By Luisa Loi
La Conner Community News
More than 200 years after the American Revolution, a local group of women dug into their past to glimpse into the lives of their Patriot ancestors and learn a little more about their roots.
Though the records they found are limited, they serve as a reminder that democracy and freedom are not to be taken for granted.
As Kylee Fortygin, a La Conner resident and associate member of the Ann Washington Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, would find out, being able to access historic documents and trace her family lineage is a privilege in itself.
Her husband, Kirill (who also serves in the Planning Commission), comes from a family of refugees who fled religious persecution in Russia, where many family records were lost amid the political turmoil.
“I think it’s important to know where you came from, because it helps ground you where you’re going. I feel very fortunate to even have historic records of my family,” she said. “Not everybody can do that.”
Fortygin’s interest started in 2019, when a marketing gig at the DAR led to the discovery that she had six ancestors who played a role in the Revolution.
One of them was Major William Gill, born in 1750 in Virginia. He joined at the beginning of the war and served as an aide to the commander-in-chief and a member of General George Washington’s staff. During the battle of Brandywine, which took place in 1777 in Pennsylvania, he got lost in the smoke of the conflict, accidentally ending up on the enemy’s side. To escape, he leapt his horse over a high rail fence, a feat that earned him compliments from Washington, according to FindAGrave.com.
John King, who shares Fortygin’s mother’s maiden name, was an Overmountain Man who fought (and won) in the battle of Kings Mountain that took place in 1780, in South Carolina.
The more she discovered, the more she wanted to know. That’s how she found out that she descends from a group of Huguenots who fled religious persecution in France and found refuge in what is now the United States. A family history that is reminiscent of her husband’s experience, despite the 300-year gap, she said.
“It’s interesting to see these stories that go beyond a nation,” she said. “There’s something else that’s tying people together and that goes beyond the borders of a country.”
Susie Deyo
Susie Deyo, who serves on the board of the La Conner School District, shares Fortygin’s fascination for what might have pushed her forebearers to leave the Old World for good.
“They’re willing to leave their homeland to come to some place new and make their own decisions,” she said.
Deyo’s great-grandmother, Adda Hulbert Gaches, started the local DAR chapter in 1921 — merely five days after being held hostage in her home in La Conner. She descended from two Patriots: Philip Clement, born in 1744, and John Dunlap, born in 1746.
If she could meet them today, she said, she’d ask them what motivated them to risk their lives.
Mickey Bambrick
Mickey Bambrick, who lives in the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood, has been into genealogy for nearly 30 years, piecing together any documents she can find to pass this knowledge down to future generations.
Bambrick is the co-chair of the America 250 committee and has about 30 ancestors who were involved in the Revolution.
One of them was Benjamin Beeson, a Quaker credited for furnishing supplies to the army, whom she believes may have also fought, despite being in his 60s.
Bambrick is proud of her connection with the Revolution, a reminder that freedom is something worth fighting for and that it’s slowly crumbling away.
Chris Barnes
Her neighbor, Chris Barnes, believes it’s important to preserve our heritage and history, whenever possible.
For years, she lived unaware of her grandmothers’ heritages, only hearing about the men’s.
“The men were so proud of their ancestry,” she said. “It was always about the men.”
When she applied to become a DAR member in 2024, the genealogist revealed that she was “rolling in patriots.” Since you only need one ancestor to join the organization, Barnes decided to honor her grandmothers by choosing two of their own, rather than her grandfathers’.
One of these patriots was Enoch Beer, her fifth great-grandfather on her paternal grandmother’s side. He was born in 1744 and had also served in the French and Indian War and is listed in the Muster Roll of Captain John Nicholas Wetherhold, she said.
During the Revolutionary War, Beer was captured in 1776, after the British victory in the Battle of Fort Washington in New York, suffering “terribly” until his release in 1779.
On her maternal grandmother’s side, Barnes picked John Rowley, her fifth great grandfather, whom she doesn’t know much about.
“I am so proud that I had ancestors that helped make this country great,” she said.
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
Photos by Luisa Loi
