Family Histories

[Indabayou]

So today I finally got around to typing out the family history my great grand uncle wrote (literally wrote- paper and pen in several manila folders. I think he was going to make it into a proper book, but died before he could finish). My grandmother's side were Jews from Belarus (then still a part of Russia) who immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. My great-great-great grandmother, while still living in what-is-now-Belarus, went to junior high and could read and write Russian, which was "considered quite a feat for a female in 19th​ century russia, doubly so because she was Jewish." This is something I'm pretty proud of (even though I've never met her and those accomplishments have nothing to do with me. )


Some people know their history generations and hundreds of years back, some know only their immediate family, and others have nothing at all. My question to you all is, what do you know of your family history? Are you proud of it? Do you wish you knew more? No super specifics, of course, this is the internet.

 

[Boba Fit]

A lot.


Yes.


Yes.


Was I to specific for the internet?

 

[Brovo]

Are you proud of it? Do you wish you knew more?

More amazed than proud, not particularly. There is so much death and discrimination and poverty in it I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it here.

 

[Indabayou]

A lot.


Yes.


Yes.


Was I to specific for the internet?

Far too specifc. What would your poor mother think (whoops, I already know, because you're so free with your personal info that I can practically read the minds of your entire family). For shame, Boba Fit. For. Shame.

 

[Alan]

My aunt was doing the whole family history thing at one time (I don't know if she still is). The farthest back she was able to go was the 9th century in Poland, where a member of my family was a Duke.

 

[Shiri]

My favorite is one of my ancestors got on the Mayflower married and got off it not married. We don't know where his wife went. Did she die of illness, fall overboard, get murdered? We have no idea.

 

[Indabayou]

As I continued typing this evening I came across a section that said my great great grandmother died on this day in 1967. That's not supposed to be depressing, just a fun little coincidence.

 

[Dusk]

Had a retired reclusive great-great uncle who was found shot to death. Don't know who killed him.

I also narrowly avoided having the surname Strnad.

 

[Vicious Radiance]

Mine's kind of weird, because I was adopted, but out of the same family I'm in now, so my grandpa is also my great uncle. :U So to answer the questions, one side I have traced back several generations, and the other side is a COMPLETE mystery. I am awfully curious about the mystery side, but at the same time, not knowing means I can make up super cool stories about what that lost bloodline actually is.

 

[Kitti]

It's not terribly easy to trace far back, thanks to secrecy and similar.
There's an interesting story (but who knows if it's true) that one line is the bastard son of a noble or something, though.

 

[Turtle of Doom]

My mother's side of the family can be traced back to Wales. The patriarch of the family was close with the king of England and was beheaded by Cromwell, but the wife and her 17 children hid in Paris until they could get on a ship and come to America. The mother and a lot of the kids died, but 2 boys survived to carry on the name. (Some of the other children survived by were too young and were adopted out to other families on the boat. The two boys were almost of age, so they were left to fend for themselves.) And that's how my family came to America.

My dad's family hails from Ireland. Not too much is known. But his family hasn't been in America that long. I'm like second or third generation American on his side.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

My Mom's side spent a few Generations in Canada already.

• My Mom growing up had some experience with Step-Parents, where the Step-Dad become more loved than the blood Dad cause he was around and interested a lot more.
• My Grandmother apparently grew up in a abusive household, the "Father got drunk, beat the wife and kids" kind.
• And then a few generations back from that (not sure the specifics) were some Italian immigrants which from what I understand was your typical Disney tale of really rich person marries someone poor against the family wishes, moves to a new land and lives happily ever after. Expect in this case the woman was the rich one and the man was the poor one. There's apparently hints of British and German in there too, but I don't know any specifics about those.

And then there's my Dad's side.

• My Granddad was a Portuguese (Azores specifically) Immigrant looking for a better life. He moved to Canada a few years ahead of the family so he could earn some money and secure some land. I did a project reading into it a bit and he apparently worked in some of the worst conditions for your manual mining jobs and the like. Minimal pay, long hours, slept in a crowded bunk area etc.
• It was a few years of this later my Dad and the others then followed over to Canada, he was three years old at the time.
• And he apparently didn't learn much English until Kindergarten. Now he has perfect English and his Portuguese is rusty (As I've been told. I don't understand him when he speaks it with other family).

And that's the family history I know in a nutshell that doesn't bog into this generation, and that has enough serious and personal matters I shouldn't be mentioning them considering some of them I'm not even supposed to know about.

 

[Hellis]

My great great great grandad was the illegitimate son of a Sami (northern indigenous people) and maid of some wealthy asshole.

 

[Icy]

My grandfather on my mother's side was a pretty controversial figure who fled Czechoslovakia, embezzled a small fortune, hid it away in Switzerland, and rose to a position of considerable power in a Swedish company — one that is currently committing financial suicide. I loved him but he was pretty vice-infested and not averse to hurting those around him. Banned, too, from Czechoslovakia due to a handful of politically-charged statements — was later absolved. Mom has a lot of newspaper clippings saved and it's super interesting to read about.

 

[Kagayours]

I personally don't have much info on my family history, nor do I really care that much. I know I have a decent chunk of Irish and Italian in me on my mom's side, and I know that my dad must've had some Polish in him since I got my Polish last name from him, but I don't really know how much Polish or what else his ancestry is.

But, if you want a more interesting story, I do have a friend who managed to trace her ancestry back to a distant cousin or something of Hitler. ...So that's something.

 

[Diana]

I don't know a lot about my family on either side, because we are a bit disconnected. >:/ Lifetime movie level issues.

I DO know that on my Dad's side we are related to Clark Gable the actor. 8D That's right, the Gone with the Wind "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." guy. One of my aunts did a ton of family research, but I have no contact with that side of the family right now. Thankfully not because of any bad reasons, I just feel really awkward trying to contact people I've only met maybe two or three times when I was a tiny kid.

Um one of my cousins on that side of the family may have been murdered. This was last year, maybe longer? I've lost track of time and stuff happened so I think people forgot to send me updates about that investigation. >:/ They believe it was just a robbery turned bad though.

SPEAKING OF MURDER. Okay, so. My Mom's side of the family gets weird. I only ever knew my grandmother, her kids and her #?? husband, who is mom's stepdad. My grandmother never ever ever spoke about her family. She did take care of her own mom for a few years before she died. But even My mom never knew ANYONE ELSE from the family. As I got older, sometimes my grandmother would mention that she had brothers. I remember one time she told me one of them died under "mysterious circumstances" but she didn't elaborate and I never thought anything of it cause I was like a derpy teen.

When my grandmother had a heart attack a couple years ago and my mom had to go stay with her for a couple weeks, she thought she was dying, so she finally told mom about her family. c_____c I AM NOT 100% SURE IT'S TRUE BUT IT MAKES AN ALARMING AMOUNT OF SENSE DUE TO FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS. Anyway, apparently she is a mobster's daughter. >:[ Her dad wanted to pick who she would marry, so around 16/17 she took off with my greatgrandma. She married my biological grandad and teen preggo had my mom. That brother of hers that "mysteriously died" is suspected to be murdered by either the other brother or someone else in the family, because of CRIME DRAMA.

She didn't want anything to do with her family and EVEN TO THIS DAY we have no freaking idea who they are or where she came from and if that story is even for real. Part of me wants to start digging just for pure curiosity's sake, and the other part of me does not want to find out all that shit is true and then get mixed up in more family drama. I have enough of that with the ones I've got. =___=

 

[Indabayou]

I don't know a lot about my family on either side, because we are a bit disconnected. >:/ Lifetime movie level issues.

I DO know that on my Dad's side we are related to Clark Gable the actor. 8D That's right, the Gone with the Wind "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." guy. One of my aunts did a ton of family research, but I have no contact with that side of the family right now. Thankfully not because of any bad reasons, I just feel really awkward trying to contact people I've only met maybe two or three times when I was a tiny kid.

Um one of my cousins on that side of the family may have been murdered. This was last year, maybe longer? I've lost track of time and stuff happened so I think people forgot to send me updates about that investigation. >:/ They believe it was just a robbery turned bad though.

SPEAKING OF MURDER. Okay, so. My Mom's side of the family gets weird. I only ever knew my grandmother, her kids and her #?? husband, who is mom's stepdad. My grandmother never ever ever spoke about her family. She did take care of her own mom for a few years before she died. But even My mom never knew ANYONE ELSE from the family. As I got older, sometimes my grandmother would mention that she had brothers. I remember one time she told me one of them died under "mysterious circumstances" but she didn't elaborate and I never thought anything of it cause I was like a derpy teen.

When my grandmother had a heart attack a couple years ago and my mom had to go stay with her for a couple weeks, she thought she was dying, so she finally told mom about her family. c_____c I AM NOT 100% SURE IT'S TRUE BUT IT MAKES AN ALARMING AMOUNT OF SENSE DUE TO FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS. Anyway, apparently she is a mobster's daughter. >:[ Her dad wanted to pick who she would marry, so around 16/17 she took off with my greatgrandma. She married my biological grandad and teen preggo had my mom. That brother of hers that "mysteriously died" is suspected to be murdered by either the other brother or someone else in the family, because of CRIME DRAMA.

She didn't want anything to do with her family and EVEN TO THIS DAY we have no freaking idea who they are or where she came from and if that story is even for real. Part of me wants to start digging just for pure curiosity's sake, and the other part of me does not want to find out all that shit is true and then get mixed up in more family drama. I have enough of that with the ones I've got. =___=

Daaaaaamn, that is wild.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I have no idea what my dad's side looks like because all of them are bat shite insane.

My grandmother and great grandmother narrowly escaped the Holocaust but my grand cousin did not. His direct family were wiped out, and my grandmother's side died off when she perished.

 

[Indabayou]

I have no idea what my dad's side looks like because all of them are bat shite insane.

My grandmother and great grandmother narrowly escaped the Holocaust but my grand cousin did not. His direct family were wiped out, and my grandmother's side died off when she perished.

Fortunately, my family was out of Europe long before the Holocaust (there was one brother who stayed behind in Russia, but no one knows what happened to him after everyone else left). Sorry to hear about your grand cousins family though :(

 

[LogicfromLogic]

Fortunately, my family was out of Europe long before the Holocaust (there was one brother who stayed behind in Russia, but no one knows what happened to him after everyone else left). Sorry to hear about your grand cousins family though :(

It's sad, but we're trying to work through it. My family went from Jewish to Episcopalian, stopped practicing Jewish traditions (except for the foods my grandmother cooked).