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Old 12-04-2016, 07:35 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,194 posts, read 17,735,000 times
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Probably the one who was captured by Native Americans as a child.
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Old 12-04-2016, 08:25 PM
 
2,086 posts, read 1,403,310 times
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I was 70-something when I found out I was a descendant of William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth Colony and who came over on the first trip of the Mayflower.
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Old 12-04-2016, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Southwest Pa
1,440 posts, read 4,397,375 times
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Pretty quiet on both sides, mostly peasants and such. But after some research we discovered that grandmother, on dad's side, was the illegitimate daughter of the German ambassador to Turkey at Constantinople. She did spend some time there as the kitchen girl, her mother, followed the ambassador to his posting. Just speculation but we think that the ambassador's wife put her foot down and out they went.
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Old 12-05-2016, 07:04 AM
 
Location: Texas
4,840 posts, read 3,605,137 times
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My maternal grandfather. He was a real cowboy at the 6666 Ranch in North Texas. It is still a working ranch today.

He was a character, would get all drunk and dress up in goofy clothes and ride his tractor to town when he was old. Would take off to Mexico with friends for some, uh, cultural exchange.

I'm sure he drove my Granny crazy.
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Old 12-11-2016, 12:53 PM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,491 posts, read 47,436,183 times
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Nothing but poor dirt farmers. Too poor to have much record keeping about them.
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Old 12-11-2016, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Type 0.73 Kardashev
11,110 posts, read 9,732,220 times
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Oliver Wolcott, signer of the Declaration of Independence (and of the Articles of Confederation). He also served as a general during the War of Independence and later as Governor of Connecticut.
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Old 12-11-2016, 02:40 PM
 
Location: Chicago area
22 posts, read 21,520 times
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Mine would be Stephen Hopkins, he was at Jamestown for a while, got shipwrecked in the Caribbean on his way back to England. Then came back on the Mayflower along with his family.
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Old 12-11-2016, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
4,487 posts, read 3,886,591 times
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I have in my possession the discharge papers for one of my ancestors from the Civil War. Accompanying the formal decree is a hand written letter from his commanding officer enumerating his many accomplishments while in the Army. I just love that.
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Old 12-14-2016, 07:41 PM
 
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,337,451 times
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My GGG grandmother and GGG grandfather. Shortly after their marriage my GGG grandfather was fighting in the Revolutionary War and became a POW. While in camp he became sick with small pox and was near death. His wife voluntarily became a POW too so she could join him and take care of him. He eventually recovered and at war's end husband and wife were freed. In his will he freed all of his slaves and gave them lots of land and equipment, so much that the state of South Carolina stepped in and declared the will void.
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Old 12-15-2016, 02:21 AM
 
Location: Lake Arrowhead, Waleska, GA
1,088 posts, read 1,446,602 times
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In a lot of ways, the most fascinating for me is the oldest ancestor that I've actually traced back to England. In 1672, they (James Brookshaw and Mary Elizabeth O'Harigan Brookshaw) came to the U.S. as indentured servants. They arrived in Somerset County Maryland, they worked for the time required to pay back the cost of their travel and fulfill their obligations. Then they started moving South and many landed in Atlanta.

In addition to being the oldest relatives I can find coming to the U.S., they were also the only relatives (to my knowledge, to date) that changed their surname upon entering the company. The English surname 'Brookshaw' was changed to 'Brookshire'. Everyone blood-related to a Brookshire is a distant relative of all the Brookshires in the country! There are a lot Brookshires in Georgia and North Carolina, but also a patch in Texas (where you'll find Brookshire Brothers grocery stores) and there are also a dozen or so in the Washington/Oregon.

I made contact with a very distant cousin (even I couldn't even calculate the exact relationship) in Texas back in 2013. We hit it off immediately, despite her being a 70-yr old black lady in Texas in me, a good ol' boy (41yrs old) from Georgia. But there was so much more that made us similar than what separated us. Eventually, we found the point where one of my great-great-great-great-great uncles d ecided to leave North Carolina for Texas and never returned. He had fallen in love with one of the family's "field hands" (nice way to say slave, I think) and they ran off so they could be together! I thought it was the coolest story and I find it equally as cool to have cousins who are mixed-race, more so than I am. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us.

One quick note about another person that I "got to know" through researching photos, newspaper clippings, notes written in Bibles and personal tales from her grown children. The person is my paternal grandmother's mother (my great-grandmother). She died at the age of 49, in 1947, after giving birth to 11 children and spending her life loving and helping everyone should could. Even when she was outside doing the wash or any other unpleasant chore in a photo, the smile on her face makes it clear that there was an angel inside. She worked in the lunchroom at the elementary school in our tiny town of Holly Springs, GA (so small that my grandma used to call it Holly Tinkle, it's funnier when said it). But Great Great Grandma (who I affectionately call Mama Bailey) went into the school kitchen more than an hour before classes started every day. The family wasn't dirt poor, but raising 10 kids made the budget very tight. Somehow, she still managed to buy what she needed to make breaksfast for the children who were from families that couldn't afford to eat every morning.

She was told by the school principal twice that she had to stop making breakfast for these kids. Never t mind that she was bringing all the ingredients from home and giving her time as well as her food for these poor children. He even threatened to fire her and she just said, "The kids all know that I live right across the street and I'll have a hot breakfast ready for them every day, even if you fire me!"

My dad, sister and I had an Estate Sale when we cleaned out my grandmother's house back in 2012. One day, this older (70s and obviously had a hard life) man started talking to us and he is the one who told us about Mama Bailey feeding them! He said, in a very thick Southern/Mountain accent, "If it wasn't for her, we would have gone hongry [sic]). I've fallen in love with that woman, my great, great-grandmother who died 28 years before I entered the world. I regret not having the chance to know her because I am so proud to be her great-great-grandson.
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