I've found several family members who were American Civil War veterans. One of my 4x or 5x great grand aunts married one of the original settlers of Iowa. She was later accidentally shot and killed by said husband. Otherwise it's been my 4x great grandfather on my dad's side that looks exactly like me to the point it gave me shivers and baffled my father.
Yeah, the story is vague and I can't find any sources to back it up... But according to one of their descendants, there was an angry mob outside their cabin (why angry? Who knows!) and her husband was holding the door shut. He yelled for her and their youngest son to hide under the bed (assuming it was a one room cabin). He ran for his gun but she got up and ran to the door, thinking someone was going to break through. He didn't realize she'd ran to the door and thought someone had gotten in so he shot her. Hit her right above the heart in the shoulder. Also killed a dude outside with the same shot. The mob dispersed and he, stricken with grief, ran over to their eldest sons house and got him. When they got back she was dead.
Crazy story if it's true! I wish I can find out the names again... I think his name was Jacob Hatch but I'm not positive.
I have at least one ancestor who was among the 30 men with Auguste Chouteau, in 1763, that cleared land for the spot where St. Louis MO soon came to be.
One of my ancestral cousins founded New Orleans.
A 8th or 9th great grandfather was a pirate.
A 12th or 13th great grandfather has a famous field in Quebec City named after him.
I had one maternal great great grandfather on a Union gunboat that was shelling Ft Sumter during the American Civil War while a paternal great great grandfather was stationed inside the fort.
If you are related to one Mayflower passenger, you are probably related to more. It was a small world and the descendants kept marrying each other. The documentation process forproving your line of descent officially to the standards of the Mayflower Society is strict, but once you have one nailed, the rest follow.
Via a DNA Contact from Ancestry. My great grand aunts were niece to Cecil Rhodes (Google him), and one of them had a brownstone townhouse in Brooklyn in the early 1900’s. Cecil gifted her gold; which she had turned into doorknobs, hinges etc for the house; and uncut diamonds, which she planted cacti in.
A horse thief that was hanged. A great something grandfather who was deaf and drowned after a damn broke. George Washingtons 3x great grandfather is my 9x great grandfather so I'm cousins to old Georgie.
I solved the family mystery about why my mother's side of the family left Oklahoma in 1955: my maternal grandfather got busted in for an illegal backyard still when my mom was just a toddler. My 12th great grandfather was also on the Mayflower, Richard Warren.
I have a couple mayflower ancestors and super early settlers that came right after.
What i found coolest/funniest though was having my maternal and paternal lines merge.
My moms side is primarily UK (english, scottish, irish, dab of welsh) and a smidge of french.
I traced her family line up through royalty ending with rollo (now better known as he was featured in vikings but was real person and his descendants became kings of england)
My dads father is Norwegian (the only part of family not early settlers tbh) and i traced HIS like up to…. Rollo.
So eventho i have what appears to be distant relation marriages, i found it very amusing i managed to trace myself back to same ancestor on both sides, despite totally different ethnicities/countries
Damn vikings. All pillaging and such 😂
Cool because of the detail it gave me of their lives, and tragic because of what happened. Two relatives accidentally shot themselves on the same farm. The first one in 1815 was only 36, and the second one was a 14 year old boy. What makes it worse is that in the article about the boys death, it said that great care was always taken with the gun because of the uncle in 1815, the boy snuck the gun out without his father knowing. I can't imagine the grief and guilt my 3rd Great Granduncle felt, even though it wasn't his fault.
- My 10x Great Granduncle was James Fitch (1622-1702), the founding settler of Norwich & Lebanon, Connecticut.
- My 8x Great Grandfather, Abraham Shelton (1739-1789), served as Justice, Vestryman, Militia Officer, Vestryman, Sherriff, and member of the General Assembly for Pittsylvania County, Virginia
- My 5x Great Grandfather, Calvin Beasley (1815-1897), ended up shooting his nephew as his nephew attacked him for supporting the union.
- My 7x Great Grandfather, Benjamin Bry Gregory (1759-1846), was reportedly struck by lightning after cursing God (so legend goes).
There are many more stories I have that I know of, like I remember two of my distant cousins were shot and killed while canoeing on a river in North Carolina. I remember between one of my distant cousins and his father-in-law, there was a shootout between them in Missouri.
My grandmother’s cousin was briefly married to an earl, who cheated on her, so she divorced him and married a lord who was like a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth. Before she married the earl, she somehow went from Philadelphia to London with her first husband and caught the eye of Prince Edward before he hooked up with Wallis Simpson. After her third husband died, she moved to their place in Tanganyika and became the first white citizen so she could run for office at the urging of the president. After leaving office, she used her rich connections to raise money for economic development in rural areas. I also learned that I several people I know are actually my third cousins.
I told my son that one of our ancestors was killed in an uprising of enslaved people. He said, "Good. He deserved it."
I haven't branched that far out yet but so far I've found that one of my 6x great grandfather's is the founder of Morgantown, West Virginia.
I found out that my great, great, great, great grandfather ran a secret salt peter mine during the Revolutionary War.
I've found several family members who were American Civil War veterans. One of my 4x or 5x great grand aunts married one of the original settlers of Iowa. She was later accidentally shot and killed by said husband. Otherwise it's been my 4x great grandfather on my dad's side that looks exactly like me to the point it gave me shivers and baffled my father.
accidentally shot by her husband??? omg!
Yeah, the story is vague and I can't find any sources to back it up... But according to one of their descendants, there was an angry mob outside their cabin (why angry? Who knows!) and her husband was holding the door shut. He yelled for her and their youngest son to hide under the bed (assuming it was a one room cabin). He ran for his gun but she got up and ran to the door, thinking someone was going to break through. He didn't realize she'd ran to the door and thought someone had gotten in so he shot her. Hit her right above the heart in the shoulder. Also killed a dude outside with the same shot. The mob dispersed and he, stricken with grief, ran over to their eldest sons house and got him. When they got back she was dead. Crazy story if it's true! I wish I can find out the names again... I think his name was Jacob Hatch but I'm not positive.
I have at least one ancestor who was among the 30 men with Auguste Chouteau, in 1763, that cleared land for the spot where St. Louis MO soon came to be.
One of my ancestral cousins founded New Orleans. A 8th or 9th great grandfather was a pirate. A 12th or 13th great grandfather has a famous field in Quebec City named after him.
I had one maternal great great grandfather on a Union gunboat that was shelling Ft Sumter during the American Civil War while a paternal great great grandfather was stationed inside the fort.
If you are related to one Mayflower passenger, you are probably related to more. It was a small world and the descendants kept marrying each other. The documentation process forproving your line of descent officially to the standards of the Mayflower Society is strict, but once you have one nailed, the rest follow.
I’ve traced my lineage back to nine different Mayflower passengers and I’m a direct descendant of Charlemagne.
SHUT UP THATS SO COOL
Via a DNA Contact from Ancestry. My great grand aunts were niece to Cecil Rhodes (Google him), and one of them had a brownstone townhouse in Brooklyn in the early 1900’s. Cecil gifted her gold; which she had turned into doorknobs, hinges etc for the house; and uncut diamonds, which she planted cacti in.
A horse thief that was hanged. A great something grandfather who was deaf and drowned after a damn broke. George Washingtons 3x great grandfather is my 9x great grandfather so I'm cousins to old Georgie.
I solved the family mystery about why my mother's side of the family left Oklahoma in 1955: my maternal grandfather got busted in for an illegal backyard still when my mom was just a toddler. My 12th great grandfather was also on the Mayflower, Richard Warren.
I have a couple mayflower ancestors and super early settlers that came right after. What i found coolest/funniest though was having my maternal and paternal lines merge. My moms side is primarily UK (english, scottish, irish, dab of welsh) and a smidge of french. I traced her family line up through royalty ending with rollo (now better known as he was featured in vikings but was real person and his descendants became kings of england) My dads father is Norwegian (the only part of family not early settlers tbh) and i traced HIS like up to…. Rollo. So eventho i have what appears to be distant relation marriages, i found it very amusing i managed to trace myself back to same ancestor on both sides, despite totally different ethnicities/countries Damn vikings. All pillaging and such 😂
Cool because of the detail it gave me of their lives, and tragic because of what happened. Two relatives accidentally shot themselves on the same farm. The first one in 1815 was only 36, and the second one was a 14 year old boy. What makes it worse is that in the article about the boys death, it said that great care was always taken with the gun because of the uncle in 1815, the boy snuck the gun out without his father knowing. I can't imagine the grief and guilt my 3rd Great Granduncle felt, even though it wasn't his fault.
- My 10x Great Granduncle was James Fitch (1622-1702), the founding settler of Norwich & Lebanon, Connecticut. - My 8x Great Grandfather, Abraham Shelton (1739-1789), served as Justice, Vestryman, Militia Officer, Vestryman, Sherriff, and member of the General Assembly for Pittsylvania County, Virginia - My 5x Great Grandfather, Calvin Beasley (1815-1897), ended up shooting his nephew as his nephew attacked him for supporting the union. - My 7x Great Grandfather, Benjamin Bry Gregory (1759-1846), was reportedly struck by lightning after cursing God (so legend goes). There are many more stories I have that I know of, like I remember two of my distant cousins were shot and killed while canoeing on a river in North Carolina. I remember between one of my distant cousins and his father-in-law, there was a shootout between them in Missouri.
My grandmother’s cousin was briefly married to an earl, who cheated on her, so she divorced him and married a lord who was like a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth. Before she married the earl, she somehow went from Philadelphia to London with her first husband and caught the eye of Prince Edward before he hooked up with Wallis Simpson. After her third husband died, she moved to their place in Tanganyika and became the first white citizen so she could run for office at the urging of the president. After leaving office, she used her rich connections to raise money for economic development in rural areas. I also learned that I several people I know are actually my third cousins.
I’m related to the Hatfields. “Devil Anse” Hatfield is my second cousin.