RootsChat.Com

Hi there: Well thank you all for all the wonderful information. Im a granddaughter of  Richard Mates "born 1887-". I was told his father, Richard, was able to bring his family to the States because a brother had "made a lot of money gold mining? in Alaska and helped him pay to bring them over" so there must have been a brother still alive then. I knew my great grandfather was a gardener who worked at Powerscourt. My grandfather died when my father was around 9 years old but I (and my older brother) have several of his personal items from Ireland because my father passed away 3 years ago. The family ended up in Seattle and then my grandfather moved to Portland, Oregon. I also remember my dad saying that the only Mates of his branch left in Ireland was his father's brother, who died in infancy and was buried there. For some reason my father believed that the Mates' were descended from folks who came over with William of Orange when he explained that although, strongly Nationalist?, his family was Protestant-perhaps Im showing my ignorance here. thank you again. You have motivated me to sort thru all the boxes of family correspondence/memorabilia to enlighten myself