Family genealogy and weird stories. What's yours?

[Bang!Zoom!]

I've been messing with ancestry.com lately, finally went and bought the family maker tree software and am learning all sorts of odd things about this family of mine. Very fertile people.

 

Last night I was reading about a distant relative who put 15 some kids on a flat boat raft and traveled down the Mississippi River. It wasn't like a half mile journey either....what in Gods name were they thinking? Wow.

 

I found a interesting clash several times of family, Civil War and Revolutionary War stuff. I've been able to locate two lines of the family on different sides of conflict at the very same small battle. Can you imagine?

 

"How ya doing Uncle Walter? POW" I mean just wow. Wow.

 

Any *interesting* family history you've found or heard about your genealogy?

[Onceuponatime]

One of my ancestors was Rebecca Nurse, one of the last women accused of being a witch in Salem. She was a fine upstanding elderly woman and her death caused an uproar in the community which led to the end of the witch accusations.

[AnIslandGirl]

One of my ancestors was Rebecca Nurse, one of the last women accused of being a witch in Salem. She was a fine upstanding elderly woman and her death caused an uproar in the community which led to the end of the witch accusations.

 

 

LOL on my husbands side, they have Bridget Bishop, the first girl that was hung as a witch in Salem!

On my father's side, we have Hannah Duston who was the first women that was honored with a statue in America for her "scalping of ten of the Indians that held her captive"... oh my!

[Bang!Zoom!]

I have to check my 1600's file, we are probably all cousins. I have family on Block Island (Rhode Island) about that time.

 

edit:

 

My Hannah Wood and her family lived 18 miles down the road from your families in 1692, they lived in Essex, Massachusetts.

 

Interesting, huh? Small world.

 

They probably knew of one another.

[Ottakee]

My father's mother was full blood Cherokee Indian and was a "medicine woman". Her family/tribe had kidnapped a white baby boy and raised him as one of their own. He later became a doctor and falsified their birth certificates to say "white" instead of "Indian" as they said in the south in the late 1800s/early 1900s it was worse to be Indian than to be black.

 

My mother in law and her siblings were taken away from their Native American parents in order to "civilize" them. They were taken to Catholic boarding schools where they have very limited contact with each other and limited contact with their parents for years.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Same thing happened to my mother Ottakee.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

My great-grandfather died when he was 4 years old of diphtheria. His dad realized something was wrong, reached down his throat and pulled the phelm out, but the doctor arrived and declared him dead. They had a funeral and everything. His mother was praying over his body in the cold room right before he was going to be buried when she saw his little pinkie move, and then his whole hand. If he had been buried (alive!) over 60 people who are alive today wouldn't have even been born.

 

There is a very (locally) famous Grasshopper Weathervane on an old building in Boston that an ancestor made. It was the first copper wethervane or something like that made in colonial America.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Whoa

[Lisa in Jax]

My great-great-grandfather was sent to prison in the 1850s in Sweden. When he was released, he stole a grammar school classmate's identity, claimed the classmate's college diploma, and emigrated to the US under that name. Years later, he wrote a two volume set of memoirs in which he falsified the details of his life that would have "outed" his fake identity.

 

My cousin and I figured out his real name/identity *because* of the "facts" in his autobiography. If he hadn't written the autobiography, we never would have realized that he'd stolen his school mate's identity. His lies actually led us to the truth. :)

[Rosie_0801]

We're descended from Little John, of Robin Hood fame. I get kicks out of that when I watch the Disney version.

[StartingOver]

My mom and her siblings told me for years that their father came to America on a boat when he was a small child from Sweden. I found out last year that he traveled a lot with the Railroad, but he was born in Henderson Kentucky, not only that but his father and grandfather were born in Virginia. I still haven't found where they came from, it could be Sweden.. LOL Someday the puzzle will be completely solved.

[kristen18]

I have to check my 1600's file, we are probably all cousins. I have family on Block Island (Rhode Island) about that time.

 

edit:

 

My Hannah Wood and her family lived 18 miles down the road from your families in 1692, they lived in Essex, Massachusetts.

 

Interesting, huh? Small world.

 

They probably knew of one another.

 

 

Would your Block Island ancestors happen to be the Sands family?

[Onceuponatime]

We're descended from Little John, of Robin Hood fame. I get kicks out of that when I watch the Disney version.

 

Ha! My aunt who studies our family history says that we descend from Prince John. I don't know how much credence to give it, but my kids love the idea.

[lavender's green]

One of my ancestors gave birth to three sets of twins, and 16 children total! I believe they all lived through childhood too.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Would your Block Island ancestors happen to be the Sands family?

 

 

My Block Island people are the Dodge family crew there. I started reading about the history on the island last night and was honestly just so grossed out by it I had to stop. The slaughter that occurred there is beyond comprehension.

 

In my husbands family, turns out they developed a settlement to protect the Indian lands, and any of the migration that passed through and didn't vamoose were force-ably burned out of their homes. In about a decade after though, the lands were opened for legal land grants to the migrants anyway.

 

All that suffering for nothing.

 

I found a Hessian soldier in his line as well. They were so cheesy. Really.

[Um_2_4]

My Dad's mother was Cherokee and abandoned on a white family's doorstep as an infant. No papers of course and the family she was left with somehow knew her parents (that part is foggy for me, I think the family may have been hiding on their land?).

You can see it in my half sister (from my dad's side). She looks SOOO different than the rest of us. People assumed she was adopted.

 

On my mom's side we had family in SF, CA during the great quake, then the family moved to the midwest LOL.

[Bang!Zoom!]

That would drive me bonkers Um. I'd totally do a male DNA genetics test because the curiosity would just KILL me. I bet there is some really amazing stories on that family.

 

Ancestry.com now does those tests, and if anyone is like a 4th cousin to you, they show up in the program - lots of folks are using this as a way to find bio family now, some pretty amazing stories.

 

So far, I've gotten enough that I don't even begin to wonder where we "came" from. French, Irish, Scot, English, Native American (Grand Traverse Bay Tribe of MI) are my main ancestors. Thank God for the fur traders leaving such great records.

 

I found what genealogists call a "Charlemagne" line, which is very common if you have any European bloodlines at all. Was fun to find though.

 

Grandpa Charley was not a very nice dude though.

[Sandragood1]

Well, do you remember the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving show? The one where the characters play the parts of Mayflower settlers? In that show one man fell overboard on the MAyflower's journey during a storm but was rescued. My Dh is descended from him.

 

I'd like to point out that Dh, just like his ancestor, in that he gets easily seasick. =)

 

Sandra

[Dory]

I have a John Wilkes Booth on my family tree. Born and died on the same dates as the guy who shot Abraham Lincoln. I don't really know if I want to know if it's the same guy or not. My great great great grandfather came to Canada because his first wifes' family thought he killed his wife and he fled. He had 5 kids named John, all who died before they were 2, and 16 other kids, that lived, between his first and second wives. I have an ancestor who was supposed to be on the Titanic and ended up staying back to care for his ill mother (lucky him).

[kristen18]

 

 

My Block Island people are the Dodge family crew there. I started reading about the history on the island last night and was honestly just so grossed out by it I had to stop. The slaughter that occurred there is beyond comprehension.

 

In my husbands family, turns out they developed a settlement to protect the Indian lands, and any of the migration that passed through and didn't vamoose were force-ably burned out of their homes. In about a decade after though, the lands were opened for legal land grants to the migrants anyway.

 

All that suffering for nothing.

 

I found a Hessian soldier in his line as well. They were so cheesy. Really.

 

Are you talking about what the French pirates did, or something else? It doesn't sound like fun reading, but if you have a link, I would like to check it out. Thanks!

[OrganicAnn]

One of my ancestors (along with his 4 brothers) supposedly came to America as a German mercenary fighting for the British against the Americans. When they were captured, they were allowed to go free if they promised not to return to the British and fight for them. So they joined the Americans and fought on the American side.

 

Also I have a great, great, great, great grandmother whose name was "America", her BIL's name was "Columbus" and I always wondered if Columbus discovered America.

[elegantlion]

One of my ancestors was Rebecca Nurse, one of the last women accused of being a witch in Salem. She was a fine upstanding elderly woman and her death caused an uproar in the community which led to the end of the witch accusations.

 

Hello, cousin. Rebecca Nurse was sister to one of my ancestors. I forget her name.

 

A couple of fun stories: My maiden name lineage say "Smith" dead ends in 1812 with one ancestor, we haven't found true proof and his parents, although I found some evidence last year after years of searching. His wife last name say "Jones" goes back to early colonial days and winds up marrying into a family with my maiden name. There were two families in early Boston with the "Smith" last name. The wife came from this line, we think the husband came from the other.

 

We are descended from William de Warrene who was with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. His wife was possibly William the C's daughter, although this is widely debated. Ds had issue with pronouncing a lot the French influenced words in English. It has created endless jokes in our household about blaming your own ancestors for the influence.

 

Another line goes back to Experience Mitchell who had married a woman who came over on the Mayflower. Unfortunately, we are descended from another later wife, but we're one marriage short of the Mayflower.

 

I love genealogy, the stories are so fun. I spent a lot of time on this when ds was a baby.

[Bang!Zoom!]

It's really tremendous when you see the dates and such all laid out. I have a step grandmother a few generations back who for whatever reason ended up drowning. What if she'd just stayed home that day? My grandmother wouldn't have had her kid, and the world would be bereft of my grace and person. ;)

 

Dory, if I thought for a second I was descended from Wilkes, I'd document it! I admit to being spawn of Winthrop which is, imho, much much worse.

 

You can probably get into some cool club or something, get a special T Shirt....lol

[Bang!Zoom!]

 

Are you talking about what the French pirates did, or something else? It doesn't sound like fun reading, but if you have a link, I would like to check it out. Thanks!

 

Oh, just start with the Wickepedia entry, that ought to keep you up at night. Those jerks killed ALL the dogs there during the raid. Why the puppy problem? Seriously! j/k

 

Anyway, there's enough there to get you going "what???" There are a lot of bunny trails in that article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Island

[Bang!Zoom!]

Oh, there is one I had to "turn the page" on last night. I could see the names lining up on my husbands side to be a relative of a guy named J Marion Sims.

 

I do not want to know. Trust me, you don't either...lol

 

I'd end up in psychotherapy or something.

 

I don't want that T Shirt....

[Ameena]

I've got oodles.

 

One ancestor was a Sephardic Jew from Spain by way of Barbados, who then came to Virginia and married into a very prominent non-jewish family {the Lewis family} and ended up related to George Washington's Sister!

 

One ancestor on my mom's side was supposed to have come from England as a teen, but there are NO records of him immigrating or him in England. And we have a picture labeled by his daughter that is supposed to be his mother, but it's an exact match to the pictures of Jesse James's Mother, confirmed by a James historian. Numerous relatives in the area ran horse stops for outlaws - this was in Western Oklahoma. And his death is a mystery too - he was supposed to have died from Smallpox, but there was no epidemic or even any records of cases in the area at the time. Plus he has a very distinctive headstone that is supposed to be from a fraternal organization, but they have no record of him being a member and it doesn't match the type of headstone they used at the time. I so would love to run a ground penetrating radar over that grave and see what really is in there.

[MercyA]

 

LOL on my husbands side, they have Bridget Bishop, the first girl that was hung as a witch in Salem!

On my father's side, we have Hannah Duston who was the first women that was honored with a statue in America for her "scalping of ten of the Indians that held her captive"... oh my!

 

 

AnIslandGirl, I am also related to Hannah Duston. She scalped the Native Americans after they killed her 6-day-old baby girl by dashing her against a tree. :( Hell hath no fury like a vengeful mother...

[LisaKinVA]

My German ancestors foreclosed on Guttenberg...there are two castles still standing (Austria/Germany) from that line. I am also descended from at least one (probably two) "First Families" in Virginia, there is a plantation around Williamsburg that apparently belonged to our family at one time. I am currently living in an area of VA that my relatives settled (they were literate, and could read and write). This line migrated to NC and then to TN where they married into the German line. My family has a graveyard there, in which my grandparents and my uncle are buried. I can document DAR status...and our German line fought each other in the Civ il War, one side for VA, the other side for PA. My great-uncle was a conductor on a train...he was shot and murdered, which allowed my g-grandmother to marry his twin brother...who is my ancestor. My g-uncle's children have a lot of Type 1 diabetes...and there is none on my side. Divorce is not new to my mom's side of the family...nor is out-of wedlock birth/pretend adoption by grandparents...apparently there is more I do not know, that my mom has written for me that I won't discover until she has passed (secrets). My mom's side is full of pomp and circumstance...with quite a bit of scandal. On my dad's side, I can now document my direct ancestry on my Swedish side back to the 1400's and am in contact with a cousin in Sweden :D My g-g-grandfather came from the northern area of Sweden, emigrated through Galveston, TX...where he suffered heat stroke, and fell into poverty...was walking down the road, praying for guidance and help when he ran into a "silver dollar" and was able to buy his family food. They moved to Nebraska. My grandma's family lived in a Sod House (Little House on the Prarie style)...both my grandparent's families (separately) moved to CA, where they became farmers/store keepers, and where my grandparents met, married and lived out their days in the same area (the retirement community there was filled with brothers, sisters, cousins and friends...) If there is any scandal on my dad's side...it is very well hidden. My grandma's Swedish heritage came from a very rough area...during the famine, they ate bread made from lichen, moss and tree bark :huh: . My dad's side were craftsman (cabinet makers/glass blowers), as well as farmers.

[Um_2_4]

That would drive me bonkers Um. I'd totally do a male DNA genetics test because the curiosity would just KILL me. I bet there is some really amazing stories on that family.

 

Ancestry.com now does those tests, and if anyone is like a 4th cousin to you, they show up in the program - lots of folks are using this as a way to find bio family now, some pretty amazing stories.

 

So far, I've gotten enough that I don't even begin to wonder where we "came" from. French, Irish, Scot, English, Native American (Grand Traverse Bay Tribe of MI) are my main ancestors. Thank God for the fur traders leaving such great records.

 

 

My dad died many years ago and had no male descendants, so not sure how that would work.

We also are supposedly related to Jesse James LOL from my paternal grandfather's side

[Bang!Zoom!]

Hey Amena, my husbands side, Charles Simms, was a pallbearer and friend of President George Washington...lol

 

Dang heck on Hannah details. :(

[Bang!Zoom!]

My dad died many years ago and had no male descendants, so not sure how that would work.

We also are supposedly related to Jesse James LOL from my paternal grandfather's side

 

 

 

Any males would work. Do you have any related males of his around? Uncles, cousins?

 

You can do maternal tracings also, but males are better at leaving tracks.

[Eagle]

My wealthy ancestors fled their home in the middle of the night with the clothes on their back and nothing else. They ended up in a foreign country, completely penniless and unable to feed and shelter the family. The oldest daughter was sold as a mail-order bride to a farmer in Canada. According to family stories, they fell in love and were very happy. She told him the one thing she was sad about was missing her sister. So they brought her sister over to live with them. The sister fell in love with the farmer's brother, they wed, and purchased the neighbouring farm. Yay for happily ever after.

[Ottakee]

 

So far, I've gotten enough that I don't even begin to wonder where we "came" from. French, Irish, Scot, English, Native American (Grand Traverse Bay Tribe of MI) are my main ancestors. Thank God for the fur traders leaving such great records.

 

 

 

 

My dh and ds are from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa/Chippewa Indians---likely the same tribe you mention as they are from the Grand Traverse Bay area. Dh and Ds are related a few generations back even though ds is adopted and we didn't figure that out until years after his adoption.

[Donna]

I recently did my family tree on ancestry.com and found out all my relatives came over very early in US history...like the 1600-1700's. There were soldiers in the American Revolution and Civil War. My mother's maiden name comes from the Scottish clans in the 1300's then her relations moved to Ireland before eventually coming to the US. There were other lines tracked all the way back to the 1400's in England.

[Rosie_0801]

My kids are descended from John of Gaunt and could name Richard Neville, the Kingmaker as an illustrious ancestor if they wanted to claim such a conniving so and so. :p

[Bang!Zoom!]

My dh and ds are from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa/Chippewa Indians---likely the same tribe you mention as they are from the Grand Traverse Bay area. Dh and Ds are related a few generations back even though ds is adopted and we didn't figure that out until years after his adoption.

 

I've been studying that family since I was like 15, practically have it memorized. My G Grandmother was Matilda Chippewa. Perriseau family and the Deverney family had a branch called Gamelin with 17 kids that was chock full of adoptions after their mother, Catherine was gone, father of those kids was Alfonso Gamelin from the Sault where Catherine died. There was/is a family called Raphael there in the band that had many adoptions also.

 

I have some pictures of these people if any of that clicks for ya.

[Renthead Mommy]

My great to something grandfather's brother was pirate. He was tried and hung with Captain Kidd.

[Dahliarw]

We have a whole section on my grandmother's side of the family tree where they all belonged to some church that didn't believe in marrying outside of the church, and as a result there are a lot of "duplicates" on one section of the family tree...

[Gisel_le]

These stories are all so great! We haven't found anything too scandalous, unless you count g g grandparents who secretly baptized Native American babies. On my dad's side, we are related to Wild Bill Cody or Bill Hickok(I can never remember which).

 

How does ancestry.com work?

[Gisel_le]

.

 

On my mom's side we had family in SF, CA during the great quake, then the family moved to the midwest LOL.

 

 

My great grandfather was in that earthquake. He was just a little tyke. Their house was at the top of a hill and it was the only house on their street in one piece after the quake.

[Bang!Zoom!]

You can just go to the site and set up an account free if you want. A subscription will get you more bells and whistles, lots of possible photographs and specialized search data groups. I use the lds family search engine also, which is free too.

[Laura Corin]

One of my ancestors was a court dressmaker in the nineteenth/twentieth century. She had just bought all the new season's fabrics when Queen Victoria died and everyone went into mourning. In the face of financial ruin, she killed herself.

 

Laura

[Melissa in Australia]

According to my grandmother, we are related to King Henry V111 through his chambermaid. Also meant to be related to one of Robin Hood's men.

[lailasmum]

I like hearing the interesting stories. My family are pretty boring. Endless generations of farmers, labourers and bakers. The only vaguely interesting stories are fairly recent. One of my great uncles supplied Winston Churchill with alchol and cigars. They had lots stashed away. My mum was pretty much raised with by her aunt and uncle so I mostly know interesting stories about her cousins. One of my Mum's cousins married into a very upper class family. Their history is pretty amazing including their castles and links with pretty much any major happening in British history. They thought my relative was really common though, I don't think they liked him. Through another one of my mum's cousins I am also related to a well known American behavioural neurologist but that's not of much interest to people unless they are in that field

 

I have traced my family quite a long way back but hit a brick wall, my cousin had the same problem. We can only get back to 1787 for definite. Before that the records are too incomplete. I personally think It's the time our ancestors immigrated into England. With my Huband's family I researched back to 1650 on one line as they never left a small parish in Dorset for about 350 years.

[Melissa in Australia]

My DH's family on his mother's side goes way back to the 12th century. They have a little book with it all faithfully recorded. They were dukes or something in Germany, and have a family crest, signet rings etc., etc. etc... according to his mum she and her sister are the end of the family line.

[Ottakee]

 

I've been studying that family since I was like 15, practically have it memorized. My G Grandmother was Matilda Chippewa. Perriseau family and the Deverney family had a branch called Gamelin with 17 kids that was chock full of adoptions after their mother, Catherine was gone, father of those kids was Alfonso Gamelin from the Sault where Catherine died. There was/is a family called Raphael there in the band that had many adoptions also.

 

I have some pictures of these people if any of that clicks for ya.

 

The Deverneys are some relatives of my dh I believe and there are some of them that live here in our area and are friends with dh's mom or something. I hear a lot about the Deverneys. Dh's family is the Williams branch.

[Butter]

We've got some interesting stories, though most of our people were just normal everyday farmers and poor people.

 

My husband is descended from Edward Doty, the youngest Mayflower passenger old enough to sign the Mayflower Compact. He and his cousin participated in the first and only duel in Plymouth. Blood was drawn. They were both hogtied in the square for an hour as punishment. Husband is also related to the Bishops from Salem and the witch trials.

 

I am related to Jim Bowie who died at the Alamo.

 

Random fun fact: My great-grandparents' outhouse currently is on display at the Dr. Mudd Museum (Dr. Mudd's house is where John Wilkes Booth went to after he shot the president and broke his leg and Dr. Mudd set his leg). The original outhouse went to pieces. My great-grandparents' outhouse was from the same time period and in good shape so some years ago it was moved about a mile to be put on display.

[Laura Corin]

According to my grandmother, we are related to King Henry V111 through his chambermaid. Also meant to be related to one of Robin Hood's men.

 

 

But I didn't think anyone knew if there was actually a Robin Hood.

 

My mother-in-law was convinced that her husband's family was descended from someone who in the historical record had no children. It made her happy though.

 

Laura

[BarbecueMom]

I'm a descendant of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

 

I didn't realize until recently he was a potential suitor for Elizabeth I. The Doctor beat him to it.

[TravelingChris]

So how well do these sites work for non English or American ancestry? I know some of my family's history but dh knows little of his- his would need records from Hungary, Poland, Austria and Slovenia. Would something like ancestry.com even have anything to help?