• Interesting shit about your family line/history
    79 replies, posted
I've been told by my family that I'm supposedly a distant, distant relative of Robert the Bruce on my mother's side, but I've no idea how accurate that is personally. I do know that one of my great-great-(etc.) grandfathers married a native american woman back in the 1800s-era American Southwest (though I don't have a high enough percentage of NA blood to qualify as a Native American, nor do I know the tribe). Additionally, one of my grandfathers served as a Merchant Marine in WWII.
If you believe my dad, my mother's side of the family arrived in the US on a ship full of prostitutes. That must count for something.
I'm related to both Lewis AND Clark by blood. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition]The people who did this, if you forgot/didn't know.[/url] The tree I was given was complicated and I've since lost it, I can't seem to find it again but it had some of my relatives in it and was last updated at my great grandparents on my mother's side.
My great uncle escaped a nazi death camp by acting mentally disabled. Got home just before Christmas and still managed to buy his kids presents.
My grandpa on my dad's side was part of some wealthy household in China but his father ended up blowing all the money on opium. His mother took him away to go live with her brother, now her brother was at some point some kind of pirate raiding boats coming in and out of Hong Kong. Apparently he lived long enough to hold me right after I was born, apparently he was proud because I'm the youngest and only male to carry on the family name so no pressure.
My great grandmother's life was spared by a german officer because she was pregnant.
My great grand uncle from my mother's side was apparently a mobster in Amsterdam. Not sure what kind of crimes he was involved in, but he ended up getting assassinated during a party.
My family line use to be aristocrats in Germany at some point in the 19th century but went broke or lost everything and moved to America, before they left a renown painter they befriended made them a portrait as a gift (which I still have) One of my ancestors had millions of dollars of land and lost it all in a card game later at some point, its now one of the most luxurious suburbs in Minnesota :v:.
I am distantly related to Valdemar Sejer, a guy that used to be king of Denmark. My grandpa worked at an arms factory as a blacksmith and my great grandpa apparently worked in a german war plane factory under WWII.
[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;51416913]I am distantly related to Valdemar Sejer, a guy that used to be king of Denmark. My grandpa worked at an arms factory as a blacksmith and my great grandpa apparently worked in a german war plane factory under WWII.[/QUOTE] Well its time for you to lead the empire
umm my great-grandfather died by slipping on a small toy car before I was born that's about it I'm afraid
can't remember who exactly, but someone in my family tree did get knighted fairly sure there's more but i can't remember much else
Before my mum and my aunt were born, and before it was illegal not to wear helmets on bikes, my grandfather decided to play it safe by wearing a helmet when he went out on his motorbike one day. He got run over by a car, and there was a long, black tyre mark on his helmet. Obviously he would have died that day if it wasn't for that motorcycle helmet.
Grandmother lived in Russian, and grandfather lived in Britain. My grandmother decided became a refugee due to communism or something. I don't really know, never really cared to ask why. Grandfather was born right after WWII. So no "ran away and become Rambo" kind of deal. They both met and fell in love. Moved to America cause; fuck yeah freedom. Had a baby, also known as dad. Dad met some women who was polish (my mother), married each other. Here I am. Also probably related to Constantine Pavlovich.
My entire lineage on my dad's side has been dirt poor and drunk scotch irish since the 1700s. Just keeping up the family tradition.
I went and asked my mom about anything interested about her side of the family and she told me her grandfather was a Red Latvian Rifleman who often times was arms length from Lenin. He didn't get purged by Stalin because he went back home and spent his days as a farmer instead of a career in politics, like many of his friends did.
I'm actually related (loosely) to President Garfield. It kind of goes like this: [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/jxbKG4R.png[/thumb]
Well, one of my grandfather's brothers was a pretty renowned linguist (probably about as renowned as they come), and my mom's father became the youngest mayor in Sweden ever - don't know if he would still hold that record, though. Oh, and my grandfather's father's brother is pretty ""well-known"" for collecting a large amount of classical sheet music.
Couple things. My family on my Mother's side (her father's) are all descended from bluebloods from England. One of which was a Reverend who crossed over to America and later became key in founding Maine, particularly Cape Elizabeth. Our family museum is there and my Mother is itching to take me there. Records on him coming over are difficult to acquire since in those days you needed the King's permission to leave. and he just up and went. Which is also odd considering that as a Reverend in England you were pretty tight/bff with the King and the aristocracy. Apparently we lost our land over something monumentally stupid ie. not renewing papers and such. Mom also traced back a family member in the old days in England who was a bookseller, and she herself runs a book/record store. Life is funny like that. Also my Grandmother was a bit of a shady gangster I found out recently. My grandfather after WWII was stationed in Japan in the army for logistics/running the PX, and also served as the driver for a general. He met her when she was a receptionist at a car dealership that the general wanted to visit and they ht it off. After they got close, apparently she started swiping cartons of cigarettes and selling them off to the locals super cheap and made a ton of money. She ended up living in a huge house outside Tokyo I think, complete with servants. It got to the point where people started asking questions. I dunno how she didn't get caught doing it. I'd ask more about it but it's sort of hush hush in the family. My grandfather on my dad's side was a Marine at Okinawa. During a firefight he was shot in the side of the stomach and passed out. They said they found him with a Scorpion living inside of his wound, and when he came to a chaplain was giving him his last rites. Let's just say it was awkward when he and my grandmother from mom's side met when my parents married. Also her father/my great grandfather was a famous Banjo player named [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP8LcT-opIA]Takashi Tsunoda[/url]. (He's at 3:39 in the video jamming out).
I only know that my family line from my father's side started around 1600. I'm currently the 14th generation of it. Edit: I found my family tree book. 1600 - 1993. It got alot of pages but awesome to know that this book got assembled with each generation in it and it's info.
When my grandfather from my mothers side (deceased by now) was young, his father got shot in the stomach during the Winter War (Talvisota) and ran into a medic tent by himself. There they thought he wasn't hurt bad because, you know, he fucking ran there by himself and in their hurry shoved him to lie somewhere. He died from his wounds before he got any help. But he was pretty metal.
[url]http://www.thecnj.com/islington/2009/010209/inews010209_16.html[/url] This was my great uncle, he was a PC in the MET who was stabbed by one of the last people to be hung in the UK, his case was a pretty big reason as to why the UK doesn't have capital punishment anymore My family has a fairly big history around Whitstable/Faversham areas of Kent, where my dad was bought up. According to my uncles and grandparents my family was one of the largest in the town, and often feuded with another family known as the Swans; being the 50's-60's it was a little like the movie "legend" from the stories I have heard. Aside from that, my grandfather who I have never met was a chauffeur in london during the 70's for the King of Saudi Arabia at the time, with my father often having to look after the prince every morning. My family later moved to Austria where they lived in Tyrol for a few years with my father working on the lauterbrunnen ski slopes. Being a fairly messed up teen over there he stole a car and crashed it in a coffee shop, so he served a couple of years in Innsbruck whilst learning how to make lampshades. (I will always cherish growing up with my father teaching me broken german/austrian chat up lines) [editline]28th November 2016[/editline] Also that same grandfather who I never met ended up leaving my grandma and becoming a photographer/model which is pretty cool to me as thats the stuff I do now, only he also had a pet monkey who got stuck up a chimney. so they had to pull the 12 bore out :v: I have shit tons of photos, need to go back and have a look through them all again
My great great aunt was on the Titanic. She was about 9 at the time and found her way to a lifeboat but when it was getting lowered it got caught on the ropes. They didn't know how to release themselves from the ropes but she had a pocket knife her grandmother gave her to remember her by right before she boarded the boat. A deckhand was able to use the pocket knife to cut the ropes and save everyone on the lifeboat.
One of my ancestors on my father's side was a British loyalist who was hung by the Americans during the war of 1812. My Great-Grandfather was a logging baron who helped build up a town and once owned an absolute shit-ton of land. During the Great Depression, his business was one of the few still thriving, and so he (a philanthropist and devout protestant christian) employed people who would otherwise have no work. Even if they weren't working in his mill, he'd still pay people so that they could feed their families. When he died, they went over his books and found that virtually the entire town owed him money. However, he stipulated in his will that all of his debts were to be forgiven. My family's professions have been largely teachers, gunsmiths, priests, and woodsmen.
mines not easy to trace being that I'm a mutt of Cajun, Berber, Native American, and German origins, basically all we can gather is what the older people of the family remember. my German lineage is the only thing vaguely traceable and even then not all that far back. the best I got is that my great grandparents on one side had 20 kids and 23 kids on another, so about 8% of the local population is second cousin or closer. add in law relationships and half the damn south is related to me.
We came here from DEEEEEEUTSCHLAND and set up a farm in South Dakota like 80-100 years ago, just like everyone else p. much. My family is so detached from the heritage that we don't really even pronounce our last name right (I don't really bother correcting them either since w/e.) I actually don't know if they know what was beforehand, I should try asking sometime.
My father was in the Slovenian branch of JLA (Yugoslav People's Army) and was later in TO (Territorial Defense of Slovenia) during the Slovenian War of Independence in the artillery and was also in Iraq as a air conditioning engineer. That's p. much about it.
One Grandfather was the last Hangman in Cheshire (Also possibly the North of England) Another Grandfather did general labour and worked on the construction of the Titanic, which he clearly fucked right up.
My step-grandfather worked on Whirlwind way back when. My great uncle Ed owned the firm that designed the expansion to the Moore City Airport in oklahoma.
My Great-Uncle killed his nazi friend in some bar in Berlin, and then stole his uniform and weapons before running off to GBR. He gave it all to my father before he passed. Still probably tucked away back at home somewhere. My grandparents (mothers side) lived in Missouri in Walter Disney's house (when Walt was a kid at the time) after his family moved out. They redid the wallpaper after finding Walts drawings on some of the walls. My family has a weird history.
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