Douglas John Rasmussen

Muskets, Crowns & Liberty Douglas John Rasmussen

This book is the true story of an amateur genealogist starting from scratch to discover his forebears. He knew nothing about them, other than the lives of three of his grandparents who were alive but only during his youth. He assembled an astonishing string of 40 generations of a verified bloodline, one of which was born in each century AD. The story goes unconventionally backwards in time and includes vignettes in each generation, capturing some intersections of his ancestors in monumental historical events. It was designed to be his record for his posterity, but the journey of his genealogical search became his own legacy from his ancestors-a model and encouragement to others to follow the same journey. He expounds on his own life as "Generation One" which combines the story of a youth growing up in a small Midwestern town in the 1950's, attending college and law school, and becoming intimately involved in his law practice, his family, and the Detroit, Michigan community. It continues up his mother's "Fletcher" line where details and images become increasingly misty with the passage of time-yet are quite revealing. His story shows how his family ancestors contributed to the advancement of liberty-whether in a continental setting or at the lowest grass-roots level-often sharing new light on important historical occurrences. Into all of this the author juxtaposes many thought-provoking contemplations of "Who am I?" and "How does the past affect me and my future?" This makes the story much more than a simple genealogical recitation of the past; it becomes an outstanding model for present self-examination of life itself by any reader.