To Maria and Grace, my lovely daughters,
Today I learned your blood runs very deep in this country, and deep in Kentucky. Here is your lineage:
Your father’s full name is Harold Ray Combs, born in 1978 to Harold Gene and Dottie (Haddix) Combs.
Harold Gene was born in 1953 to Bryan and Cora (McIntosh) Combs. (We tend to say the ‘McIntosh’ part of the line is where our crazy comes from, but I’m not so sure.)
Bryan was born in 1919 to Prince and Lizzie (Keene) Combs. I remember him as a loving, kind man of good humor and many stories with supreme strength of body and character, taken well before his time at only 66. Bryan’s brother, James, served in Patton’s army in World War 2, and still lives.
Prince was born in 1883 to Luther and Gemima (Thomas) Combs.
Luther was born in 1839 to Seburn and Margaret (Gross) Combs. Luther Served in the Civil War when he was 23.
Seburn was born in 1820 to Benjamin and Martha J. (Brown) Combs. Your Great-uncle Bryan “Seeb” Combs gets his nickname from Luther’s Dad, Seburn. Reputedly, Seburn was the meanest man in Breathitt County, and given the other contemporary occupants, that’s saying something.
Benjamin was born in 1793 to John “Soldier” Combs and Margaret (Nantz) Combs.
Soldier Combs was born in 1761 to John “Sr.” Combs and Nancy M. Harding. He was known as “Soldier” because he served in the Revolutionary War fighting for Virginia.
Soldier and his brothers Nicholas “Danger” Combs (And you thought Dad’s stories were boring!) talked their dad into accompanying them into a trip across the Appalachians to Kentucky, which was a land-grant state for veterans of the war.
John “Sr.” Combs was born in 1735 to Mason and Sarah Ann (Nelson) Combs. John Sr served in both the French and Indian War with his brother Josiah, and in the Continental Army starting in 1780.
(At this point, you may be thinking “We’re run out of America…at some point, they had to come to this country, right? We’re not through!)
Mason Combs was born in 1713 to John and Hannah (Mason) Combs.
John Combs was born in 1662 (!) to Archdale and Elizabeth (Butler) Combs.
Archdale was born in 1625 (!) in JAMESTOWN VIRGINIA to John and Margaret (Archdale) “Coombes”. John had come over as an Indentured Servant to Virginia.
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So, in summary young ladies, your family has been here for (now) Twelve generations, having arrived originally in 1619. Your patrilineal ancestors participated in the French & Indian War, the American Revolution, the initial settlement of Kentucky, and the American Civil War. We’ve been on this continent for six years shy of 400 years, living in that time in Virginia and Kentucky almost exclusively.
Until today, I could name my lineage back through Prince (my Great-Grandfather) and that’s it. It’s humbling to see just how involved in American History we were.