Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

Being from Iowa and living in Colorado, I don't think of my ancestors as being mariners. Most of them were farmers or at least had roots in farming. Those who immigrated to America, came by ship. And my father, Russell Mesenbrink, served aboard the battleship West Virginia in World War 2. But aside from that, I was unaware of any other significant amounts of time ancestors spent on the ocean. Some of my family lines go back to colonial times. Most notable was Captain James Davis, who, had fortunes been reversed, would be as famous as his contemporary, Captain John Smith. Smith wrote of a family of Welsh sailors, most likely Davis, his brother Robert and others. Davis was chosen as captain for an attempt to colonize in the new world by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. His group of colonists landed in what is now Maine just a few months after Smith's competing Virginia Company of London founded Jamestown. Davis' group formed the Popham Colony at Sagahodoc in 1607. But du