This assignment has been legendary in our town waaaaaay before my time. Many a mother has slaved hours upon hours creating a beautiful family heirloom. That was never in the realm of possibility with my non-artistic, analytical brain.
But on my first go around, I drove my older son to cram in all of the ancestors I was adding to my tree in Ancestry.com back to Charlemagne. This time we're not going for breadth as much as depth. (After all, the assignment only requires that we go back as far as the Civil War.) I'm going to be picky and choose to highlight the ones with life events that would interest my son. When I consider his favorite books - they usually climax with an epic battle. So the first tidbit I gave him was from a wonderful book about my maternal grandmother's line, Familia: La historia de los Armstrong en Puerto Rico. There's a great story of how the first Armstrong earned his name in Scotland. I read it to him and he gave me a nod of approval. Then I quit while I was ahead!
The story goes that in an ancient battle the King of the Scots was unhorsed. His armor bearer Fairbairn, with one arm, picked up the king and sat him upon Fairbairn's own horse. The grateful king decreed that Fairbairn should thereafter be know as Armstrong, and gave him land along the Scottish Border.
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