanted to present a brief history of coats of arms and heraldry to put this identifier into perspective.

Each winter holiday season, I try to take a couple of weeks off from work to visit with family and to devote time to my projects during the days that span between the weeks of Christmas and New Year's Eve. And so, between my siblings' visit, spending time with the family, our annual holiday party, and the remaining days of my vacation, I figured I would have about a week to settle in and work on my genealogy project. However, on Saturday, December 21st, 2019…My person surprised me with a wonderful and thoughtful gift…the gift of companionship in the form of an eight week old Boston Terrier puppy. As soon as we picked the little guy up from New Holland, Pennsylvania, a new way of life began in our little cottage family, one where our lives now revolve around a little chicken-hawk, who is willful in character, fragile in body, highly intelligent, eager to learn and who will impose his will on you if given the opportunity.