Thomas is an excellent example of the ancestors who impress me the most: he left a well connected family in England, making the jump to America. His grandson, also named Thomas, is another: he took his family from relative safety in Virginia across the frontier into Kentucky. There are many stories like this hidden on this page, as well as on other pages. I have included all of the stories that I know in a seperate document: The Ancestry of Michael Ronald Spieth. You can link to it by clicking on many of the names in this tree, read more about them, and then just click their name to return here. Many of the Owsley facts and stories presented here came from the Owsley Family Historical Society, and from the book: A Genealogical History of the Owsley Family, by Ronny O. Bodine, excerpts of which were gathered from various genealogical web sites. I have taken the liberty of re-writing and editing what I found, no offense intended!
Major Thomas Owsley is the father of all of the Owsley's in America, and his descendants have been diligent in researching his roots. The family name could be traced even further than shown here, were it not for a bomb in 1942 which destroyed the records. His mother's line, however, turns out to be very interesting. Dorothy Poyntz had a family name which has been traced back either eleven or thirteen generations, depending upon which branches are followed. Here's a document grabbed off of Ancestry.com.
Even more impressive is following the lines of Poyntz, Sydenham, Newdigate and others. Dorothea Poyntz would possibly have been amazed to see her lineage traced back about twenty generations, all the way to William the Conqueror. So here's another document! Many European monarchs can be found along these paths.
If you have any corrections or additions to the information on this page, then I want to know:
please contact me.