One Thin Thread

Who am I and where did I come from? When author Gary Crone set out 30 years ago to find an answer, little did he know he was embarking on an epic quest leading him across four continents and taking him over 120,000 years back in time. In One Thin Thread you will follow a deep ancestry trail from Africa to Asia and then Europe. Along the way you will learn why the only thing that separates all humans today in an ancestral sense is time and distance as you venture into the world of cutting edge genetic DNA research. Follow Germanic ancestors through their invasions of Gaul and epic battles with Rome. Find out what the ancestors were doing during the Reformation in Europe, the Black Plague and the many European wars that ravaged their lands and persecuted their religion. Then decipher the meaning of surnaming practices adopted by our post-Medieval ancestors before immigrating to America. Read why our Palatine immigrants named 1738 the "Year of the Destroying Angel" and their first plantation "Hungry Hook." Follow generations of pioneer ancestors through the American Revolution, settling the Western frontier and serving as political, religious and civil leaders. Individual stories in their historical context abound, such as an ancestor who often shared dinner with Abraham Lincoln and a cousin wounded on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. There are also stonemasons, cabinetmakers, cigar makers, world-renowned artists, preachers, doctors, lawyers, military leaders and even a Rhodes Scholar to meet. In short, be prepared for a lot more than names, dates, births and deaths. Be prepared to discover a rich family legacy. Gary Crone holds a History degree from Dartmouth College, a Master's in Strategic Intelligence Studies from the Joint Military Intelligence College, Washington, D.C. and a Juris Doctor degree from the Notre Dame Law School. He was also a National Security Fellow with the Kennedy School at Harvard University. After over 30 years of public service, he retired in 2009. One Thin Thread also includes genealogy research on the associated Krone, Munger, Bell, Stickel, Morrison, Kline, Watson, McMillan, Brown, Lovell, Murdick, Yates, Spangler, Surratt, Rohler, Frankeberger, Watts, Burns and Muckey families, just to name a few.