I Researched My Family Ancestry
****This is a long one but I think it's really fascinating****
Well, not on my own or anything but over time people have pieced things together. It's a pretty big family so there's been a lot of work put in over the years. And while I don't place any real significance on anyone's heritage most of the time, especially my own, I still think it can be a really fascinating with some people if there's a whole bunch of crazy history in their family. So here's a brief rundown of where all four of my grandparents came from:
Paternal Grandmother - One of her ancestors predates even the sailing of the Mayflower and settled in what would become Virginia in 1605. The family heirlooms as it were included a musket used in the American Revolution and a rifle used in the American Civil War. Dunno what happened to them after she died but I did manage to get the documents where one of my ancestors that was part of the Confederate forces that occupied Fort Sumter was requesting more boots for his men to hold off the Yankees. So that's pretty nifty.
Paternal Grandfather - Nobody actually knows what [i]his[/i] father's name was because he only went by just his initials. But my grandpa's name is an old family name (which is also my name. I'm like the ninth one now or something) that was the surname of whatever British lord owned what was supposed to have been our land back in Ireland before we got sick of that nonsense and bounced in the late 19th century. Also Grandpa helped to found a college and used to testify before Congress regularly trying to raise money for literacy and basic education programs for adults. Back then if you didn't go to school as a child and learn to read and write you'd have to teach yourself because there wouldn't be any place for you as an adult. Since he was born in 1914 in the absolute dirt poor rural south "[i]didn't[/i] go to school as a child" generally meant "[i]couldn't[/i] go to school as a child" because the school district only had enough money to build schools for the white kids despite the fact that almost half the people that lived there were black. Grandpa really, [i]really[/i] hated racism.
Maternal Grandmother - Her maiden name is Lee. As in "Robert E." Needless to say I've found myself in some very, [i]very[/i] strange situations between her and my other grandmother's families. Once I ended up in a graveyard with family members I had known for years in full Confederate battle dress, actual cannons being fired, and everyone singing Dixie to "honor our fallen heroes of our family" or some such nonsense. Don't think I've [i]ever[/i] felt more out of place. The word "surreal" doesn't even come close to whatever the hell that was.
Maternal Grandfather - Nothing all that interesting with him, really. He was a Waccamaw and died when I was too young to remember him.
Anyhoo...that's my story. Hope it made for an interesting read. :-)
Well, not on my own or anything but over time people have pieced things together. It's a pretty big family so there's been a lot of work put in over the years. And while I don't place any real significance on anyone's heritage most of the time, especially my own, I still think it can be a really fascinating with some people if there's a whole bunch of crazy history in their family. So here's a brief rundown of where all four of my grandparents came from:
Paternal Grandmother - One of her ancestors predates even the sailing of the Mayflower and settled in what would become Virginia in 1605. The family heirlooms as it were included a musket used in the American Revolution and a rifle used in the American Civil War. Dunno what happened to them after she died but I did manage to get the documents where one of my ancestors that was part of the Confederate forces that occupied Fort Sumter was requesting more boots for his men to hold off the Yankees. So that's pretty nifty.
Paternal Grandfather - Nobody actually knows what [i]his[/i] father's name was because he only went by just his initials. But my grandpa's name is an old family name (which is also my name. I'm like the ninth one now or something) that was the surname of whatever British lord owned what was supposed to have been our land back in Ireland before we got sick of that nonsense and bounced in the late 19th century. Also Grandpa helped to found a college and used to testify before Congress regularly trying to raise money for literacy and basic education programs for adults. Back then if you didn't go to school as a child and learn to read and write you'd have to teach yourself because there wouldn't be any place for you as an adult. Since he was born in 1914 in the absolute dirt poor rural south "[i]didn't[/i] go to school as a child" generally meant "[i]couldn't[/i] go to school as a child" because the school district only had enough money to build schools for the white kids despite the fact that almost half the people that lived there were black. Grandpa really, [i]really[/i] hated racism.
Maternal Grandmother - Her maiden name is Lee. As in "Robert E." Needless to say I've found myself in some very, [i]very[/i] strange situations between her and my other grandmother's families. Once I ended up in a graveyard with family members I had known for years in full Confederate battle dress, actual cannons being fired, and everyone singing Dixie to "honor our fallen heroes of our family" or some such nonsense. Don't think I've [i]ever[/i] felt more out of place. The word "surreal" doesn't even come close to whatever the hell that was.
Maternal Grandfather - Nothing all that interesting with him, really. He was a Waccamaw and died when I was too young to remember him.
Anyhoo...that's my story. Hope it made for an interesting read. :-)
36-40, T
