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A ggg (etc.) grandfather was a Loyalist who ended up in Halifax, N.S. His daughter married an Irish immigrant and they became homesteaders in an Irish Catholic town in New Brunswick. Ah, to have been a fly on the wall for that engagement announcement.
Part of our family were royalists too - who had to run across the border to Canada - the whole cemetery in one of the towns in NB is full of the headstones with the same name.
Prior to that one of the family was killed and memorialized in one of the oldest veteran’s monuments to honor those brutally killed during the King Philip war.
There is a family member -a famous hero in the Civil War on the Union side.
Another relative was the key witness in “the trial of the last century” - no, not the OJ’s one.
Prior to that.
The one exonerating Claus Von Bülow in the murder of his heiress wife Martha ”Sunny” Von Bülow. Their testimony cast a serious doubt that it was a murder
Last edited by L00k4ward; 08-30-2022 at 12:31 PM..
My paternal grandmother's gggg(?)grandfather left Germany to fight for the British in the Revolutionary War. He was a cannoneer, captured, and then switched sides and fought for the colonies. He stayed in America after the war and is buried in southern Ohio
There is a circle in my Dad's side of the family tree that really disturbed me when I discovered it.
Quite a few generations back in rural NC, two sets of twins were born to two different couples in the town. Two boys in one set, two girls in the other. Each brother married one of the sisters. Cute!
Two generations later, two of their descendants married one another. My Grandma was one of their kids.
Yee haw!
On the other side, my other grandparents were actually bank robbers before they fled to the opposite side of the country and got respectable. Grandma kept it quiet her whole life, but after she passed, Grandpa started telling tales!
You may have seen the movie (The Irishman) and/or read the book (The Quiet Don).
Never understand why they spent so much on IRISHMAN and bring Di Nero and the others back,they are over the hills and show sign of calcium deficiency.
I would spend the money on getting them some Calcium pills or Fosamax
In much more recent developments, my grandfather told my mother that there is some family secret that he will never speak of and we will never know. Why he would even say that I have no idea, but obviously my mind is jumping to the worst possible things. No idea where to start figuring that one out.
Sounds like fun: let’s the games begin.
DNA? Get his while you can+ his kids? Etc. The possibilities are endless - he was a runaway and an heir to a fortune?
He was runaway as there is a murder involved or he is in a witness protection program..etc.
Pay for background check? Prison records?
Check SS numbers of the family in the records of the dead? He could have used someone’s?
Get him really really drunk and while he is nearly ready to pass out, quietly ask if he is a D.B. Cooper and where the money is.
I can think of a few more ideas - but let some others chime in
Last edited by L00k4ward; 09-02-2022 at 03:32 PM..
My something great uncle got sent home from the civil war because he was hit in the balls! He was discharged in 1862, a month after sustaining an "injury to the groin from a spent ball" and was "discharged by reason of the injury received". Can't imagine it was too bad, he went on to get married and have a few kids!
My (mysterious) great grandfather got a hernia constructing Union battlements and fortifications at Cold Harbor in June of 1864 and was sent to the Veteran Reserve/Invalid Corps and later discharged. He went through the Wilderness campaign unscathed. His regiment went on to fight at the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg six weeks later, so he luckily missed that. He was a farmer and stonemason by trade and suffered with the hernia for the next 25 years until it finally killed him. My guess is that it became constricted and gangrenous. His pension records documented his injury.
I don’t think I posted already, but two interesting things are that my great grand parents were struck by a hit and run driver in 1924. My grandfather was killed and my grandmother was injured. She did live for 10 more years. The poor things. They were walking home from a trolley stop after going to the movies.
The second thing is that dna revealed that my uncle fathered a child with a married woman. The cousin reached out to me, and we confirmed that her father was my uncle. She’s a lovely woman with a beautiful family and we’re glad to have her in the family. Her father’s sister, our aunt, is 94 and they were able to visit. My cousin had a lot of questions about her father, and my aunt is the only one left of that generation.
Some facts about my family that I find interesting:
Brother of my great great grandfather was awarded the Medal of Honor by Congress for valor in the US Civil War. He was a County Tyrone - Ireland native living in NYC that volunteered with the 69th NY Infantry, often referred to as the Irish Brigade. He was wounded at Malvern Hill in VA.
Brother of great grandmother (nephew of and same name as above) was the night watchman at a post office in 1926 that was robbed of $260,000. The theft made national news as the stolen amount was huge for that time. He was bound and gagged for much of it but did have some contact with the thieves. The robbers were members of the Polka Dot Gang which was known for covering their faces with polka dot kerchiefs to conceal their identity. My family member was however able to identify them at the trial via voice recognition as they had repeatedly called him DAD during the multi hour overnight break-in.
My WWII vet father came closer to death at the age of 17 just a mile from his home than he ever did in service for the US Army Air Corps in North Africa and Italy. He was with a group of textile workers that were involved in the labor strikes of 1934. The contentious strike resulted in the National Guard being called in by the governor. Some strikers threw rocks at the Guard and they pursued them into a nearby cemetery. The Guard opened fire with strikers taking cover behind grave markers. My father's 17 year old best friend who was right next to him was shot and died hours later.
As a teenager,our parents took us to restaurant to have lunch,coming home while waiting at bus stop,we went to a fancy candy shop nearby,we kids do not have much allowance to splurge on candies,my father took out a nickel and asked the clerk what can he buy with a nickel as he really really want to get rid of that nickel.
I was rather humiliated,not only do we not take a cab home,(we do not own a car,my friends when they are out with their family who do not have car,they take cabs)but have to wait for a bus,he is now trying to buy candy with a nickel,he could have just throw it into the gutter if he cant stand it,a nickel is good for a bus transfer,it takes a dime to ride the bus.
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