A study of the ancestors of the Bankert and Graber families of Central and Upstate New York.

Our American Heritage can be traced back to the arrival of the "Mary and John" which sailed in advance of the Winthrop Fleet and arrived in a place they named Dorchester on the 30'th of May, 1630. Within five years these original New England colonists would venture into the wilds of Connecticut and found settlements later called Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield.

The nineteenth century brought us our Irish ancestors, some of whom arrived in America as famine immigrants, escaping the blight of Ireland. Our German ancestors followed shortly, and, in the twentieth century, our Italian ancestors arrived at Ellis Island, shortly after World War I.

Our grandfathers have fought in nearly every war since the settlement of America, including the Pequot War of 1637, The American Revolution, The Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam. We have direct connections to early American government, war, and witchcraft, and we can claim cousinship to Presidents, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and murderers.