Post an interesting fact about your ancestry

[Trigger Time]

I'm part Irish and English. Every St. Patrick's Day I have the urge to blow up my car.

Now that's some funny ****!!

 

[Trigger Time]

I had a direct relative on the Mayflower, can't remember their name without looking it up. I just found out this summer that 2 of my great grandfathers (father and son) were both killed in the American Revolution and that I have a direct uncle, Benjamin Overfield from Meshoppen, PA who was in Gen. Washington's boat when they crossed the Delaware to kill the Hessians on Christmas eve. My aunt has letters from him to his wife talking about the ordeal.

very awesome!!

there's some great history here!

 

[joncon]

A relative of mine on my mothers side, signed the Declaration of Independence. His name was Arthur Middleton. If you Google Middleton Place it tells about him and has pictures of his botanical gardens in Charleston, S.C.

 

[Cozy439]

I have 2- 2nd cousins (sisters), that were Playboy centerfolds in the late-70's.

You would think I'd get a free pass to the mansion, but nooooo...

Ann and Janice Pennington by any chance? Those two made a memorable impression on teen who knew where his dad stashed his Playboys

 

[Bennettjh]

Somewhere down the line, my mom is related to Patsy Cline.

 

[Trigger Time]

Ann and Janice Pennington by any chance? Those two made a memorable impression on teen who knew where his dad stashed his Playboys

Oh boy!! We may have a chance at a touching meet and greet. I meant touching as in emotional. NO TOUCHING the girls girls

How would this meet up start? When I was younger I saw your centerfold and wore the pages out! ??

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Ann and Janice Pennington by any chance? Those two made a memorable impression on teen who knew where his dad stashed his Playboys

My first thought was of Shannon/Tracy Tweed--but they were in the '80's I believe.

 

[SSGSAD]

My Grandmother's Mom's Mom, maiden name is Reed... He is her Uncle, so I am related to "Sir" Walter Reed, who the hospital, is named after .....

On my Dad's side, I am supposedly related to a "Lord" in England, who "owned" "serfs" .....

 

[nakinate]

Now that's some funny ****!!

**** yeah it is.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

My grandmother is obsessed with genealogy. She has an entire room in her house dedicated to huge bookshelves filled with binders regarding family history. Somewhere back in the line is Shakespeare's secretary/best friend/maybe lover. The two were so close they are buried next to each other. My great great great grandmother at one point was desperate for money. She whored herself out to a man (who did pay her a sizable sum) and ended up having a child. That man was Jesse James. I have a great uncle who was one of Darby's Raiders. I have a copy of some of his journal entries and an interview he did with some reporter. It's a phenomenal read. I'm sure there are crazy facts about my family that my grandmother knows, but I'm not near as knowledgeable about it as she is.

An electrician I know from work is last named James. He is from English and claims to be a relative of the James brothers.

 

[KellyinAvon]

James I. Wilson (signed the Declaration of Independence) is an ancestor.

My great-great grandfather shot and killed the neighbor. Found not guilty, the guy went for a gun and got shot. He rode into Salem and turned himself in to the Sheriff. His family stayed at the jail while he was there (it was 1892 after all). Grandma always said if her Grandpa hadn't shot him, his own family would've shot him.

 

[Mackey]

My Great Grandfather (a blacksmith by trade) shod Jesse Jame's horse.

 

[nascarfantoo]

A small town in Southern IL was named after our family surname. That town was later renamed following the Civil War. Also, one of our ancestors (Arthur Middleton) from South Carolina signed the Decleration of Independence.

 

[eldirector]

Is mine the ONLY family that didn't sign the Declaration?

Some pretty cool stuff here.

 

[RockofStrength]

My family has some English and some Dutch in it. Apparently somewhere along the line a few low-level lords/ladies from those two countries married and eventually their children ended up here. I believe I am entitled to 1/100,000th of a bow from every full-blooded Englishman.

 

[Cozy439]

Little Turtle

Conflicting sources, generations overlapping & using similar names (Little Turtle Vs The Turtle) and many translations for Miami names lead me to Chief Little Turtle. He is either my 9th Great Grandfather; or hes a 9th Great uncle and his father is my 10th Great Grandfather. Little Turtle was arguably won of the greatest native American chiefs. He led warriors on what was one of the US Armies greatest defeats (far worse than what happened to the 7th calvary) St. Clair's Defeat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Like many other looking up their family tree - I was hoping for that magic nugget... Royalty... Famous Americans... Politians... War hero's... even the NOTORIUS... like Jesse James or Dillinger. Not a chance. Just a lot of Germans, English, Irish & Scots. All coming from over there to a better life here (they hoped). There was one common thread I found in MANY generations. A lot of my ancestors got married and began having kids just 5, 6, 7, 8 months after the wedding. Huh, go figure.

 

[Hoosier8]

Im not allowed to know it by law

Adopted?

 

[Hoosier8]

I was never interested in my family history but being the obsessive person I am, I sat down one evening and spent about 12 hours searching and discovered that between me and my surname ancestor their are only about 7 generations (9 generations including me and the original) . My ancestor set foot on this continent in the 1670s along with William Penn. For all I know he was a shipmate of some kind. He was also a Quaker. His descendents moved west and many settled in Ohio. From there, my grandfather escaped an evil step mother and ended up in Texas where my immediate relatives come from. Turns out almost all of my ancestors were born of parents in their 30s to late 30s as was I.

What I found fascinating is that if you think about time, years sound like a long time and appear to give distance (1670s to now), but if you think about the distance as generations, it seems much shorter. In that regard, you can think of our country as only about 7 generations old.

 

[Jludo]

My great grandparents were frisbie's, their parents (or grandparents maybe?) owned the frisbie pie company in Connecticut. College students would throw the frisbie pie tin back and forth. Fred Morrison used the name Frisbee to avoid trademark issues.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Supposedly I'm related to Mary Todd Lincoln. Same maiden/surname and from same general area of KY.

Should be easy enough to look up, I suppose, but it's not been done.

Paternal side - I'm 9th gen Irish-American. Three brothers left County Doneagle for the colonies.

No idea if any of them fought in the Revolution or not - may have been too old by then.

That said, those guys were Irish, but our surname is a Scottish word...