I have been upset with the way our schools now deal with history. So I have decided to send some letters to my Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren on their heritage this is the first letter I intend to send and would like you feedback on it. Thank you; Jack TO: My Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren; I write this to give you a sense of your family heritage, and in hopes it will get you interested in your family history. I plan to write a series of these letters to you with different ancestors and their stories. You have the DNA of Kings, Queens, Presidents, and Religious Leaders flowing thru your veins. However, for the lead heritage report, I choose none of the above, but choose a woman. This is the story of Penelope, in the mid 1600s a ship came ashore at what is now Monmouth, New Jersey. Among the passengers of this ship was a young Dutchman and his bride, Penelope Van Princes. The shipwrecked company now lost were looking for New Amsterdam. Hardly had they started there journey when they were attacked by a band of hostile Indians, the young husband was killed along with others. Penelope was wounded , stripped, unconscious and near death. When Penelope recovered conscious she was horribly mangled, her head was severely wounded, one arm mangled and forever disabled and her body ripped open that she had to keep her entrails in by constant pressure using her one good hand. She wandered about for quite some time, stilling the pangs of hunger by chewing pieces of fungus , bark and berries. She found refuge in a hollowed out tree. At this time, she was found by an elderly Indian who became a good Samaritan. He built some sort of shelter under a tree and he began! the slow process of cleaning her wounds and nursing her back to health. Her wounds were so terrible that fifty years later there grizzled cicatrices still stood out from her abdomen in ridges of an inch high, to the marvel of her grandchildren who were permitted to pass their hands over these great scars. When Penelope was sufficiently recovered the elderly Indian moved her to an Indian village where she recovered her full strength. A few months later a rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam (New York), where she met and married Richard Stout. Richard died in 1705, Penelope survived for some years and is said to have lived to 110, and had 502 descendants at the time of her death. Is the story of Penelope true? I have to say yes, it was reported and written about by numerous people who lived in that period of time, and the remarkable verification of her scars by her descendants. So, Grandchildren the next time you and feeling down and don't think you can make it, or see no hope in going on. Think of Penelope. Penelope is Toby and Jenny's 9th Great Grandmother Penelope is Stephanie, Kelsey, Cameron and Eric's 10th Great Grandmother Grandpa, Jack