Strange family backgrounds

[lucydru]

Do any of you have unusual family backgrounds?

The reason I ask is because my dad just asked me if there was anything about elves on here. He then said it's because he says he could be a desendent from them.

He said about his ears and told me to look in the mirror (we have similar ears). He then said it's because he is good with a bow and arrow (total lie on his part!).

N.B. We had just all seen Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, a possibly explination for it. Legolas is evlin (correct me if I am wrong) who is fab with a bow and arrow.


luce

 

[TheBeast17]

The only odd thing about my family (not counting me) as far as I am aware is that one of my very distant relatives was supposed to have started up one of the big Banana companies with his partner, then sold his half of the business to his partner after he got married.

Don't know how much of it is true, but if I wasn't such a lazy sod I could probably find out, there aren;t that many big Banana companies around so tracing their origins should be fairly easy.

 

[Anonymous]

My Grandad sez that his family go good/bad according to the generations and by his reckoning (and to b fair quite a lot of circumstantial evidence) im the bad seed. The first record of our family is in the Leeds parish records and my ancestor gets the tag "Egyptyanne". The only other notablr one I can find was sent to Dewsbury gaol for preaching sedition against the king in the 17th century after the Oates rebellion. No elves though, however I do have pointy ears (more of a goblin really).

 

[Anonymous]

The only wierd thing about my family is my patarnal great grandmother who had 21 children, not unusual at the time, but unfortunately she had twins which she miscarried. Instead of disposing of them in a respectable way she had them preserved (I don't know how!) and kept them on top of the wardrobe in her room. The other children were told never to look there, so of course one day one of them just had to..........reports are that the screams could be heard in Lands End........:eek!!!!:

 

[NilesCalder]

My grandfather, as I've stated elsewhere, was the Director of Political Warfare for the Allies during WW2. He worked from Bletchley Park while Enigma was being decoded there. Prior to this he was the Journalist who was the only one who could be bothered to turn up to Rutherford's Splitting of the Atom. Rutherford was so upset at the lack of interest that when Peter, my late grandfather, asked him to explain the experiment Rutherford handed him a wad of illegible scientific notes. In return Peter handed Rutherford back a not book full of journalistic shorthand and the two became close friends. Peter also was the journalist who found Agatha Christie during one of her dissapearances. There was never anything inapproriate between them despite the suggestions made in the, largely fictious, movie "Agatha", starring Dustin Hoffman. Miss Christie later paid him back when, while working as a nurse, she discovered him unconcious in a gutter. He had suffered a brain hemorage and her quick action is why I'm here today to write this. After the war he was a leading light in the newly formed CND and he played a role in the creation of Israel. History remebers him as a "great Scottish educator" and very little else, despit his many great works, which I have only skimmed here, including decimilisation, the NHS and others. He was granted a life peerage for his work, which continued until his death in 1981.

Peter's Father-In-Law was Dr. David McKale, a leading Scottish Socialist at the opening of the last century. He is remembered in Glasgow, where he lived, as the man who saved the Gorbles. From what I understand, in his practice, he charged people only what they could afford, making up any short fall by overcharging his wealthier patients. Some would say that he founded the NHS but I find that spurious. Either way there are streets named after him in Glasgow.

My uncles, Angus and Nigel, are well known amongst certain circles. Angus is a poet and historian who has worked a great deal with the Open University. Nigel is well known as a Science Writer who was at one time editor for New Scientist magazine. He has also written and narrated numerous televison documentories, including Einstein's Universe, and The Manic Sun. He is also known as a keen yachtsman and has written several books on that subject as well. Every family member of my father's generation is a published writer of some ilk and many of my cousins (and myself) have either reached that goal or are working towards it.

My cousin Simon is the Travel Editor/Columnist for the Independent on Saturday, has numerous travel books published and has presented several travel shows for the BBC.

My father was a mathematician, a phd specialising in topology. He gave up teaching to become a hot air balloon pilot. We consider him to be the most interesting member of the family, but I'm afraid I can't explain why

Me? I'm currently working on making my mark... Who knows I might be the first family member to make any real money... (but I doubt it).

Niles "Too Interesting" Calder

 

[Anonymous]

durriti - Egyptian was a name used for what we now know as Gypsies. (at one time "going disguised as an Egyptian" was once a hanging offence)



family strangenes - An odd afinity for water (fataly) and The Grand Union Cannal in particular! on both fathers side and mums. A great nephew was a stuward on the Titanic (drowned) ...My black sheep great grandad was found face down and dead in the Regents Park bit of Grand Union (he was a victorian family man, in that is he would get drunk and knock his family around. Its is suspected in the family that he was pushed in!)... My Grandads uncle was lock keeper at Three Locks In Tring and would aparently fall in the lock every saturday night after some 'relaxing in the pub' but never drowned. But one morning His sister and her daughter were found drowned in that same lock (suspected suicide)---- i realted this tale of watery acident to the wife one day while we were liveing on a boat, she was very carful about my safty after that!

 

[hallybods]

Sidecar- when I read your reply and it struck a chord. I remember a member of my family telling me about a great aunt who had this thing about water. If I remember right she felt herself drawn to it. In the end she was found dead in the local canal.

 

[rynner2]

Bumping this ancient thread to ask a question:

What relation to me are my brother-in-law's sons? Are they just nephews, or something more complex?

I ask because just today I saw pictures of them, and the eldest is the spitting image of his father (my BiL), as he was when I last saw him, a score or more years ago. (In fact, until yesterday, I didn't know these quasi-nephews even existed!)

 

[Kondoru]

a Branch of my (welsh) family were famous Scottish tinkers.

 

[escargot]

Last time I posted a photo of my illustrious ancestor, 'Happy' Tilley, taken around the turn of the last century, I was accused of being descended from Whistling Sid Rumpo.

 

[mindalai]

Bumping this ancient thread to ask a question:

What relation to me are my brother-in-law's sons? Are they just nephews, or something more complex?

I ask because just today I saw pictures of them, and the eldest is the spitting image of his father (my BiL), as he was when I last saw him, a score or more years ago. (In fact, until yesterday, I didn't know these quasi-nephews even existed!)

I'd say that makes them your nephews, by marriage at least.

I have another one. My father's cousin's daughter: is she my second cousin or my cousin once removed or what? And, now she has a son is he my nephew, my second cousin once removed or something else entirely. In muslim families (like my father's) these things are usually simplified so that anyone of the same generation as you is a cousin and anyone in the generation above is an aunt/uncle etc. but I'd like to know what the British interpretation of this relationship is.

 

[AMPHIARAUS]

Oh boy!! this is my thread.

My nephew is also my stepbrother.

My brother in law is also my step farther

Were all best of friends and it works great!!!!!!!!!!

Thats without the 1 in 10 fathering 'thing'

 

[rynner2]

My nephew is also my stepbrother.

My brother in law is also my step farther

Erm, can you explain that more clearly?

At this time of night I can't be bothered drawing diagrams to work out who's been doing what to whom!

 

[AMPHIARAUS]

My nephew is also my stepbrother.

My brother in law is also my step farther

Erm, can you explain that more clearly?

At this time of night I can't be bothered drawing diagrams to work out who's been doing what to whom!

With the benifit of anoymimity (sic) my brother-in-law is also my stepfather!!!!!!!!!!

We get on fine and its a laugh in reality. Family get togethers are good because there closer than most!

 

[ElishevaBarsabe]

My nephew is also my stepbrother.

My brother in law is also my step farther

Erm, can you explain that more clearly?

At this time of night I can't be bothered drawing diagrams to work out who's been doing what to whom!

I would guess that this person is the offspring of a half-sibling who has remarried.

Could be wrong.

 

[rynner2]

I would guess that this person is the offspring of a half-sibling who has remarried.

Now I'm even more confused! Who remarried - the half sibling or the offspring?

This story is much simpler, relatively speaking*:

Paternity case doctor agrees to take DNA test
By Stewart Payne
Last Updated: 1:55am BST 17/05/2007

A High Court paternity case was dramatically halted yesterday after a doctor, alleged to have fathered a child illegitimately, agreed to take a DNA test.

Dr John Havard, 83, the former head of the British Medical Association, contacted the court to say he was prepared to have a test to determine whether David Northcott, 39, is his son.

David's mother Diana, 73, of Guildford, Surrey, has alleged that he was the result of a union she had with Dr Havard in the 1960s, when both were married to other partners.

Therefore, she argues, he is not entitled to a share of a £300,000 inheritance left by her late husband's father.

Dr Havard denies entering into an arrangement to have a child with Mrs Northcott; a proposal she claims she made to him at his club in London in 1966.

A High Court judge, asked to rule whether David is entitled to a share of the inheritance, was originally told that Dr Havard refused to have a DNA test to determine whether David was his son.

Yesterday the court was told that Dr Havard, who was made an MBE in 1989, had changed his mind. The case was adjourned for the test to be carried out.

Mrs Northcott had two sons, Adrian, now 44, and David. She claims Adrian's father was her husband John, now dead.

She told the High Court that she wanted to have a second child but not by her husband, who she said was violent and a drunk.

http://tinyurl.com/2l4rhl
*relatively speaking - pun intended! 8)

 

[filcee]

My nephew is also my stepbrother.

My brother in law is also my step farther

Erm, can you explain that more clearly?

At this time of night I can't be bothered drawing diagrams to work out who's been doing what to whom!

Rynner, I'm guessing (please correct me if I'm wrong AMPHIARAUS):

AMPHIARAUS is married, and his wifes brother (A's brother in law) has married A's mother. The child of his wifes brother (already A's nephew by marriage), from a relationship prior to that with A's mother, has therefore become A's stepbrother.

I have another one. My father's cousin's daughter: is she my second cousin or my cousin once removed or what? And, now she has a son is he my nephew, my second cousin once removed or something else entirely.

The Degree is the minimum number of generations from either cousin to a common ancestor, and the Removal is the number of generations between the cousins.

So, your fathers cousins daughter is, I think, your second cousin (there are a minimum of two generations until a common ancestor), but you are of the same generation so there is no removal. Her son would then become your second cousin once removed (there is still a minimum of two generations to the common ancestor, but you are a generation apart, so their is one level of removal).

 

[mindalai]

Thank you! I've never had it explained to me before.

 

[Xanatico]

Whatever happened to Niles Calder anyway, I haven´t seen him on here for ages.

My great-grandfathers brother was prime minister of Denmark, known as Black Knud. Knud being his first name. From what I have heard of him, that is where my sister inherited her complete inability to make decisions.

 

[rynner2]

The Degree is the minimum number of generations from either cousin to a common ancestor, and the Removal is the number of generations between the cousins.

Thanks for that.

Wiki amplifies the system here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin

...but it doesn't seem to help with nephews.

 

[rynner2]

Whatever happened to Niles Calder anyway, I haven´t seen him on here for ages.

He gave great input here for a while, but became somewhat more pithy as time went on, and - er - eventually withdrew from the board.

I hope he's still going strong elsewhere.

 

[Gemaki]

My grandfather emigrated here from Poland, he left some letters behind that imply that he was either kicked out, or left to save his and his family's lives. I've always wanted to investigate this! He was reputed to be either a professor or politician.

His oldest daughter, my mother's sister, ran away when she was about 16. We've never heard from her, and have no idea what happened to her.

Now, my father's family wasn't without intrigue, my Uncle Micheal was arrested for murder, then murdered himself while in prison. All I know is that the police came around to investigate the death of a friend of his, and went into my grandmother's butchering shed where they found bloody rags.

When they confronted the family with these, she said they were hers, from killing chickens. They didn't believe her, and took her son off to prison. He was killed by falling (or being thrown) off the upper deck or trapeze of the prison, and died some time later of his injuries.

We went to his grave, and my Aunt told me that the man buried next to him is the man he was accused of killing. The families had unknowingly bought plots next to each other.

My father almost died himself when he was little, he climbed an electrical pole to play and got electrocuted. A neighbor man ran to him and picked him up as high as he could over his head, and slammed him into the ground. He said it was to knock the electricity from him into the ground. It worked.

 

[Old_Pretender]

Whatever happened to Niles Calder anyway, I haven´t seen him on here for ages.

He gave great input here for a while, but became somewhat more pithy as time went on, and - er - eventually withdrew from the board.

I hope he's still going strong elsewhere.

Perhaps he found himself "too interesting" (to quote Niles) for the board.

My grandfather, as I've stated elsewhere, was the Director of Political Warfare for the Allies during WW2.

Prior to this he was the Journalist who was the only one who could be bothered to turn up to Rutherford's Splitting of the Atom.

Peter also was the journalist who found Agatha Christie during one of her dissapearances.

After the war he was a leading light in the newly formed CND and he played a role in the creation of Israel.

History remebers him as a "great Scottish educator"...

Some would say that he founded the NHS but I find that spurious.

Either way there are streets named after him in Glasgow.

Every family member of my father's generation is a published writer of some ilk and many of my cousins (and myself) have either reached that goal or are working towards it.

Me? I'm currently working on making my mark...

Niles "Too Interesting" Calder

Can we compete with this? We can but try. 8)

So, in the style of Mr. Calder:

On my mother's side:

My Great Grandmother changed Clark Gable's bedpans and claimed descent from the survivors of the Spanish Armada. To this day I have a relic from this fateful voyage in the form of a studded cross.

My Grandfather inherited an Ayrshire inn (built in the 15th century) in which Napoleon III, Frederick the Great and Robert Burns would have a bevvy. I also have a relic from this time in the form of a coin. I worked there for a couple of months JUST so I could access the attic which contained many relevant papers. I found none. My stupid cousins (who now own the place) destroyed them all.

My mother herself is Branch Secretary of one of Scotland's political parties. She recently stood in the council elections.

Her Uncle was one of the Dam-busters (and also took part in the bombing of Dresden - a city I have since visited - I was quite upset by this)

On my father's side:

His uncle was an ambassador. THAT is all my gran can tell him about it. My dad remembers going to his mansion.

My Great Great Grandfather was the Railway Keeper on the world's oldest railway line. My Great Great Great grand mother's first name was Campbell. WTF??

My Great Uncles and Grandfather built the empire's steam trains. These were shipped to all corners of the globe and, as far as I am aware, may still be in use in some quarters. My grandfather, before retiring, became a signalman. He died of TB.

All were Freemasons.

My gran was born in 1909. She is still with us. :shock:

My father's brother ran one of Ayrshire most profitable industries. Can't say which. His large house - and enviable pool room - reflects this.

We are supposedly descended from the noble family of Douglas. Indeed, James Douglas, Regent of Scotland during the minority of Mary Queen of Scots is supposedly a direct descendant. This is probably bollox.

So far we have traced the family tree back to the early 1700s which would be unusual if we were descended from...erm...commoners.

My own estate in Scotland played host to many monarchs and nobles throughout the last millenia. Robert the Bruce and his Grandson were the first 'recorded' owners, though there is legal evidence that Balliol and the Lords of Galloway (a semi-autonomous area of medieval Scotland) were earlier residents. The extensive private library I inherited is just a joy.

My little brother had his poems published before the age of ten.

My little sister wishes to be an actress. She has also spent some quality time with Kenny Dalgleish, one of Scotland's greatest footballers. Not that kind of quality time! (they played football together one afternoon in an empty hampden stadium).

My step family are supposedly descended from Macbeth. And although none of us (including my step family) truly believe this, they are nonetheless descended from the old aristocracy so you never know...

My step-mother's mum (or should I say 'mom') was the costume fitter for Brando in the stage adaptation of Streetcar named desire. When she told me this, I asked if she sniffed his jeans...I think even I would.

My step brother's dad is also on TV occasionally and his uncle is a well known author.

My wife comes from Former East Germany. Her uncle, as she later found out, was a Stasi Informer and she and her entire family have swollen DDR files (currently being taped together). However, I don't think she would thank me if I posted more information about her immediate ancestry.

She was also an actress. One of my films was premiered in Berlin, just round the corner from one of her stage productions. This was almost 15 years before we met. I come from Scotland (as if you couldn't guess) and she came from East Germany. What are the chances, eh? She is currently a straight A student (unlike me) at one of Europes finest universities and will soon complete her second degree. She plans to overhaul Scotland's School curriculum.

I myself have dabbled in film and TV. One film recieved the BAFTA and Golden Bear award in the early 90s (and yes, I had a speaking part and yes, it was a recurring character). My father is still on TV every week.

I now spend all my working time writing and researching. I have founded 6 or 7 websites, online galleries and academic research forums. I finished my first book a few months ago. I am currently working on half a dozen more history projects. I have also recently been asked to become Scottish Secretary of a rather well known society in New York. I am currently awaiting...erm..."activation". Watch this space. 8)

I also believe I have discovered the ultimate secret of Freemasonry but hey...I ain't the first to claim this.

I have had the pleasure of visiting Weimar and Jena in Germany. Funnily enough I am also going to Frederick the Great's palaces in Potsdam in little under two hours.

Before my ego is inflated further, I must add this:

He is remembered in Glasgow, where he lived, as the man who saved the Gorbles.

Erm...Niles, no-one saved the Gorbals. It remained a slum until it's almost total destruction - much to the misery of southern Glasgow. It is sorely missed (though I don't know why. It was a terrible place to live).

My first professional theatre production was held there (at least it was held in the former Gorbals area). It was about the history of the district and starred amongst others, John Hannah and Robert Carlyle.

I have since worked with the latter actor on more than a dozen occasions. Whereas the former, whose first production coincided with my own, cannot actually act to save himself. My mother said that he looks like he is constantly thinking to himself "when will I be found out? when will I be found out?".

WHAT A WONDERFULLY EGOTISTICAL THREAD. My only defence is 'well, you did ask'. I hope no-one vomited during the reading of it. I just read Niles' and am feeling a little queezy. I apologise for inflicting the same trouble...

 

[soiledwig]

I am, supposedly, a direct descendant of Louis XIV. Apparently, he had several illegitimate children and I am the descendant of one of his illegitimate daughter's. If this is, in fact, true, Louis XIV is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandfather. My Granny's cousin had put together a family tree...I don't know. It does seem a little far fetched. However, if you think about it, many people are probably directly related to him too, but it's not part of their family "lore".

Another ancestor arrived in England with William the Conqueror. Yeah, a 1000 year-old rumour.

 

[Anconite]

Taken by the Devil

I agree, What a wonderfully egotistical thread!

We have interesting characters and stories on both my side of the family and my husbands side.

My mother is of Swedish/Norwegean decent and my father is Scots/Manx on his mothers side, my grandfathers heritage is unknown. My great grandfather and his sister were the only survivors from a horrible house fire as small children. Afterwards, when they were old enough to enroll in school, the (possibly dutch) surname was spelled phonetically, based on a 5 year old childs pronunciation.

My grandmothers family name, Teare, was traced back to a little town on the Isle of Man, where based on church records ancestors had lived there dating back to the 1600s. My grandmothers father was a gold prospector in the Yukon who left his ailing wife and something like 10 children in Sault Ste Marie canada. According to my Grandmother, he was a bit of a conceited blow-hard and would sign his name with "Esquire" tacked on the end, and put on airs when he came back to town to visit his family, bringing lavish gifts (a fur coat for his wife at one time)... he never truly struck it rich but he liked to pretend.

My mothers father was a B-17 bomber pilot over europe. He won 2 silver stars during his service. He is getting up there in years, and only recently (5 years ago) told the family about his medals. He has yet to elaborate on what exactly he did during ww2, and when my aunt pressed at the last reunion he said he didnt want to say because some of it was possibly still top secret. My mother has said that while she was growing up he had troubles that today we would call post traumatic stress syndrome.

My mothers mother decends from one of a set of brothers who came and founded Pennsylvania with William Penn.

On my husbands side of the family we only recently began to look into his history at the request of his grandmother. Thier family has been in Florida since the Spanish controlled the area. The earliest ancestor was brought from Spain as a young boy and either sold as a slave or an apprentace. He was not of african decent, and may have married a native woman. We are still trying to dig up details.
Other family stories we have barely begun to touch on involve the Klan, pirates, and smugglers during the civil war.

A more recent ancestor was "Taken by the Devil" according to family lore. He was a small time criminal. He once stole a horse from another man in town. He had his wife buy him Clairol hair bleach and he kept the horse bleached blonde. His fate is unknown, my grandmother says he was "Taken by the Devil" and that's all the explination she recieved when she was young. my husband and I think he probably finally messed with the wrong people or simply dissapeared, and his family figured he got what he deserved.

 

[akaWiintermoon]

The only odd thing about my family (not counting me) as far as I am aware is that one of my very distant relatives was supposed to have started up one of the big Banana companies with his partner, then sold his half of the business to his partner after he got married.

My great, great (possibly one more 'great,' I'll have to check.) grandfather was one of the founding members of the Co-op. His son inhereted all the money but his two eldest daughters (when adults who were still living with him.) falsy got him put in an asylum and took all his money and house. Caused a big family split apparently, and I'm not surprised! lol
Another great aunt also used to bread Pomerainian (spl?) dogs, one of which won Crufts, and also bread Corgis for the queen.

On a possibly fortean note, a great uncle died from experiments performed on him in the army. They were told they were safe at the time. His window was offered a substantial payout after his death but only if she kept quiet!

Another great uncle died in a famous tradgedy at a dance hall where a load of kids got crushed after tryint to escape a fire. I'll have to check te whereabouts/details.

Lots more, but finaly for now, my grandad told me a few years back that he worked for special ops during the II World War. He went abroad undercover and taught other allies how to make bombs.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

For most of my childhood I believed that I'd had a "Great-Great-Grandmother Hitler," and that she'd strictly ruled her household. ("I'll bet," was the usual comment.)

It wasn't until adulthood that I realizerd that her name had actually been "Heidler." But that's pronounced exactly the same as you-know-who.

(That's especially true here in Greater Cincinnati where "Koestler" still rhymes with "wrestler" and "Rohs" is pronounced "Ross" rather than "Rose." Though oddly enough we Wagners seem to have abandoned the "Vog-" almost as soon as we hit these shores.)

All this means of course is that a certain German dictator and I most likely shared a common ancestor a thousand years back, along with millions of other people.

 

[rynner2]

Are you a Singer?

POW-WOW AT 'PALACE' FOR DESCENDANTS
JOHN KIRK
11:00 - 07 July 2007

Descendants of one of South Devon's most famous families are planning a historic reunion later this month.

More than 100 members of the Singer family are due to attend the gathering.

The family are descendants of Isaac Merritt Singer, the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, who had Paignton's Oldway Mansion built as a private residence. The mansion is now owned by Torbay Council.

It was modelled on the Palace of Versailles, with other areas inspired by the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The reunion - dubbed the Oldway Pow-wow - takes place at Oldway Mansion and will be attended by more than 150 guests, many of whom will be descendants of Isaac Singer.

The event, which is expected to attract relatives from as far afield as North America, Canada, France and Switzerland, has been organised by Mr Singer's great-granddaughter, Rhodanthe Selous.

Mrs Selous said: "It's all quite exciting. It will be a unique day.

"Although I like projects this is the biggest thing I have ever done in my life.

"We've decided to call it the Oldway Pow-wow because Oldway Mansion was originally called the Wigwam before my grandfather Paris had it remodelled as we know it today."

The event takes place on July 14, when Mrs Selous will welcome guests with an address during a champagne reception.

There will then be a buffet lunch and a talk and slides about Isaac Singer, given by Ruth Brandon, author of Singer and the Sewing Machine.

The reunion will then continue with a piano recital of works and poems commissioned by and dedicated to Isaac Singer's daughter Winnaretta, Princess de Polignac.

There will then be a coach tour to the Singer Tomb or the opportunity to explore acres of beautiful gardens at Oldway Mansion.

Copies of Isaac Singer's family tree, his will and details of the Singer Tomb will be available to buy while several manuscripts, including drawings of early prototypes of the sewing machine, will be offered for sale by sealed bids with a reserve price of £7,500.

Mrs Selous explained: "My mother gave me the manuscripts a long time ago and said 'these, one day, will be very valuable.'

"Because Singer's tomb cost a lot to run, we need the money badly.

Any distant relatives can get in touch by sending a letter detailing family connections to [email protected]. or to Mrs Selous at Langley Grange, The Avenues, Langley, Norwich, NR14 6BL.

http://tinyurl.com/2lr7xh

 

[Creamstick1]

I posted some of this in another thread, which seems to be the wrong one.

While trying to chart our family history with my Dad, we recently discovered church documents relating to an ancestor of ours who was repeatedly fined and rebuked by the kirk in the mid 19th century for fathering children with quite a number of the married women of the Orkneys.

Seriously, the number is staggering! This guy spread so much seed around that I wouldn't be surprised if every tree on the islands bore some kind of resemblance to him - his sprem must be like pollen up there!

I'd be even less suprised to find a DNA match with myself and every single person born there since his time.

--

In other familial news, we have spent countless fruitless hours trying to track down my maternal Grandfather's family. The only things wer know about him is his name; that he was Polish, from Krakow; he was in the Polish Army during WWII; he escaped from a prison camp in Siberia, was caught, escaped again and made his way to Aberdeen where he met and married my Grandmother. We have a photograph of him in uniform along with two other Polish soldiers - my grandmother took the photo to the Polish Society (I forget what the proper name is) here in Glasgow - years ago - and someone there was able to name one of the others in the picture, as well as translate some of the faded writing on the back.

My parents have been to Krakow twice in the past few years, and while there are plenty of people with the same surname, haven't been able to turn anything up.

One thing about the text on the back of the picture - some of it was unreadable, but the person who translated it said that it was to do with my Grandfather's family - apparently the family was well-to-do, or at least well known and respected. An important family, almost like some kind of aristocracy.

We've never been able to confirm anything at all. The photo is old and worn now. I haven't seen it in some time, and if I remember correctly, the writing was so faint that it was completely unreadable.

My Grandfather died in 1994. By that time he was in his 70s, and for years wouldn't communicate with anyone except for the odd word to my Gran. He would hoard things, make pots of porridge and hide then in his room - my Gran would find them weeks old and covered in mould. She said it was as if he was back in the prison camp - hiding anything of value, hiding food.

The day he died, my Gran went to stay with her son, my Uncle for a few days while my Mum and Aunts took care of the house for her. The first night, she got up to get a drink of water. She told me the next day that while she was coming out of the kitchen she saw my grandfather lying on the livingroom floor. "Get up you old fool" she said, and helped him onto the couch. She lay beside him and fell asleep.

In the morning, my Uncle woke up to find her asleep on the couch. He woke her up and asked her why she slept there - she started to tell him that she needed a drink of water during the night, and stopped when she saw the half-drunk glass of water sitting on the table. She couldn't tell him what happened, as she knew she'd get a smile and a nod - she knew she could tell me, she said, because I wouldn't make her feel like a daft old woman thinking she saw things in the middle of the night. She knew what she saw.

 

[kev99sl]

My great-X5-grandfather was one of the Minutemen who responded to the Lexington and Concord alarms in 1775 that started off the American Revolution. He served as a private under his father-in-law, Capt. David Cowden -- my great-X6-grandfather -- cementing my status as a Son of the Revolution. (Cowden also had fought for the British in what we in the States refer to as the French and Indian War, but I believe is called the Seven Years War in the UK.) After the Revolution, said great-X5-grandfather took his land grant in New York and settled not more than a stone's throw from the house where, some generations later, Joseph Smith would "find" the Book of Mormon. Ironically, around the same time Smith left, six brothers emigrated from England to the same region. One, my great-great-great-grandfather, married into the family. Two others -- both physicians -- moved west to Illinois. One of these great-great-great-uncles -- Robert Foster -- became the personal physician of Joseph Smith, and subsequently converted to Mormonism. The other -- Charles Foster -- by all family accounts, was unimpressed but wanted to stay near Robert to keep an eye on him. Robert rose quickly up the ranks of the Mormon elite in Nauvoo, and became very close to Smith. The family story is that things when sour when Smith started putting the moves on both the Fosters' wives as his plural marriage "revelation" came to fruition. Thus, the two brothers, along with several other of the disgruntled, formed an anti-mormon press called the Nauvoo Expositor. The rest, for the interested, can be disseminated via Google, Wikipedia, etc., although usually with all the requisite sympathetic, pro-Smith leanings. When the Civil War broke out, my great-great-great-grandfather (Robert and Charles' younger brother) volunteered for the 148th New York Infantry. He saw most of the major battles in the second half of the war, including some of the most vicious, such as Cold Harbor, "the Crater," and the siege of Richmond, and he was present at Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox. His wife patented a work stand -- whatever that is -- and called it the "Jenny Lind Worktable." She was directly descended from some of the first Puritan arrivals in America.

The other side of my family affords some interesting stories, but not interesting enough to warrant details. (Most interesting to me is the long line of males with a propensity to constantly avoid the bulk of the population. They helped pioneer the Dakotas, and stubbornly moved back east when everyone else started moving west.) My grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfathers were all at turns cowboys, settlers, copper miners, and just general wanderers. I discovered all of this long after marrying my wife convinced me to stop my occasional habit of hopping trains and calling in sick on a Friday to drive to Montreal without telling any friends or family. My great-grandfather mended his ways and became an armchair theologian. He was somewhat known among leaders of the Evangelical movement in the mid-century, although he never had school beyond a couple years of college. Before he died, several Midwest seminaries lobbied vigorously for his impressive personal library -- all housed in a dirt-floor, three-room house across the road from the Michigan farm where my dad grew up. One of my uncles went on to edit for Christianity Today for a time and still teaches at Wheaton College last I checked. I believe Wheaton got great-granddad's books. My father grew up in that farm because he and his sister and brothers were abandoned by his mom and my grandfather, and subsequently legally adopted by two of his aunts. They ran a farm across from said three-room-house -- also of the dirt-floor and wood-stove warmed variety. The aunts were pioneers of the Sunday School movement in the US, and would travel around the countryside to local churches in the poor communities teaching Sunday School and giving away clothes and food and the like. Oddly, these two women were both my grandmothers and my aunts. Years later, one would go on to be a missionary in Brazil, living next door to the fellow who unleashed the first "Killer Bees" into the wild. More years later, my dad's brother would go on to help pioneer adoption records reform in his efforts to find my dad's birth mother, which he did. The story was featured on several TV shows in Michigan in the 80's.

Most fascinating to me: Every family has stories like these. They just have to be discovered and remembered.