Lorraine told us, > Guess what! I just received a book I purchased on Amazon.com called "The > Drowning Room." It's fiction, but based on the real life story of one of > my > ancestors! She was apparently a rather scandalous lady, who married a > pirate, > before settling in New Amsterdam. Talk about your family secrets!! One > source I > read about her claimed that she was the first prostitute in America! (Now > how they could determiine that information, I'll never know.) > Fascinating, > huh?! Can't wait to start reading it! Oh my goodness! I know that my uncles always wanted us to find that one of our ancestors was a horse thief, but to be descended from the first prostitue in America, would have been more than they could have handled! Lorraine, it also puzzles me how they could have determined that your ancestor was the FIRST prostitute in America. Like what did they do back in those early 1600s of New Amsterdam? Did all of the women who came to America have to fill out a questionnaire asking their occupation? Did they keep a chronological list of those whose occupation was a prostitute and your ancestor was at the top of the list?? :-) Although that's obviously a bit absurd, I still like the thought of one of my maternal ancestors being involved (married?) to a pirate and who had the reputation of being a prostitute. Nah, that would have to have been fiction. Let us know how the book ends up. vee