what did your ancestors do?

what did your ancestors do? (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Polls and Other Random Stupidity

Message

LadyEllen -> what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 6:01:59 AM)
Aside from propagating your current existence, what did your ancestors do? We're talking specifically here about your own family, and stuff that is (or is believed to be) true, handed down from generation to generation. On my mom's side, my great grandfather was apparently something of a nutter. He fought in the Zulu wars as little more than a boy, then he volunteered as a man for the Boer war, and when 1914 came he tried to join up again, but was rejected on the grounds that at his age he perhaps ought not to be going to the front. His father was apparently cut from very similar cloth. My maternal grandma was the best person I ever knew; during WWII she served as a nurse, whilst my granddad being a qualified engineer was not drafted but spent the time making weapons. My grandma's family apparently owned a chain of pubs in the area thats now Telford. On my dad's side its less clear. Who the father of my granddad was, no one knows, which made for a very difficult life for him in those days. It could have been anyone, but I will one day research the movements of the king during 1909/1910, to see whether he might have been in Birmingham at some stage, staying at a hotel where my great grandmother on that side may have been working. Its a long shot, but vital to my claim on the crown. My paternal grandparents were very unassuming - just ordinary working folk from the Black Country - my parents' marriage never went down well as my mom's family felt my dad's family to be beneath them, which in socio economic terms they certainly were, but they were much nicer people too. My grandad spent the war in the RAF, working as a fitter in the groundcrews for bomber command, whilst my nan (which she preferred to grandma) worked in the munitions factories. So, over to you. E

JerseyKrissi72 -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 6:57:08 AM)
I don't know too much about my family on my father's side but on my mother's side my grandfather worked in the coal mines down South for many years while holding down a farm raising animals for meat and for sale and raising 12 children. My grandmother was full blood Cherokee Indian and didn't speak much English and raised children while staying at home. My great grandfather had slaves and raised a very large farm which was quite successful.

sambamanslilgirl -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 7:15:28 AM)
on my father's side, long line of military men from Spanish-American War to Vietnam and current (my father). i had a grandfather who played in the Negro Leagues ...my uncle helped liberated Paris at the end of World War II ...besides the military background, they also were Baptist ministers in Harrisburg, PA. my great-grandmother received her last PhD at the age of 77 and still is an ordained minister (though she's retired due to Alzheimer's) on my mother's side, ancestor was a slave in South Carolina who ran away from a plantation during the Civil War and took his family to Canada before joining the North to fight. after the war was over, he never returned but instead went west as a Buffalo Rider. there he met and married a Sioux princess moving the family back east to Chicago. i don't know how the Irish heritage fits in somewhere but yep i'm have some Irish in me. i have old wedding pictures of my great-grandparents. my mother participated in the Bud Billiken Parade back in the 50s. however sadly enough the family my ancestor abandoned in Canada (Quebec in fact) has written us as bastards ...thus the longstanding feud continues to this day - they absolutely want nothing to do with us.

lighthearted -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 7:56:29 AM)
being the ultimate heinz 57 (puerto rican/spanish/russian/armenian), I love ancestry and history. thanks for sharing. in my immediate family, both of my grandmothers did work with their hands...one a very gifted seamstress, one a hatmaker. I've inherited the ability to sew, it has a real calming effect on me, and I enjoy it very much. my father is a very accomplished painter, and while I thought the whole painting/drawing gene had passed me over, my eldest um clearly has his talent. unfortunately, mental illness also plays a starring role on my mom's side of the family. we've got quite a few certified nutcases, and it has unfortunately eclipsed many of the talents they may have had, had they been able to function normally.

MsSonnetMarwood -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 8:13:21 AM)
Both sides of the family were predominantly coal miners; one side in Yorkshire, the other in Derbyshire.

IEvolve -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 8:42:50 AM)
Well, I'm not really sure but when I visited "Mother Paula" for a reading she did tell me that my ancient tribal name was.... ..........Eaten By Lions.

Lashra -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 8:47:52 AM)
On my Fathers side his parents were both German. Grandpa spent his time driving a panzer into Russia and then being captured and escaping on foot with his Lieutenant all the way back to Poland only to be captured and turned over to the Allies. Grandpa never thought much of the Russians as he was mistreated there but considered the Americans civil enough. Grandma was busy tending the farm and taking care of the brood of children that they had. On my Mother's side Grandma was a stern German woman who ran her household with an iron fist. Grandpa was a full blood Cherokee indian who grew up on a reservation until his Mother died and then he ventured out on his own. He became a security guard and then a carpenter. No one seems to know anything about his Father at all. ~Lashra

texancutie -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 9:01:27 AM)
I am the first non full blood born to my mother's family. They are all Native and mainly Chippewa, which is also known as Ojibwe or Anishnabe. I have family still on our reservation. I know a little of the Ojibwe language, but not much. I plan to study it more, since my cousin teaches it on our reservation back home. Though the last time I was there was about 4 or 5 yrs ago. It's on Lake Superior. I am originally from Michigan. My great great grandfather was Chief Okondikon and it is very interesting to see when the Christian names started surfacing. They started with my great grandfather, he took a Christian name as an adult. My great great grandfather signed some treaties and I have found copies online, and even a pictograph written on birch bark sent to Washington to plead their cause to the President at that time. My grandmother was incarcerated at Haskill Indian School. At that point in time they were taking children away from their families and forcing them to be in boarding schools. The other side of my family, I honestly don't know that well, other than the fact that my grandparents immigrated here from the Ukraine. My dad was of course, Ukrainian.

DragonNphoenix -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 11:44:53 AM)
Okay... my family is strange. My fathers side are mostly military, mostly Air Force. I know that one of my Great Grandfathers was an Algonquin elder. My mothers side is gypsy. They came to Canada from Southern France and migrated over to Washington state. Most of the people on my Mothers side side practice some form of Paganism. 1st girl Phoenix

windchymes -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 1:25:37 PM)
My paternal great-great-grandfather was supposedly a snake oil salesman in one of those travelling wagon shows. Seriously. His son was a decorated naval hero, my grandma used to have his Congressional Medal of Honor. He supposedly saved a bunch of sailors by swimming and towing the lifeboat to land with the rope in his teeth. My grandma was a Rosie the Riveter in WWII. She stayed in the factory until she retired.

HydroMaster -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 2:10:42 PM)
On the mother's side they were viking raiders until the fell out of fashion and then there's years of who knows what until they came to settle in the US in the 1800's where the majority of them were killed by natives over several occasions....I guess they weren't well liked. After their numbers recovered they seem to have laid low as farmers until now. On dad's side they were appharently high society in England for a time. The family buisiness was the triangle trade. The family ships ran from England to Africa to deliver supplies and pick up slaves, then to the Americas to drop off said slaves and pickup whatever was on it's way back to England. We've also had a military background stretching back to that time and through the current years. Every generation has had sons in some branch or another. Mostly infantry and naval crew....a few lucky pilots. At some point they immigrated to the US...I don't know the date of that.

Trampler -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 2:25:13 PM)
Well I don't know much about any part of my family before the 1900's but both my grandfathers served in WWII, my dads dad in Army-Air Core, and my moms dad a Merchant Marine. They both met and my married my grandmothers while serving. My dads mom was a WAC,smart,pretty and vivacious. My mom's mom was a sales girl at a local dept store, shy and quiet,she captured my grandfathers heart. Both families moved to Detroit after the war, Both of my Grandfathers were also from the same part of Pennslivania,(but they didn't know each other.) For a time, My parents lived on the same street in Detroit. (Evergreen.) But then my mom's family moved to Oakland co. They met thru a Mutual friend. Their 2nd date was a Simon and Garfunkel concert, ( one of the reasons why I love S&G.) Unfortunately they are now divorced and both of my Grandfathers have passed on :(

CrimsonMoan -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 2:28:25 PM)
mom's side she was a bus driver and a black jack dealer grandmother was a teacher my grandfather wwas is jack of all trades farm boy to trucker before that farm life and beyond that slaves Dad's side airforce and vietnam vet i know jack shit about his parents as he didn't talk about either much. Grandfather died when he was a kid and my grand mother much later but it hit him hard. past that all i know are a half black half cheyenne girl and an scots/irish man < family name comes from him. Forgot to add one or two buffalo soldiers mixed in as well. Dad's side is much closer to the slave chains than my mother's was. Hell my dad was older than my grandmother :P

favesclava -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 2:32:18 PM)
my father was convicted of arson , his father hung himself in an insane asylym, and i just found out that my grandma on mothers side was such a player that she her two youngest are the towns patriarch's get. my family is descendants of black slaves, native taino , and yes damn europeans (unknown origin as of yet) the collar is stronger than the ring

darchChylde -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 3:57:16 PM)
i'm descended from a long line of marathon runners; each of my antecedents, from the very beginning, have won a race involving millions of competitors; i myself have won such a race, and i earnestly believe that my descendants will also win such a race

TheHeretic -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/19/2007 7:07:38 PM)
One of my favorite stories from the family tree is of the four brothers who decided they had no interest in being drafted as cannon fodder, so they raided their mother's closet and left the country in drag. ( I have no problem at all with dodging the draft if you do it by leaving the country and never returning.) One interesting factoid, I had ancestor from both sides of the family at Appomattox Courthouse, on both sides of the surrender.

LDRandAstarte -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/20/2007 12:26:00 AM)
My Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Grand Father on my Fathers side was Danial Boone. You may have heard of him, he had a TV show back in the late 60's!

DragonNphoenix -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/20/2007 12:30:29 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LDRandAstarte My Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Grand Father on my Fathers side was Danial Boone. You may have heard of him, he had a TV show back in the late 60's! Seriously?? I know I had a family member impaled by Vlad Tepes... that is as close to famous as I get. 1st girl Phoenix

Lordandmaster -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/20/2007 12:44:18 AM)
I had an ancestor with two wives. Pretty scandalous in those days. My secretary once told me she knew this stuff has to be in the genes.

feminboots -> RE: what did your ancestors do? (6/20/2007 2:44:11 AM)
May I compliment 'yawl' on sharing your ancestral heritage? There are some stories here that are absolutely amazing!! So much so, it makes me more inquisitive (so if anyone gets a message frome me, please read before deleting!). This is a stark reminder when paying bills monthly "others have had it worse!" Thanks for sharing and stirring the pot. Dang Lashra, sounds like your Grandpa could never get a break! Trampler, good thing your relatives don't live in Detroit now! Thanks again...

Page: [1] 2 next > >>

Collarchat.com © 2025

Terms of Service

0.03125