Any good family get together comes with a history lesson, and on Saturday I discovered that Thomas Andrew, who arrived in the states in 1629 was one of the original founders of Cambridge, MA.  The first houses were built in Cambridge in 1631, and Thomas Andrew and his brother William built separate homes in Cambridge in 1632 and 1634 respectively.  They chose to live at the corner of Dunster and Winthrop street in Cambridge. (google map that action)

This blew my mind as I’ve biked/ran this street on numerous occasions, the house was located literally a 1 minute walk from Harvard Square (think side streets near bartley’s burgers) and a 1 minute walk from the Charles River (think head of the charles).  Why isn’t that real estate still in the family…

William Andrew’s grandson, Samuel “william” Andrew went on to be one of the ten founders of Yale University in 1700 and served as Yale University’s president from 1707-1719.

Huge props to my grandfather for his help in compiling the book Thomas Andrew, Immigrant. It’s incredible to see how the family history comes together, and makes me want to return to Cambridge roots.