Anyone have an interesting family history?

Question

i was reading through my family's book of descendants and who they were, i found out that my ancestors were nobles who owned a successful estate with a large population of serfs in Ukraine. During the october revolution of 1917, communists arrested the men in the family and later executed them in prison, part of the reason for this was because they were christian. the women and children were forced to live among the serfs and the communists took over the estate.

i was wondering if any body else had something interesting happen in their family history

Answer 1

I found my mother's ancestors a pretty fascinating bunch. They came to New France in the 17th century and besides habitants and voyageurs, they included intrepid explorers and mapmakers; an 11-year-old soldier in the Carignan Regiment, a 10-year-old assistant to the Jesuits who became an illustrious citizen, whose son was knighted and whose grandson was vilified as the Sacker of Deerfield; the first European convicted of witchcraft in North America; a husband-and-wife hanged for bumping off a son-in-law (probably not the first...this was the third 12-year-old daughter married off; the first two had both been widowed in the first year of marriage); a chieftain in the Bear Clan of the Huron Nation; more than a dozen members of the grande recrue of 1653, recruited to defend Montreal from the Iroquois; a 15-year-old "First Lady" of Montreal, who came in 1653 on the last voyage of the St Nicolas de Nantes, was twice widowed by age 18, married twice more and had 12 children; a Hero of Rivière-Ouelle (where 39 Frenchmen defeated a New Englander warship)  ... they were marvellous characters!

Answer 2

I found an ancestor whose wife died young. She had two children.   The husband married again and the new wife was not at all happy about taking on a ready-made family, and the two little ones were given away to a relative and never met their Dad again.  We don't know if this was at the insistence of the new wife, but she turned out to be the decision maker in the family.  One of her sons married and lived some short distance away, but the matriarch insisted he sell the house and move closer to her.  And he did as he was told, into a house that was less suitable for his family, but it was near Mama.

Researching town records for family entries, I found a very close-knit community even though they may not have been related.  They were all godparents, bridesmaids etc. to each other.  The church at the time demanded three shillings, almost half a week's wages seven shillings and six pence to baptise a child, and if you were unfortunate enough to have twins, you had to pay twice as much.  A survey in the same era noted one hovel (no running water or toilet facilities) rented for two shillings a week, and one room there was sub-let to a widow and her child who slept on the floor.  I found a letter to the Editor in newpaper archives, one man after the 1845 Famine proudly telling how well his two daughters were doing in US, working as maids and sending money home.  One aged 12, and one aged 9.  She should have been playing with dolls, and instead she was keeping her Irish parents alive.  

And it constantly surprises me how far-travelled the people were way back then, when they would not have had easy means of transport.  People working and settling hundreds of miles away from home.  It makes finding traces of them a long journey, and very much a mystery trip. An interesting mystery trip.

Answer 3

two of my ancestors on my nan's side were convicts, my Great (x7) Grandfather came out to Australia in 1801 for stealing a silver candlestick

and my Great(x7) Grandmother was transported here after being accused by her boss for allegedly stealing a doily (it has been hinted that she actually turned down his sexual advances and he falsely accused her, bare in mind this was the very early 1800's)

Also on my nan's side.... My Great Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandfather had an argument which resulted in her hitting him over the head with a pan. GG Grandfather dropped to the ground and assuming she had killed him, my GG Grandmother ran to the river and drowned herself. Her husband was in fact not dead, he had only suffered unconscious. She left behind three daughters

My Grandfather's ancestors were originally from France before emigrating to England. My Great(x3) Grandfather was an important figure in the British army in the 1800's and lived like Royalty in India while he was stationed there with his family.

Both my Great Great Grandfather and Great Grandfather fought in the two World Wars

You may not find my history interesting, but i certainly do

Answer 4

Well, yours is much cooler but I find mine alittle interesting also, probably just because its my family. I have a great great grandfather who immigrated from Russia when he was 12 with 8 brothers and sisters and he ended up opening a candy store. Pretty cool if you ask me. :)

Answer 5

That's a very cool story.

Most of mine were traitors, but they escaped the gallows.

I'm waiting for Queen Elizabeth II to invoice me for the tea my ancestors tossed overboard.

Answer 6

yes i do it just depends on which side of the family tree you look at .. On my father's side its been determined my distant cousin is Ann Putnam (one of the girls reponsbile for the salem witch trials).  On my grandmother's side ( my dad's mother )  a relative was the tax collector for King Louis 14th of france.

On my mother's side ... my great grandfather's mother is the granddaughter of Andrew Carnegie . as for my mother's family her brother ( my great uncle ) was the first american paratrooper killed in WW 2 and has army bases as well as movies made about him.

just depends on which side of the family you look , all is documented and can be proven.  I also have proof that Daniel Boone lived with my famliy , I also have proof that Sarah Winchester is in the family (the woman with the weird house) .

I also have family ancestors sometimes on both sides from every war the United States have been involved in from the War of 1812 to the current Iraq War

Carrie

Answer 7

Yup! me madda he Jamaica an me dada she a dumplin island

amend a dublin ireland

Answer 8

I am related to Issac Komnenos, an emporer! Also his father was a worker for Basil II! ISnt that awesome? Also i found out that i am related to a mayor of spain ( ALONG TIME AGO)! MAy i suggest going to familysearch.org! THat website rocks! Also i found out i have Native American in Me! Also go to houseofnames.com! I am asian! AND ALSO EUROPEAN AMERICAN!  GENEOLOGY CAN HELP SO SO MUCH! ALSO  ONE OF MY AUNTS DIED WHEN SHE WAS TWELVE AND ANOTHER WHEN SHE WAS ONLY A COUPLE YEARS OLD! MY GRANMA"S MOM HAD HER WHEN  SHE was only 17 yearss old!

               ALL i ever talk about to my Daddy is about geneology! it is so much fun! I found your information intersestinf too! Did you know one  of my relatives was a   private in some war? Cool right?

              THANKSS FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION! go to rootsweb.com

Answer 9

Yes, I have been doing my family tree and family history and have over 2,900 names listed so far, and many more I will be putting on the list soon.

I have a princess on one of my distant lines. Also, the Family in Tasmania is a well known Fishing Industry Family (but I live in Melbourne and have little to no contact with my Tasmanian side).

I have found that oral family history often does not match the facts.  It is part of the Oral history that the first of my line (family name) that came to Australia was a buccaneer off the Madagascan Coast who owned two ships and who was caught by the Royal Navy and given the option -- Go to Van Diemans Land (Tasmania, Australia) or hang by the yardarm. Naturally he chose to live and went to Tasmania. The truth is that he was really a convict transported for theft.

I have a number of convicts in my tree.

That same person, Richard, married twice. two of his children (a son and a daughter) married the brother and sister of his second wife. SO, he had a sister-in-law who was also his daughter-in-law and a brother-in-law who was his son-in-law.

The same family names keep appearing in the marriages on a number of occasions with marriages of second cousins or second aunt/uncles etc. It has become a bit difficult determining the exact relationships at times.

It was common for people to have many children from two or three marriages so 18-22 children is common. Girls married young, and I have several that married when they were 13 and 14 (legal and common back then) which would have been around the time the girls reached mensus.

Answer 10

I've got all kinds of cool stuff, but then again I do this because I find the lives so fascinating!

One of my ancestors from my dad's side and one from my mom's side fought against each other in the same battle in the Civil War. Bet they never looked across at each other and said "In a 100 years we're going to have a great great granddaughter together"!  There's a book about the company the southern ancestor was in so I was able to read a fairly good account of what his experience would have been like.