On my father's side of the tree, today marks the 115th anniversary of the death of my half third cousin, three times removed, John Marshall Harlan, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, known as "The Great Dissenter" for his influential dissents in cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson.
Today, October 14, 2026, marks the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in which the forces of William, Duke of Normandy, defeated those of Harold Godwinson, King of England, kicking off the Norman Conquest.
According to family legend, it is also the origination of the Ayers family, from which I am descended on my mother's side of the tree.
I cannot lay my hands on notes laying out the story in full, but memory suggests William the Conqueror rewarded a loyal aide who (William believed) had saved his life during the battle, with the title "eir" ("heir") which evolved into Ayer (and later, Ayers, the family name of my maternal grandmother's family).
My late mother Donna's genealogical ambition was to document that lineage all the way back to 1066, aided by my maternal grandfather Ralph and my first cousin once removed, Janet.
