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30 People Joined This Viral Thread Of Sharing The Coolest And Oddest Facts From Their Family’s History
People often say to do the things you want even if they are risky so that you will have interesting stories to tell your children and grandchildren. While maybe it’s not the best reasoning, hearing the wild tales from our grandparents’ or parents’ youth is always so fascinating because things worked so differently back in the day.
Writer Jamie Schler asked people on Twitter to tell her some cool facts or stories from their family’s history and they had some very intriguing tales to tell. The writer herself shared a few captivating stories that you will find reading through this list. 
Image credits: Jamie Schler
So enjoy this list delving into some great stories from people’s genealogy and if Jamie Schler’s tweet reminded you of anything from your family’s history, please recount it in the comments! Also, upvote the stories that surprised you and impressed you the most!
More info: Jamie Schler
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
classbag 4 years ago (edited)
The bear surely got over it. I doubt being enslaved and having to win his freedom through such spectacle is something the man ever got over. But I'm glad he did gain his freedom.
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Jennifer Norton 4 years ago
It's sad that they had to do this to get his freedom, but on the other hand look at these two geniuses who pulled off a great scheme!
Andy Acceber 4 years ago
The life of a man and the life of an animal are not the same. Imagine if he was your child. Would you have a hard time deciding which life was worth more? The focus on the bear in so many of these comments is horribly uncomfortable. You know we're talking about a man's life here, right?
littlesaresare 4 years ago
It is possible to care about more than one thing at a time.
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Bisexual Bi Myself (she/her) 4 years ago
@Molly Reece He got the bear drunk so he could win!! How else do you think he would have defeated as bear?!
Now it’s not the same as it used to be. We don’t need to decide whether it’s a good or a bad thing, it‘s just different. That is why stories from the olden times are so attractive—because they are hard to imagine happening in modern times, but they did actually happen.
Also, some people revealed they are descendants of some really famous and influential people who had a great impact on how we live today.
RELATED:
#2
Emily Robertson 4 years ago
Omg I'm so happy she didn't go to work that day. Just reading about the story it feels like you can feel the heat.
Joe Reaves 4 years ago
I hope her family knew she'd skipped work to go on a date. Imagine knowing what was happening and thinking your daughter was in there...
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
One of the worst mass murders in history- It is still going on in the world today! So love saved your great grandmothers life! Wonderful!
#3
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
That's great! But the way I cook would result in only more funerals!
#4
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Nice photo, but it makes me wonder when Germany switched to driving on the left.
Fabian Meresse 4 years ago
Most of the cars, until the 20's, were built right hand drive. That was an inheritance of horse cars, where jockey usually sat on the right. Until the 50's, luxury cars ( ex. Alfas, Bugattis, Delage...) were still right hand drive made, it was a sign of elegance and distinction
Load More Replies...If you ever want to dig deeper into your ancestry, the person you should look for to help you would be a genealogist. They are the ones who study descent lines and if you think that they are only interested in royal family trees, you would be wrong and ordinary individuals can use their services too.
Bored Panda talked to a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Brianne Ellison, to find out what are the most common reasons people go to her when they use her services and according to the specialist it's "curiosity, to figure out if there is truth to family legends, family temple work."
#5
Kristin Ingersoll 4 years ago
My grandmother lived down the street from Norman Rockwell and sat for him often as a model. More than likely, if it's a red headed girl, it's her <3
Kristin Ingersoll 4 years ago
Hmmm. Tried to upload a photo too... delete-615...ad76bf.png 
Angie Taylor 4 years ago
I think her friend is telling her to shoot someone......and she seems intrigued.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Norman Rockwell was one great artist! With a huge sense of humor - most of his paintings have a chuckle in them!
#6
MysteriousLegBruise 4 years ago
So. Cal is my motherland! I LOVE Balboa Park, omg I'd be telling everyone about this legacy!
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
You should be very proud! My great grandmother went to every funeral whether she knew them or not - but she ate well!
#7
Emily Robertson 4 years ago
Not the full story: So Jessie James and Frank James were brothers. They robbed over 30 stagecoaches / banks WELLS FARGO being the most widely available, they were usually the ones getting robbed.
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago
All I can think of right now is the last words of each verse in a country song. "🎼🎵 It's a family tradition!🎶"
Samantha PandaNotBored 4 years ago
This is amazing . I love to read anything to do with Jesse James and the Younger gang.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
That is so cool! My family tree only has leaves branches and idiots!
Brianna Gentry 4 years ago (edited)
Dude I’m a great something niece of belle starr! Our relatives of that era knew each other!
#8
Heather Menard 4 years ago
She is surviving driving in Mass that is an achievement right there.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
She must have been a baby! I was born in 1945 = 75 years now! Driving a cab? Thought she'd be retired!
The whole process starts with an interview and deciding on a goal. Then a person should give the expert every bit of information they have for them to review. And then the professionals start their tedious work of going through records. It may take a while, but if you have a suspicion that your family should have some crazy secrets, they most probably will come out and maybe your boring family won’t seem so uninteresting after all.
There are times when genealogists just can find anything. Brianne Ellison told us, "There are some areas where not much information has been indexed and scanned to the main ancestry sites or has been lost. I make sure I've done an exhaustive search to my abilities, sometimes refer them to a specialist for their area, and try to find information that they may have not asked for so that they can at least have something new."
#9
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Great idea about the seeing eye dogs. I live in a small town we had one blind guy with a seeing eye dog - meanest SOB in town. When I was 11 I saw this guy kick the hell out of this poor dog and I kicked the hell out of his shins - told him if he ever hurt that dog again I would steal it! Turned around there was the biggest cop I had ever seen - the cop told me he'd help me steal the dog!
Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
My ancestor Valentine Hollingsworth came over with Penn too! The family ended up in Virginia though. My line eventually made their way out west.
#10
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
Good news, everyone! They named Futurama's Professor Farnsworth after him!
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago (edited)
*scratches chin awkwardly with finglonger* Oh my yes
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Dave In MD 4 years ago
Philo Farnsworth invented all electronic television.
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Chef Latte 4 years ago
Wait, did he patent it? Or did people just use the technology, mainly because your family would be rich if it was…
Dave P 4 years ago
not exactly, there were several different TV models out there, his Cathoray Electric one was the best and became the basis of the classic TV we know of. He did patten a few parts, but it was mostly his concept, which utility pattents was not a thing at the time.
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Aileen Grist 4 years ago
Unless you're English and then we think of John Loagie Baird - Hastings is advertised as the ome of television because he lived there.
Ralph Smith 4 years ago
JLB invented TV - there's a similar argument with lightbulbs - Joseph Swan v Edison
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Thank you Mr. Farnsworth as an introvert - you gave me many happy hours!
It is quite beneficial as well to know your family history beyond just satisfying your curiosity. Knowing where you came from gives you a sense of identity and belonging. It also makes you more resilient as most families went through tragedies in the past and knowing that they survived all of it can give you courage and assurance that you will overcome the bad times too.
#11
Kate 4 years ago
Those convicted in Salem were hanged, actually. Unless the ancestor was Giles Corey, in which case he wasn't stoned, he was pressed -- they piled rocks on top of him because he refused to answer the charge of witchcraft.
Honu 4 years ago
And the testimony against him included that he had come as an apparition to his neighbor.
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DragonflyGreen 4 years ago
I am a direct descendant of Mary Towne Esty (or Eastey in some spellings). OP must be descended from Giles Corey, who was not, in fact stoned to death, rather, he was pressed to death by the weight of rocks. He was the only one not hanged in Salem. A sister of Mary was also accused and imprisoned, but luckily eventually pardoned and freed.
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
One of my great-great-great uncles was a prosecutor at one of the witch trials. I can't remember his full name but he was a Philbrick. Also a cousin of mine is Winston Churchill. His mother was an American and came from the same Philbrick line.
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
I had ancestors who lived in Salem then. Not sure if good upstanding Christians, or witches who didn't advertise by annoying the neighbors, lol.
#12
Firkin Dirkin 4 years ago
I am also from the Scottish Borders. A family story was that one ancestor was hanged by the English after being caught with a stolen english sheep. The Scots would routinely cross the border in raids. However, the dark part was that they hanged him because of what he was doing WITH the sheep when they found him! I guess it gets cold and lonely in the hills...
Kim Steffen 4 years ago
That's like the drummer who produced twins. He named them Anna one Anna two
It is also always better to learn from others’ mistakes than your own, so knowing what happened to your relatives in the past might prevent you from ending up in the same terrible situation. Or their lives might become an inspiration to work harder and repeat their success stories.
There are numerous other reasons why family trees and stories matter, so it is obvious that it is not a waste of time. It’s just a bonus if you had some really cool relatives who invented television or signed the USA's Declaration of Independence and you can tell about it in a Twitter thread.
#13
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
What a life Gutsy. Handsome, Rich and tells authorities to go to hell - WHAT A MAN!
Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
I’m on the edge of my seat. When are we going to see his photo? ( Never heard anything about “mandatory miles”).
#14
Mazer 4 years ago
I’m related to you. Bradford is in my family line as well. Apparently there are over one million people from the Priscilla Mullins and John Alden line
Nancy Baldauf 4 years ago
I'm one of those Alden-Mullins descendent. I didn't believe it when my Mother told me, but "Ancestry" says it's true.
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Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
I need more story. So he hanged his kid's father-in-law? That's what you mean, right? Or am I confused?
Mancbranch 4 years ago
I think they were both common ancestors of the OP. It sounds amazing but discounting inbreeding you’d have ~33,000 13x great grand parents. If you are related to one Mayflower passenger you’re probably related to them all.
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Ali Sherlock 3 years ago
Why is coming over on the Mayflower such a big thing? Not trying to be rude (Australian here), just I hear it a bit and I'm curious
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Was he the literal hanger of the man or the judge who ordered him hanged?
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
My husband's great great however many, was already in the US a few years before the Mayflower arrived. My 1/2 Choctaw g-g-g-grandmother's grandfather led an insurrection against Queen Elizabeth, and his grandfather was poet laureate to Henry VII. Her Choctaw grandfather was, in fact, related to Pocahantas! 😆
#15
Rikke Visby Wickberg 4 years ago (edited)
It was quite common in the countryside in Denmark not hundred years ago to name your kids with numbers. I've known a man called 'Dusinus', he was number 12 (dozen). 😃
Vicky Z 4 years ago
I would say horrible! They are women not goats! Different era but still horrible
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M O'Connell 4 years ago
In my family tree there is a history of giving the name of a child who died to the next child to be born, which makes figuring out dates-of-birth on some of those ancestors quite difficult. i.e. Mary died as a toddler, so the next girl to be born was given the name Mary, etc.
Jessica Cifelli 4 years ago
Its kind of common for people of the Middle Ages to name their children the same name. Its really noticeable with royalty and people of nobility but it happened among commoners too. Lots of Marys, Henrys, and Georges
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
I don't think they would have had two living children both called Mary, but they might have reused the name if one died.
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Anggi Santika 4 years ago (edited)
If you go to Bali, part of balinese name are the sequence as well. As well as in Japan. Ichirou一郎 , jirouニ郎, saburou 三郎.
#16
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago (edited)
Reminds me of my husband's grandfather. He and his family left the Kansas Dust Bowl but before leaving he was a printer at the local newspaper. After leaving they too moved to So Cal and he ended up writing the manuals for the Apollo program and even got a signed letter of appreciation by all of the Apollo astronauts.
#17
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Clementines are yummy and your great great grandmother was a honey!
Deutschland Mädchen 4 years ago
Oh my darling oh my darling oh my daaaarling Clementine (sry couldnt resist)
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
those midwives back then saved many a baby and mother - they knew more about birthing babies than most doctors who were few and far between then. (and in my opinion now)
#18
skint boy 4 years ago (edited)
Sorry, but that is completely untrue. The oyster from Rolex was named after the similarity of the case shape to oyster shells. The cases were invented in 1891 by Francois Borgel and patented by Rolex in 1926 after Hans stole/transferred the patent to one of his partner case maker manufacturers.
13 4 years ago
Oyster was picked because it can hermetically seal itself. Not because of a similarity in shape. If you're going to correct make sure you get it right. The Rolex oyster was the world's first waterproof watch.
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Brian Bennett 4 years ago
True or not (a lot of times recorded history is not true) this is one great family story!
#19
James Doe 4 years ago
Not meaning to diminish your statement, but I just found a mind - boggling fact: "Total, the Manhattan Project involved the labor of some 500,000 people, nearly 1% of the entire US civilian labor force". There are great documentations about the atomic bomb efforts. Also how some German scientists sabotaged the German research to go into a wrong direction. And how different the efficient (modern style) scientific teamwork of the allies was compared to the German compatative works
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Wow! How does one clean one’s soul after absorbing that information?
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago
The Manhattan Project was the development of the atomic bomb.
Load More Replies... Brandy Grote 4 years ago
My grandfather was a Navy photographer during and after WWII. He was stationed at Bikini Atoll. After he retired, he was the photographer at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park!
Brigitte Munsterman 4 years ago
My paternal grandfather was a carpenter/engineer on the Manhattan Project.
#20
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Etch-A-Sketch - never could operate that everything turned out a mess - but to invent something like this sheer genius!
Monkey Love 4 years ago
That is super cool! My dad has a cousin that's been doing ours as long as I can remember and I'm 45. I'll do a text and let the computer sus it all out.
#21
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
My nephew is a convicted thief! ( our family tree is a horror story!)
Nancy Baldauf 4 years ago
I'll bet many people would find colorful ancestors if they spent time researching. I did, and was very surprised.
#22
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Do you know which line? I took SP all the time in my years as a young adult because my grandparents lived about 30 miles south of San Francisco, where I lived.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
What a handsome, strong and determined looking woman! Gal after my own heart!
#23
Vicky Z 4 years ago
Is this the guy that used to hide kittens in his beard or am i confusing him with someone else?
Tee Witt 4 years ago
This is the guy who tripped over his beard and died. No idea about kittens
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Lorraine R 4 years ago
This is the guy whose beard is in the Anthropology collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
#24
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago
One of the way they would test to see if someone was really a witch, they would tie them to a "dunking chair" . They dunked you under the water for awhile. If you were still alive when they brought you up, you were a witch because you survived when you shouldn't have and only a witch could have done that. Then they kill you. If you drowned and dead, oh, gee, you didn't survive so oh happy day! You weren't a witch.
Maria 4 years ago
No, the crime of witchcraft was not gendered historically.
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Sapna Sarfare 4 years ago
women persecuted for being intelligent and using their intelligence... oh humanity
#25
Davis the Un-Greatest 4 years ago
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful ship…
Bob Stuart 4 years ago
The way I heard it, Cleveland Amory, the reviewer for TV Guide, called the new season a "vast wasteland" and got a lot of mail from frustrated people looking for a new Western by that name.
#26
RandomBeing 4 years ago
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. This is my church so when i saw "jailed for polygamy" I knew the context XD.
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Lokis Andragon 4 years ago
See above, it's the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
My mother discovered she wasn’t an only child after all when someone contacted her because this woman’s 63&Me report showed she had a sister in California. She and my mom met and stayed in touch until she just stopped hearing from Jean (pre-pandemic by years).
nothingisreal 4 years ago
The same thing happened to me recently, on my mom and dad's side of the family. I have a half uncle on my mom's side that we knew nothing about, and 2 half aunts on my dad's side. We've been getting to know them for about 6 months now. Ancestry DNA is crazy.
Suzy McDaniel 4 years ago
When my aunt died, we discovered she had a secret son that she had had and adopted out when I was a child. She wasn't a skinny lady but everyone in my family is still astonished that she was able to go full term to pregnancy, have the baby and none of us knew for 30 years.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
We just found out my cousin's sister is her daughter! This tree just gets more twisted!
#28
Deutschland Mädchen 4 years ago
What was his name, does anyone know? This would be an interesting story to research more.
Erik Lawrence 4 years ago
all of these are from twitter.... see the little bird? click the twitter logo and you can see the actual tweet. you can ask him.
Load More Replies... Dave P 4 years ago
Can't find any historical source for any story like this. In the last year of the war there was a pay issue and a group of officers wanted to take their troops to Philly and force congress to pay them, but Washington talked them out of it. In the end George Mason got financier Philip Minis to front congress the pay for the soldiers (the fourth time he did that during the war)
Erik Lawrence 4 years ago
that was the motivation for benadict arnold to try to sell west point... he hadnt been paid in like 7 years.
#29
Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
As I said earlier, you have some interesting ancestors, OR, a VIVID imagination! As I read on, will I find more Schlers?
Anke Dieken 4 years ago
My grandpa was talked into shooting anti-DDR flyers with a rocket over the town, resulting in him fleeing to west Berlin shortly afterwards with my grandma. They let the children come, too, as soon as possible. My other grandma was nearly shot by the Nazis just because she said something like "There is no point anymore" (meaning the war would be lost anyway) and the relative she said this to told her son who was working for the Gestapo. She was saved by the end of the war.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Money I would have accepted as a border guard- but I like my potatoes mashed in a bowl not a bottle!
#30
Robin Childers 4 years ago
My great-uncle was a seventh son of a seventh son. It's said he could cure thrush and warts, among other things.
#31
Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago
You can't miss something like that. They saw. They heard. They weren't going to give up someone who killed a collaborator.
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
Ha, exactly what I was thinking. Hell of a murder case when the killer turns out to be "pretty much the entire town", which is extra impressive given that everyone was conveniently blind and deaf that day.
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Jennifer Norton 4 years ago
My father found out, after his brother died, that his father.... my grandfather had gotten a girl pregnant and that girl had a daughter. So my father has a half sister out there somewhere. My uncle didn't leave enough info for us to find her and again like this post. Wouldn't be a problem is the majority of my family wasn't white and a bit on the side of racist! Yikes!
Patti Vance 4 years ago
my grandmother's first daughter, my aunt, was product of an elopement that was annulled when she returned to her father after a couple of days. due to annulment my aunt was treated as illegitimate by family. then, gram married off to wealthy man quickly & had my mom. was always suspected by the sisters that they had different dads. they confronted gram & while she admitted the truth & the story she would not reveal the name of her (ex)husband. however, we did find the name andrew newton from either boston or pennsylvania. if anyone has a similar family story we should check out the details as my searches have revealed zero.
#33
Deutschland Mädchen 4 years ago
Please tell me you named YOUR son Edward as well. (If he has one. And yes, I know he can't see this.)
#34
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Wowie-Zowie! My paternal grandfather traced his family back to the 900s and found out that the family name (Jett) meant “keeper of the keys.” Since the city’s keys aren’t turned over to just anyone, this makes him minor nobility.
Patti Vance 4 years ago
my late uncle traced his tree back to sir francis bacon and beyond. francis is the only notable that i could find but he did go back far enough to the point that no other written records could be found.
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
I had to stop my genealogy when I came across "Anne of Arimathea", daughter of Joseph. Living in Glastonbury.... hmmmm....
debora shuger 4 years ago
Do you know the wonderful novel, Man on a Donkey (or something like that), with its moving portrait of Robert Aske?
#35
#36
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
I’m sooo jealous! I had a crush on Paul for probably 25-30 year...from my childhood well into my 20s.
#37
Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
And, when he put that hand up to his ear, he could hear twice as good!
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
So, how well did that finger work? Would you have known from looking at it if he hadn’t told you? Don’t just put this out there without outcomes—sheesh!
M O'Connell 4 years ago
It was probably skin from behind his ear, rather than part of his ear itself. That location is a common source of tissue for skin grafts.
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Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Yowza! Check that out! I learned at my father’s funeral that he had been awarded three Bronze Stars for bravery during the Korean War. (My father was an alcoholic who spent all of his money at the bar, leaving my mother to scramble in order to feed me and my brother. When she found out she was pregnant with my sister, she left him, divorced him, and received sole custody of us from the court.)
Ka Se 4 years ago
Maybe the war was the cause of the alcoholism of your father and he may have needed a profound therapy.
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#39
Materyst 4 years ago
Saying this as a German. I think it is wrong for people with Nazi ancestors to cry about it and feel bad and ashamed. This has nothing to do with you. You were not a part of it. It's not you who has to live with the guilt.
Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago
Agreed. You start going back and it's inevitable to find a bad person. Hell, some of my ancestors were Republicans.
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Ekaterina S 4 years ago
You are well aware that a lot of soldiers had no choice but serve during WWII?!?
Karen Cooper 4 years ago
There's a whole world of difference between a conscripted German soldier and a Nazi. Not all soldiers on all sides were fighting by choice.
James Doe 4 years ago
It doesn't make sense to be ashamed of ancestors. You should only be ashamed though, if you or your parents have learned nothing from history and would be perfectly suited to be the next generation of autogracy: no self reflexion, no care for rational facts, only caring for emotional truths (weird opinions), us against them mentality, hate instead of love, pride instead of compassion, religion over science.. I'm looking at you trump supporters.
Jo Choto 4 years ago
You should remember that the vast majority of "Nazi soldiers" were just regular German conscripts who were in the Army and probably didn't know or care or have any say in the ideology of their country/regime. You should read "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque. If you ever want to know what it was like to be a German soldier and how uninformed they all were and how pointless war is, this is the book.
Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
Just because he was a soldier in the nazi army doesn't mean he was a nazi, ideologically. Don't think most of the regular soldiers had a choice about joining. The officers on the other hand...
Andy Acceber 4 years ago
I'm going to go against the stream here with my comment. None of us were born in a vacuum. If you have particularly horrible relatives in your family tree, you should consider how their rhetoric may have shaped you, your upbringing, people who came before you and their upbringing, etc. Then, I'd argue that you should make an intentional effort to dismantle all of that. Any bias should end with you. You should intentionally seek out the communities hurt by your ancestors, educate yourself, and embrace them.
#40
The Deez 4 years ago
One of my long-ago ancestors was also a signer - Charles Carroll of Carrollton! (I don't know how we know this...I just always heard it growing up!) The best thing, though, was that I mentioned this to my reading teacher in 6th grade and she said she was also related to him! I was so thrilled to realize I was distantly related to one of my favorite teachers!
#41
Gabi 4 years ago
Here ya go. In March 1810, Samuel R. JOCELYN, son of a distinguished lawyer of the same name in Wilmington, and himself a promising man-not long after conversing with his friend Alexander HOSTLER and others about the possibility of a man's returning to earth after death and making his presence known, and after making an agreement with HOSTLER that the first of the two who died should, if possible, reveal himself to the survivor--was killed by accident, and buried in St. James's churchyard. HOSTLER was greatly afflicted by the death of his friend, and while sitting along in his room a day or two after the funeral, was overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of JOSCELYN, who said to him: "How could you let me be buried when I was not dead?" "Not dead?" exclaimed the horror-stricken survivor. "No, I was not," replied his visitor; "open the coffin and you will see I am not lying in the position in which you placed me," and vanished immediately. HOSTLER, thought greatly affected, believed he
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#42
Yugan Talovich 4 years ago
I hate to be a party pooper, but the Cherokee Trail of Tears was from 1830 to 1850. You may have a very long lived grandmother, but that photo does not predate the Civil War.
classbag 4 years ago (edited)
And everyone has been told their grandparent was part-Cherokee, and it's been found to be a myth in a lot of families. Not that it's never true, but I tend not to believe it unless there is still some connection.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 4 years ago
I have found a lot of Americans claim Native American heritage, specifically Cherokee because, believe it or not, the Cherokees were widely known as the "most attractive" tribe by Westerners. Modern day genealogy tests have revealed two interesting things. First, white-presenting people do not usually have any NA ethnicity, and second, around half the white-presenting people in the Southern states have a notable amount of black ethnicity in their bloodline.
Andy Acceber 4 years ago
Yep. And the odds are, if you're white-presenting and have Native or Black DNA, it's likely there due to rape. It's an uncomfortable fact no one wants to talk about, and there are certainly exceptions. But in general, if you have Native or Black ancestry 150+ years ago, it was probably rape.
Load More Replies... Brandy Grote 4 years ago
My Choctaw ancestors could "pass for white", worked closely with Jackson's army when he went to Alabama, and some may have hid in the pine forests of Alabama during that scary time.
#43
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
My grandfather’s people settled in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1600s, which means they likely owned slaves. In my will I’m going to leave whatever money I still have in my various accounts to the NAACP as reparation for this ugly history.
Andy Acceber 4 years ago
The NAACP is a great organization. As you know the specific location of your ancestors, consider donating to the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project instead. You could also volunteer, donate, or support them in some other way while you're alive: https://www.rootsrundeep.org/about-svbhp.html
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grindelwald_the_insomnia_panda 3 years ago
if my math is right that is over 120 grandchildren! right?
#44
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
My great grandmother (born in 1894) married Mr. Robinson, had my grandmother, and later divorced Mr. Robinson (I have no idea how she pulled that off back in the 1920s as a practicing Catholic), married Mr. Ness, had my great-aunt, left Mr. Ness and without divorcing Mr. Ness, shacked up with Mr. Robinson, carrying his name to her grave. It apparently caused quite the scandal in her small Oregon town.
#45
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago (edited)
Hey, we must be cousins! I'm from the Gordon family, as well. My great-grandmother was a Gordon and her father was from Scotland. The family was traced back to the castle too! Here's tae us, Wha's like us, Damn few. And they're a' deid, Mair's the pity! – Scottish toast of 19th century origin
#46
Dilly Millandry 4 years ago
Not sure which bit you are thrown by, so apologies if I answer the wrong point, but the letter is pretty well known. https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-050-aug-2012/admiral-lord-fisher-to-churchill-omg
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#47
Amanita Virosa 4 years ago
Grace Sherwood, taken down a dirt lane now known as Witchduck Road and dunked.
#48
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago (edited)
He probably didn't need to do the genealogy since it was only his great-grandfather. Most families are aware of their names. I even remember all my great grandmothers when they were still alive, except for one.
Load More Replies... #49
Steve Wilson 4 years ago
My grandfather’s brother was one of the US soldiers who chased Pancho Villa around northern Mexico in vain.
#50
#51
#52
Maddie Star ⭐ 4 years ago
I hate the fact I didn't know what the trail of tears was. I am now educated. :(
Jo Choto 4 years ago
To have been born on the ToT your great grandmother would have had to be born between 171 and 191 years ago. I hope you see that is pretty much an impossible timeline. Even if the women in your family were giving birth at 40, you're still out nearly 100 years.
Andy Acceber 4 years ago (edited)
Trail of Tears ended around 1850. Birth of great grandma equals 1850. Birth of grandma equals 1890. Birth of mom equals 1930. Birth of poster equals 1970. This is if each woman gave birth at 40. This is definitely plausible, with plenty of wiggle room.
Load More Replies... #53
Klas Klättermus 4 years ago (edited)
It is pretty common with family stories of people being decendants of bastard children of kings. They seem to get around and contraceptions or abortions was probably not a big thing until in the 1900's. My great grandfather was such a bastard to a king, but the most interesting ancestor is perhaps Joséphine de Beauharnais or Empress Joséphine of France who was also Napoleons first wife. Some of my ancestors (her relatives) got beheaded in the French revolution, but if memory serves me right she became Empress like 10~ years after the revolution
#55
#56
ilikeplants 4 years ago
One of the Reivers? Apparently that's where most of the Scotch Irish people in the US Appalachia areas have their origin, as well!
Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
Well eventually. The Scotch Irish actually came directly from Ulster/Northern Ireland. They had come there form the borders though.
Load More Replies... #57
Sue Grigg 4 years ago
This used to be pretty common. Eric Clapton found out his sister was actually his mom and his parents were actually his grandparents.
Klas Klättermus 4 years ago
I don't think this is what happened here. It sounds like the grandfathers mom was raped by her father so that she became both mother and sister (same dad) to the grandfather.
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𝖊𝖆 4 years ago
Very young teenage girl gets pregnant, parents don’t want anyone knowing about it. So they hide her and the mother for a few months. When the baby is born, they pretend the the baby’s ‘grandmother’ is actually the baby’s mother. And just had an unexpected pregnancy later on in life. The baby’s actual ‘mother’ pretends to be the older sister, to avoid the shame of having a child out of wedlock. Happened a lot in the 50s and 60s and even 70s. Happened to a girl my mum went to school with. They only told her the truth after the grandmother, who the girl through was her mother, died.
Load More Replies... #58
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
My direct family line has veterans in EVERY SINGLE GENERATION going back 1000 years.
#62
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
...”with two small children.” Did you mean to convey they were left behind or she murdered them?
BasedWang 4 years ago
same thing I thought, but maybe its better not to clear this one up
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JP 4 years ago
Ummmm, if your great-grand mother had two children...and then killed them and then herself (murder/suicide)...how are YOU here? There is either clarifying details missing or this story was told very poorly.
Lightningstar 4 years ago (edited)
I think it means she left them behind.
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#66
#67
#69
Zoe's Mom 4 years ago
Never heard that saying before and I like it so much, with permission, I will use. ;o)
Load More Replies... Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
I would be very proud of Estee Lauder. She was a brilliant businesswoman and much lauded for her achievements.
#70
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Don't feel bad. My 2nd great grandmother was a madam. She even owned the house and had three other prostitutes that lived with her. Her name? Annie Smith. Her son had my grandfather who had my father so I am a "Smith" but I have come to believe that I can never trace that family. It's probably a fake name.
#71
Deutschland Mädchen 4 years ago
I know of two brothers who were on opposite sides. They had to fight against each other...
Brandy Grote 4 years ago (edited)
Husband's great great grandfather and his 6 sons went to Civil War. Every son died. He came home and started over, his last child December was born in 1880 when he was 70 years old.
Brandy Grote 4 years ago (edited)
My bff and I had ancestors on opposite sides of conflicts from the US Civil War back to the Wars of the Roses, lol!
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Seems my Maine family wasn't involved in the Civil War but my great grandfather (or gg?) surrendered at Appomattox. After he came home he never spoke of it. He was at Gettysburg too. My grandmother (his granddaughter) didn't even know he was in the Civil War! I found the documents with absolute proof and she was shocked. Such a nonsensical war. Sigh.
Jamie artis 4 years ago
Oh yeah so nonsensical, besides the part where it was fought for people’s freedoms
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#72
chuck.dont.surf 4 years ago
Lol..."we owned them like they were property but at least we treated them well"
Klas Klättermus 4 years ago (edited)
I mean when a country is poor and don't have wellfare, like in Sweden 100+ years ago, there were people who worked all day every day only to get the priviledge to get roof over their heads (living at the farm) and food. It pretty much covers all your needs and you don't have to starve to death outside in the cold by yourself. It didn't mean they were slaves, there was simply no way to pay them what we would consider a reasonable salary today, but they got everything they needed to survive by working. Altough in this case they were ofc formally slaves according to the OP so there is some diffrence perhaps even though they seem to have lived in pretty much the same conditions, but I mean this is how it works in poor and primitive countries. You work for basic needs and there just wasn't anything else available
Load More Replies... #73
Kathy Puls 4 years ago
My grandmother and two of her sisters married three brothers, so our family is full of double cousins.
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Yes, double cousins. My grandmother's brother married my grandfather's sister, so same here. We are extremely close to our double cousins.
Honu 4 years ago
Genetically, those first double cousins (your parent's generation) are about as related as half siblings. One of my parents was a double cousin, and the cousins were all raised in the same home, too. They were super close.
Load More Replies... Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
That was common back in the day. A lot of couples might want to double date or meet the sister/brother at functions.
#74
Mazer 4 years ago
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/2020/february/john-howland/
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#76
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
Tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family, which also includes potatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, and eggplant. 🥔🌶🍆
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
I can see why they believed that. Tomato leaves are indeed poisonous but the fruit is not.
KittyMommy 4 years ago
When they were first brought to Europe a lot of plates were made of lead. Eating highly acidic tomatoes from them leached the lead out and poisoned the eater causing the supposition tomatoes were poisonous
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#78
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Oh that reminds me! My husband's family were victims of two Indian attacks. The first was my husband's great-great grandfather. He had a farm in Texas and the Indians tried to steal some of their horses and cattle. One of the farm hands took an arrow to his chest and still managed to stop them from stealing anything. The man survived and the gg-grandfather was forever in his debt. The second one was much more tragic. One of the cousins from the same farm family was a young girl. She was at the school house that was in a remote area. The school house was a cabin without any chinking between the logs, so Indians surrounded the school and began making calls at the children. The Teacher opened a hatch to get the children under the floor and all the while she was taking arrows. If I recall she managed to get all the children under the floor before she collapsed, but there was a gap in the back or something. One of the Indians pulled my husband's cousin out from under the school and the girl
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
the girl went running as fast as she could while the Indians watched. They ended up just leaving, without hurting the children. However, the children remained under the school, afraid to come out and the cousin hid by a creek not far away. Eventually the parents realized the kids weren't coming home and so they sent an Uncle of my husbands out to check to see where they were. The cousin though, the little girl, never talked again until she was an adult and refused to discuss what happened. She was very traumatized. Sad story.
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#80
#82
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
For a moment there I thought you were related to Anderson Cooper, and then I remembered his family was Vanderbilt, not Biltmore.
#83
#84
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Sam was fighting for justice of his brother, which it sounds like his brother's lynching was unjust. Reminds me of how the Jesse and Frank James family got started. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Jesse and Frank worked with Sam. As for the Nazi thing, many were forced into it or brainwashed into it. It's hard to imagine how these things happen, but is no reflection on you.
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
I tried to find Sam Hildebrand in Wikipedia but met with no success...please enlighten me!
Zoe's Mom 4 years ago
Google the name and you'll get more information. BP wouldn't let me copy the link.
Load More Replies... Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
"This so-called “Big River Bushwhacker” was a mighty bad man, and an angry one too. Confederate sympathizers called Sam Hildebrand a Rob Roy, a freedom fighter; Union supporters vilified him as a ruthless murderer."
#85
Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
I read about that on Wikipedia. That is a tragic story! It's the kind that makes you question humanity. At least y'all don't suffer from the same demons your great aunt did.
#86
Tim Douglass 4 years ago
There is no one "guy" who invented mass-produced consumer products, and the industrial revolution was the product of thousands of people in many different places, so I'm going to cast some doubt on this particular story.
Klas Klättermus 4 years ago
I know right? Many of these posts seems to be fake cries for attention
Load More Replies... #87
Tobias Rieper 4 years ago (edited)
we celebrate july the 4th in UK as the day we kicked you out of the empire just kidding we love our american cousins
M O'Connell 4 years ago
We share common enemies: Parliament, and the king.
Load More Replies... Cindy Lloyd 4 years ago
Ah that reminds me. I have two patriots. One was the founder of a town in North Carolina who met Ponce de Leon and the other was a German immigrant whose Savannah house was taken from him and used as a barn by the Brits. Then when he ambushed some Brits they went to one of the squares in Savannah and read his name from a scroll announcing that he was an enemy of the state. Damn proud of their service, as I know you are.
#89
Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
Forgive me for being dumb, but what is NA? Do you mean North America? If so, I've just never seen it abbreviated.
Klas Klättermus 4 years ago (edited)
Interesting argument. But I bet his family have not "kept it in the family" for 400 years, meaning that that far back your ancestry tree is pretty wide (if it is not all incest) and probably ALOT more of your relatives/ancestors had not yet arrived to america by then!
Enlee Jones 4 years ago
I’m not 100% sure of this, but anyway….my mother’s side of the family is full of Mormons and we’re somehow related to Joseph Smith. The founder of LuLaRoe, DeAnne Stidham, is the great great great granddaughter of Joseph Smith’s brother Hyrum. So I might be related to the founder of a Mormon leggings cult.
Isabel Care 4 years ago
My grandma said her aunt ran off to marry Joseph Smith. The family lived in Lewes East Sussex and the aunt was the black sheep before she left. Don't know if the marriage happened, or if she just left the country
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#90
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
He is doing a great job during an impossible time!
Load More Replies... #91
Kristin Ingersoll 4 years ago
I just went and called her out on Twitter. That's BS.
Load More Replies... Tobias Rieper 4 years ago
someone lying on the internet hmm i have heard about this but never thought i would see it or read it
Load More Replies... #92
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What do you think ?
Mad Mar 4 years ago
I can trace my family tree back to 1600s. I'm related (through moms side) to both Harriet Beecher Stowe an Francis Scott Key. Great great great grand aunt and cousin in law resp.
Robert T 4 years ago
My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a clergyman and my parents moved to the same village that he had been the vicar - his name appears on a board in the porch of the current church. My parents didn't know this before they moved there. For several generations the family were farmers some 20 miles away, living on a number of farms in that area, so it was quite a discovery to find someone who wasn't a famer!
Patti Vance 4 years ago
most recent notable in family history is my grandmother who started out being a nurse. got bored w/traditional nursing & went into psychiatric nursing, working at back-then posh sanitariums for rich/famous who were suffering mental issues or drying out from drugs/alcohol. she was black belt judo which she said she needed at times. then, one patient knocked the crap out of her, almost killing her. she left nursing went into early computers, eventually worked on team that developed the bar code scanner. every time i shop i think of her.
Steffen Rehm 4 years ago
I would love to tell a story, but my Family is so broken, we don´t talk to each other. I don´t know nothing about my grands.
Tee Witt 4 years ago
Easy to find out if you know your parents full names and where they lived. But how far back? I am stuck in 1700 although I have easy access to the original records.
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not your average weirdo 4 years ago
My many times great grandfather on my mom's side discovered that potatoes could be eaten. His name was Antoine Augustin Parmentier.
Lou Cam 4 years ago
Thanks to your long gone ancestor or we'd never know the joy of eating chips (fries).
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ADHORTATOR 4 years ago (edited)
My italian grandfather was injured in WWI as a kid when the Austrian army fired shells on his village, he almost lost a leg. So he was unable for military service in WWII...the government sent him to Somalia where he fell ill with malaria. After the return to Italy, he was sent to Germany against his will to work in the armament industry. He organised a shoe-trade with his german supervisors so he could go twice a year back to Italy to get the shoes made by his friend, the local shoemaker. I still have his old passports with all the stamps of border crossing. My german great-grandfather was a member of the Nazi-Party and was probably killed in 1944 in Poland by the Soviets. He was a kind of administrator...
Nazda Pokmov 4 years ago
My great grandmother came over from Ireland as a penniless spinster at age 39 in the late 1800's. She married a Pennsylvania man, had 9 kids and lived to be over 100. I have a pic of her holding me as a baby.
Julia Atkinson 4 years ago
My 3xgreat grandfather was baptized in Haworth by the Revd Patrick Bronte, father of the three literary sisters; my great-great-aunt Amelia Edwards married the illegitimate son of Rosamond Dixie, a baronet's daughter whose brother Alexander was married to Lady Florence Douglas, sister of the notorious Marquess of Queensbury.
Mad Mar 4 years ago
I can trace my family tree back to 1600s. I'm related (through moms side) to both Harriet Beecher Stowe an Francis Scott Key. Great great great grand aunt and cousin in law resp.
Robert T 4 years ago
My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a clergyman and my parents moved to the same village that he had been the vicar - his name appears on a board in the porch of the current church. My parents didn't know this before they moved there. For several generations the family were farmers some 20 miles away, living on a number of farms in that area, so it was quite a discovery to find someone who wasn't a famer!
Patti Vance 4 years ago
most recent notable in family history is my grandmother who started out being a nurse. got bored w/traditional nursing & went into psychiatric nursing, working at back-then posh sanitariums for rich/famous who were suffering mental issues or drying out from drugs/alcohol. she was black belt judo which she said she needed at times. then, one patient knocked the crap out of her, almost killing her. she left nursing went into early computers, eventually worked on team that developed the bar code scanner. every time i shop i think of her.
Steffen Rehm 4 years ago
I would love to tell a story, but my Family is so broken, we don´t talk to each other. I don´t know nothing about my grands.
Tee Witt 4 years ago
Easy to find out if you know your parents full names and where they lived. But how far back? I am stuck in 1700 although I have easy access to the original records.
Load More Replies... not your average weirdo 4 years ago
My many times great grandfather on my mom's side discovered that potatoes could be eaten. His name was Antoine Augustin Parmentier.
Lou Cam 4 years ago
Thanks to your long gone ancestor or we'd never know the joy of eating chips (fries).
Load More Replies... ADHORTATOR 4 years ago (edited)
My italian grandfather was injured in WWI as a kid when the Austrian army fired shells on his village, he almost lost a leg. So he was unable for military service in WWII...the government sent him to Somalia where he fell ill with malaria. After the return to Italy, he was sent to Germany against his will to work in the armament industry. He organised a shoe-trade with his german supervisors so he could go twice a year back to Italy to get the shoes made by his friend, the local shoemaker. I still have his old passports with all the stamps of border crossing. My german great-grandfather was a member of the Nazi-Party and was probably killed in 1944 in Poland by the Soviets. He was a kind of administrator...
Nazda Pokmov 4 years ago
My great grandmother came over from Ireland as a penniless spinster at age 39 in the late 1800's. She married a Pennsylvania man, had 9 kids and lived to be over 100. I have a pic of her holding me as a baby.
Julia Atkinson 4 years ago
My 3xgreat grandfather was baptized in Haworth by the Revd Patrick Bronte, father of the three literary sisters; my great-great-aunt Amelia Edwards married the illegitimate son of Rosamond Dixie, a baronet's daughter whose brother Alexander was married to Lady Florence Douglas, sister of the notorious Marquess of Queensbury.
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