bonnielass

My maternal family has a man who is on the patent for the Curlash Eyelash Curler. My paternal family cannot be traced beyond my grandfather as when he was a child his biological father died and he was adopted by another man when the man married his mother. When he was in his sixites, he found he had a sister (she was given up for adoption when the mother remarried as this was about 1900 and the baby girl was not the new father's child). My husband is a direct decendent of John and Prissilla Alden of the Mayflower, but he is also a decendent of Native Americans, so he says that as one side got off the Mayflower the other side charged a docking fee.

echoemb

I have a Goodrich in my family and I have traced them to England. Haven't gotten much further yet. Working on it though. Maybe we are related??

echoemb

On my fathers side my GGfather came over from Germany with a brother I think. They settled in Colorado and worked to save money to bring the girlfriend over. My GGfather's brother went to work in the mines either in Colorado or Wyoming and was later murdered. GGFathers girlfriend came over and 3 years later they were married and bought a section of land. Raised 10 kids there. My Grandmother on this side of the family was here since the 1600's being in Mass and eventually came to Colorado by way of Iowa/Ohio. My GGfather died of gangrene from being stepped on by a horse.

On my mother's side, one side goes back to England, the other side was in the US since the 1600's.

I have relatives that have fought in the Rev. War/ Civil War, WWI and WWII. I even have relatives who fought against each other in WWII. That was the weird part knowing that my relatives in Germany fought relatives from the US.

Having researched alot of my family history the thing that I think about is the hardships and the difficulties in traveling, and just living. They all had tons of kids and worked hard and played hard. I never saw my grandmother in pants. She worked outside in the garden, hung clothes on the line, canned, cooked on a wood stove, never had indoor plumbing (until I was 13 years old), only had electricity for 15 years before moving into town in the late 1906's and all of this in a dress!! I can't even tell you the last time I had a dress on.

Just a thought.

Cosy

In the 1700's, one of my ancestors was hung for stealing slaves: he was helping slaves get to Canada where the slaves would be freed.
Winston Churchill is my 6th cousin.
Lady Godiva is on my direct line, as is William Wallace of Scotland
My Greatgrand father owned the land Fort Douglas near Salt lake City is on.
My 4th greatgrandfather invented an odometer used in covered wagons.
Another 5th ggf walked across the plains to emigrate to Salt Lake City when he was 73. He came with his son's family that included 3 children under 4.

My mother in law lived in the back hills of Kentucky, they made moonshine, 3 girls shared 2 dress and 1 pair of shoes(they wore overalls and boots for everyday): really lived just like the stories of hillbillys. She and my father in law wrote letters to each other, and didn't actually meet until a week before the wedding. They were married for more than 50 years, until Mother died, he never remarried and died 5 years after her.

My parents met when Dad was dating Mom's roommate. Mom told her roommate to give it up, SHE wanted him! 35years later, (unbeknownst to me at the time) I married the roommates cousin!
My father in law was kidnapped by Pancho Villa, and lived with his army for several months. He thought it was a great adventure.

My ancestors and my husbands ancestors were on opposite sides of the Revolutionary War, and probably met on at least 2 battlefields. The same is true of the Civil War: both were at Gettysburg and Shiloh.
I could write books.
.

Wendy54

I am a direct decedent of Mary Chilton, from the Mayflower. Still rambling through British records to locate relatives further back.

katykwilt

I've spotted several remarks about Jesse James -- who saved my paternal GF's life. According to my uncle and father, GF Fleming was a cowhand riding trail somewhere between TX and MT. Jesse would occasionally like to "lay low" and would join them on the trail under an assumed name. One day Jesse, another cowboy and Grampa Ben were scouting, went over a hill and surprised a band of Indians about to attack a small homestead. According to Grampa, Jesse had his gun out long before the other two did -- literally saving them by being so quick. Gramps was born in 1858, trailed cattle in his younger days, worked as cattle inspector in what is now the Dakotas (inspected herds being sold to the Souix on reservations to prevent miscounting and diseased animals being sold), new Sitting Bull and several other chiefs, and finally homesteaded in MT. Married in 1980's to his 16 yr old wife and had 12 children. 3 were boys named: William McKinley, Benjamin Franklin, and Theodore R (for Robert). I guess I could say I'm descended from Benjamin Franklin.

RkayD

I have had a great time reading all the family history. Thank you for starting it! family history has always been so fascinating to me. The one thing I've wanted in my life is deep roots and its the one thing I can't really have. I don't know my biological father..all I have is a name of my birth certificate. Ronald Eugene Douglas born in 1942 in KS and he was a welder. I was born 2 mths premature and when she called to tell him..His mom told her they didn't want to know and not to bother them again. Talk about heartbreak. It took her along time to finally tell me that..she had told me that they were married and he just didn't want kids. On my mom's side I have traced the family back to Virginia and Alabama & Arkansas. They were farmers and cotton pickers...went to California during the depression. True Okie's =) There is also rumored to be a Cherokee Princess in the line but no one knows anything. I definitely have Indian somewhere. My great grandma was a quilter and my grandma was a quilter..it was something we shared although I didn't "understand" until it was too late. I have my grandma's quilt tops and some of her last sand paper templates and the book she was working on when the dementia took over. Among her quilting stuff I got when she passed last February is a bow tie quilt block in yellow & brown with her name embroidered on it. I will forever treasure it. This picture is my grandparents...Gertrude & Bill..aren't they fabulous?? I had never seen this picture until my Gram's memorial...I just LOVE it!

maryb119

The first person in My paternal gm's side of the family was born in Delaware in 1756. He fought in the Revolutionary War. Yes, my gm was a member fo the DAR and the Eastern Star. On my mom's side, we have a duke or earl somewhere way back in England. There is also Cherokee on the same side.

Catlady

my great grandmother was full blooded cherokee. She had seven husbands, never divorced one of them. THey
all died of natural causes while married to her. Family used to tell her she was really rough on her men.

Sheila_H

On my mothers side my great grandmother lived to be 106 died short of her 107 she remained in her family home in Galway, Ireland. She is related to the Power's Whiskey family (now has been replaced by Jamieson now), her husband at the time work closely with Michael Collins. My grandmother worked in the Guinness factory when she was a teenager before getting on a boat and moving to Canada where she fell in love with a man that was going off to fight in WWII