Oscar-winning Allison Janney discovers her ancestor's role in the birth of the United States!

Allison Janney traces her ancestor's voyage from England to Bermuda, the Jamestown Colony, and aboard the Mayflower where he played a crucial role in the birth of a new country.
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[@katboxjanitor]

What an amazing heritage. Two different crossings to this land.

[@hulio708]

my family too, signed the Mayflower Compact. It gives me chills ♡

[@joyful_tanya]

Mine too. Several of them. One was Elder William Brewster. We were Puritan's. 😲 My family knew your family and her's.

[@cuucnsbfl9913]

Joe W. Says: WOW. THIS is an AMAZING STORY! As a patriot, I feel proud of the history of Democracy in these United States. The founding fathers of our nation enshrined the Democratic Ideal, the belief in a necessary separation of Church and State, and a healthy fear of Corporate Power-Mongering into the U.S. Constitution BECAUSE of experience - and the story of Ms. Allison's ancestor, Mr. Hopkins, and the perils he experienced would not have been a surprise to them. As a Unitarian Universalist myself - a member of a religious denomination that also holds these ideals in the highest esteem (and has deep roots of its own in New England) I am SO pleased to learn that Ms. Allison is descended from someone who put his own ideals into action when he became a signatory of the Mayflower Compact. Wishing you Great Joy, Ms. Allison!

[@lindawoody8501]

Very interesting and insightful. I had not known much about Stephen Hopkins though I believe eight of my ancestors would have been his fellow Mayflower passengers (Warren, Tilley, Howland, Billington and perhaps Priest) and a number more of Stephen Hopkins' neighbors in Plymouth during The Great Migration a few years later. Interesting to learn a little more about Jamestown Colony, Virginia. Glad Ms. Janney has some new information on her historic ancestor!

[@shewill8618]

Steven Hopkins hosted the Native Indigenous representation at his home. He learned the language through his time spent at Jamestown.

[@NoOne-kr4jc]

How did you find that out?

[@michaelsilva7176]

We all have stories. Most are less impressive. They are all important. They are the story of how we got to where we are today. My family's starts in Colonial Texas. All stories are built upon the stories of those before.

[@duchy13]

Well said! I always find everyone’s family history interesting. If you keep digging far back enough there is something interesting or a connection to a historical event ❤

[@ruthw1079]

All of our ancestors histories are amazing! They had that been pretty strong people to survive their time, to bring their family line into the present day.

[@allbies]

Do you know their European history before moving to the Americas?

[@CatzASMRnMore]

wow how special that they have a hand down hat from 400 years ago from her ancester...wow

[@tonyh3219]

'Oh and by the way...here is his 400 year old hat '......that's mindboggling....

[@helenarubio3371]

That is some crazy looking hat! It's marvelous! Wow, love it.

[@susangopher]

Allisons Janney line goes back to Thomas Janney a British Quaker convert who brought his family to Pennsylvania, then returned to England to preach his faith there. He died and is buried in England. His sons continued here and left a long legacy of large families in Pennsylvania and Virginia. There are Quaker Hopkins in the Janney line as well including Johns Hopkins, founder of the university. I wonder if there is a blood connection to the Steven Hopkins explored here?

[@lindawoody8501]

My ancestors were immigrants from Germany with William Penn Jr. to PA.

[@colleen4574]

I've seen Constance's hat and grave at Cape Cod. Also seen Stephen's name on the largest monument in Plymouth naming Mayflower passengers.

[@sharonwatson358]

Love Allison Janney

[@Zoot_of_Anthrax]

TIL allison janney and i share stephen and constance as distant relatives!

[@GroUrOwnLadyTender]

Whoa just whoa, how amazing. I hope she celebrates Thanksgiving 💖

[@poetfederico]

How cool is it to look at a hat and a glass case, 400 years old but has your shared DNA on it! I bet they could test the DNA on the hat, and DNA from the grave of John Hopkins, and finally answer the question if he was Steven's son left behind with Mary on the first voyage to Jamestown ( by way for me to).

[@laurabragan4242]

My family are descendants of Samuel Fuller.

[@Hamzakhan-dt3gv]

Interesting 😮😮😮😮😮

[@elizabethpolhemus4230]

No wonder she did well in West Wing. It's literally in her DNA😂

[@zellah]

Can’t say I didn’t have the same idea.

[@ElysiaTaylor]

It would be nice if you did average people from time to time you could set up a lottery, famous people can pay for this in depth search regular folks can't. 😊

[@macking104]

Ancestry offers a 14 day free trial. you can learn a lot if you have dedicated time to do the research…

[@susanfaulkner2304]

EVERYBODY I 've ever talked to claimed they are related to someone from the Mayflower. My sister one time told me we did too . I told her those people you pay to "research" the information are bogus.

[@laurabragan4242]

In order to be part of the Mayflower society you need proof.

[@jenrosejenrose7417]

Statistically speaking they're probably right. We've done the genealogy in our family and yeah, we're descended from William Bradford (along with many thousands of other people) and a whole raft of people who came over in the early to mid 1600s. Once you get a certain distance back pretty much every European and a whole lot of other people are descended from Charlemagne.

[@bennyboogenheimer4553]

Well................... As free as you get as servants of King James, as it read after the highlighted section. lol! Still, where would we be without them, and running out of beer?