forefather

forefather is a Noun

Definition:

[1] One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor. Respecting your forefathers, you would have been taught to respect yourselves. Burke. Forefathers` Day, the anniversary of the day (December 21) on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New Style, it has generally been celebrated on the 22d.