Royal roots

Donald and Helen must have been proud when their beautiful daughter, Isabel, met the handsome young Robert. You see, Robert de Bruce, who would later be crowned the first King of Scotland, came from a long line of nobility. According to the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Norman F. Cantor, ed., New York, 1999): “Robert I (1274-1329) the Bruce holds an honored place in Scottish history as the king (1306-1329) who resisted the English and freed Scotland from their rule. He hailed from the Bruce family, one of several who vied for the Scottish throne in the 1200s.”

Robert’s wife, Isabel, soon gave birth to a daughter, Marjorie, who married Walter, part of the Stewart line. Several more Stewarts married into the family along the way, eventually leading to the current British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II… But let’s follow another thread…
Marjorie and Walter had a son named Robert, who followed his grandfather to the throne. Through several generations, including marriages to Mures and Drummonds, Edmunstones and Rosses, Hamiltons and Semphills, part of this family married into the Dalrymple line, another Scottish family with royal connections. John Dalrymple (1648-1707) was a Scottish noble who played a crucial role in the 1707 Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
His son, George, came to the United States, where he married Rose Mason in Philadelphia. George and Rose Dalrymple moved to South Carolina, where they merged with the Jones family, eventually traveling to Arkansas. Along the way came some Heaths, Coopers, Brents, and Montgomerys, along with a Rhodes family from North Carolina and Tennessee.

Neoma Rae Jones was born July 13, 1896 in Brush Creek, Ark., the granddaughter of Henry Dalrymple Jones. She married Thomas Elliott Sharpe and had several children. She lived a long and happy life, passing away in Dallas, Texas at the age of 99, surrounded by her family. One of Neoma's children was Dorris Jean Sharpe, who was born April 1, 1931 – 21 generations from King Robert I of Scotland. She is my mother.