Eastern Shore Adventure

Onancock, Va. — What an amazing trip I recently took to the Eastern Shore of Virginia! My wife Cindy and I met up with my sister Miriam and her husband Barry Green for a pimento cheese picnic at Kiptopeke State Park just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

This was the beginning of a four-day family roots adventure.

We came here to investigate our connections to historic Eastern Shore families such as Avery, Stringer, Flowerdew, Savage, Teackle, Harmanson, Custis, Robins, Yeardley and Littleton.

It helps that the Eastern Shore has some of the best-kept court and county records anywhere in the United States.

Captain John Smith explored the Eastern Shore in 1608 just after the Jamestown settlement. Our family put down roots in this deep, sandy and fertile soil in 1637 with the arrival of John Stringer, who was a surgeon from England.

A few generations later our Eastern Shore ancestors would migrate to western North Carolina.

My favorite family name from the Eastern Shore would have to be Temperance Flowerdew! Can you imagine hearing that name over a loud speaker at a high school graduation today?

I put together a five-minute video of our Eastern Shore adventure including stops in Onancock, Chincoteague, Assateague, Belle Haven, Eastville, Exmore and Cape Charles.

How about you? Is there a connection to the Eastern Shore. It might be worth a family trip!

By Bill Leslie

https://www.wral.com/bill-leslie-eastern-shore-adventure/18642135/