My Interest in history was initiated at the early age of 3. Since then I have traveled to many Eastern Woodlands & various 18th Century related events throughout the East Coast. Growing up in living history as I have, you meet so many wonderful people along the way, and form close-knit friendships, and families.  It is these friends; these people who have watched me grow from when I first started out, and along with my love of living history, have greatly influenced me into who 
I am today.

You know the old saying about how history has a tendency to repeat itself. 
I like to think  that my passion for living American History, and for recreating bits and pieces of our Past through my hands into my work derives from the blood of my ancestors. My Grandmother's ancestral research has enlightened me of my own heritage; a melting pot if you will of Welsh, German, Dutch, Irish, Scottish & Native American blood. A few bits & pieces of a puzzle to one of my ancestors in particular has intrigued me a great deal.... it seems one of my ancestors, a Mr. John Cairns, came over from Ireland in or around 1836; his occupation was listed as a grower of flax and was apparently quite a skilled weaver by profession, both in Ireland & later where he settled in Pennsylvania. 

It seems to me that the threads of our heritage, sadly, at times may feel quite thin, but they are never entirely broken, and may grow stronger as we delve deeper into our own roots.  And so I dedicate my work to my own ancestors, and to the ancestors of us all, our American Heritage.

May the legacies of our forefathers be preserved!

Striving to keep history alive one thread at a time, 

Shayna L. Matthews

Photo Taken in camp at Fort Frederick MD  Market Faire, April 2008

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