Notes from the Fox Den

by Josie Fox

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the Fox Den!

I started out this week wanting to write about my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary, which would have been July 7. Had my dad not passed away in 1989 and my mom remarried, they would have celebrated their 60th anniversary this year, if my math is correct.

To double check, I decided to sign up for a family search account to see if I could get a copy of their marriage license to go with this column...and that my dear friends is what started my spiral into the deep abyss of genealogy.

You know those JET.com commercials where someone is presented with a great deal and their mind explodes into a purple cloud of smoke? Well, I am fairly certain that is how I look while writing this week’s column, because my mind is blown.

I was able to easily get back to my great-grandparents on both my mother and father’s side of the family, and by a stroke of luck, I was able to link my great-grandfather Nathaniel Dominy to previously researched records, allowing generation after generation to magically appear on my screen.

For some reason, my great-great-grandfather is not listed, just my grandmother, Jennie Gill Dominy, born in 1860. Her father’s was named Jesse born in 1834 in Alabama, married to Mary Ann, born in 1842.

It is the branches extending out from Jesse and Mary Ann (my great-great-great grandparents) that quickly becomes not only very interesting, but very overwhelming.

Following just the fraternal links from Jesse, I was able to find information dating back to 1600 and a man named Jacob Doming born in Austria.

It appears that sometime after 1720, the spelling of the family name changed from Dominig to Dominy. Andreas Dominig was born in Germany in 1720 and immigrated to British Colonial South Carolina where his son, Frederick Dominy was born in 1765.

From Andreas, I was able to trace back to 1600 when Jacob Dominig was born, but have yet to find any records past that point.

Going back to Mary Ann, and following the links from her parents, Henry Alexander and Lovica “Vicy” Blackshear I was able to go back as far as 0140BC when Anavas, 2nd King of Herculaneum Heruli (Denmark) was born. King Anavas died in 0040 BC.

Apparently someone connected to my great grandparents put in a lot of time, energy and work as all the information I was able to find stems from research completed by other individuals and linked to Nathaniel Dominy.

Some of the more interesting links I discovered were:

* John Ogilvy, Laird of Lintrathen Scottland born in 1402.

*William Sinclair, 3rd Laird of Rosslyn, Scottland and Teutonic Knight who only lived to see 30. He was born in 1328 and died in 1358.

*Earl Robert IV De Bruce, Lord of Annadale, born in 1243 and married Marjorie, Countess of Carrick.

*Lady Jean MacRory of Bute born in 1232

*Prince Henry Scotland of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Northumberland and 3rd Earl of Huntingdon born November 19, 1114. He was the son of King David I of Scotland and Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon. Henry was named after his uncle, King Henry I of England who had married his paternal aunt Edith of Scotland

*Hughes ‘le Grande” Capet, King of France born in 1054 to King Henri I and Anna Agnesa, Grand Duchess of Kiev.

I would love to spend more time on this and find someone a little more versed in genealogy than I am to help me confirm some of the connections. After all, this is just my father’s side, I haven’t even branched into my mother’s side.

On a funny note, judging by all the lairds, kings and notated royalty listed, I guess my father was right when he called me his little princess, it appears I may have royal blood after all.

I hope you all enjoy your week and thank you for sharing a part of your day with me as you read my column.