As a member of the Dungan family, I have always been interested in family history and ancestry. I was fortunate enough to grow up in the Northern Neck of Virginia, an area rich in early American history. Most family members still lived in the area, especially Northumberland County, and we often visited the many family members, particularly the older generations. These wonderful people were generous in sharing their stories, and provided a glimpse into a way of life that has largely receded into the mists of history. These loved ones have since passed, and the older generation now consists of my father, Bernard Dungan, his sister, May Hale, and their late cousin's wife, Pauline Turner. They represent the last generation that remembers the earlier ways, and can tell their stories and those passed down to them.
There is a Dungan family cemetery near Callao, in Northumberland County, in which the earliest Dungans of Northumberland County are buried. There are only five marked graves, but approximately seventy unmarked graves, with the last burials believed to have taken place in the late 1800's. In recent years, my father has undertaken the task of maintaining and preserving the family cemetery, and has devoted countless hours to its preservation. His efforts renewed my interest in the family history, and in helping him preserve that history for the younger generations.
And so, a few months before his 75th birthday, I began the task of researching the family history, intending to present him with the results as a birthday gift. I joined Ancestry.com for a three-month period, thinking there would be plenty of time to complete the project. And I was able to learn quite a bit in time for his birthday. However that was over a year ago, and I am still researching. Researching the Dungans led quite naturally to his mother's family, the Swanns, then to the grandparents, then to their parents, and so on. The journey has led me to so many Northern Neck families -- Kent, Hall, Winstead, Curren, French,
In most cases I have been able to trace each Dungan and Swann ancestor back to their arrival in America, and it has been a fascinating journey. In almost every case, the first immigrants settled immediately in Virginia, with, ironically, the Dungans being the exception -- they were relative latecomers to the Northern Neck, arriving from Pennsylvania in the late 1700's. Virtually everyone other immigrant settled in Northumberland County before the Revolutionary War, and remained there and in the neighboring counties of the Northern Neck. It is, after all, known as "the land of pleasant living"!
