30 People Joined This Viral Thread Of Sharing The Coolest And Oddest Facts From Their Family’s History
People often say to do the things you want even if they are risky so that you will have interesting stories to tell your children and grandchildren. While maybe it’s not the best reasoning, hearing the wild tales from our grandparents’ or parents’ youth is always so fascinating because things worked so differently back in the day.
Writer Jamie Schler asked people on Twitter to tell her some cool facts or stories from their family’s history and they had some very intriguing tales to tell. The writer herself shared a few captivating stories that you will find reading through this list. 
Image credits: Jamie Schler
So enjoy this list delving into some great stories from people’s genealogy and if Jamie Schler’s tweet reminded you of anything from your family’s history, please recount it in the comments! Also, upvote the stories that surprised you and impressed you the most!
More info: Jamie Schler
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Now it’s not the same as it used to be. We don’t need to decide whether it’s a good or a bad thing, it‘s just different. That is why stories from the olden times are so attractive—because they are hard to imagine happening in modern times, but they did actually happen.
Also, some people revealed they are descendants of some really famous and influential people who had a great impact on how we live today.
Nice photo, but it makes me wonder when Germany switched to driving on the left.
If you ever want to dig deeper into your ancestry, the person you should look for to help you would be a genealogist. They are the ones who study descent lines and if you think that they are only interested in royal family trees, you would be wrong and ordinary individuals can use their services too.
Bored Panda talked to a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Brianne Ellison, to find out what are the most common reasons people go to her when they use her services and according to the specialist it's "curiosity, to figure out if there is truth to family legends, family temple work."
The whole process starts with an interview and deciding on a goal. Then a person should give the expert every bit of information they have for them to review. And then the professionals start their tedious work of going through records. It may take a while, but if you have a suspicion that your family should have some crazy secrets, they most probably will come out and maybe your boring family won’t seem so uninteresting after all.
There are times when genealogists just can find anything. Brianne Ellison told us, "There are some areas where not much information has been indexed and scanned to the main ancestry sites or has been lost. I make sure I've done an exhaustive search to my abilities, sometimes refer them to a specialist for their area, and try to find information that they may have not asked for so that they can at least have something new."
Good news, everyone! They named Futurama's Professor Farnsworth after him!
It is quite beneficial as well to know your family history beyond just satisfying your curiosity. Knowing where you came from gives you a sense of identity and belonging. It also makes you more resilient as most families went through tragedies in the past and knowing that they survived all of it can give you courage and assurance that you will overcome the bad times too.
It is also always better to learn from others’ mistakes than your own, so knowing what happened to your relatives in the past might prevent you from ending up in the same terrible situation. Or their lives might become an inspiration to work harder and repeat their success stories.
There are numerous other reasons why family trees and stories matter, so it is obvious that it is not a waste of time. It’s just a bonus if you had some really cool relatives who invented television or signed the USA's Declaration of Independence and you can tell about it in a Twitter thread.
Clementines are yummy and your great great grandmother was a honey!
Sorry, but that is completely untrue. The oyster from Rolex was named after the similarity of the case shape to oyster shells. The cases were invented in 1891 by Francois Borgel and patented by Rolex in 1926 after Hans stole/transferred the patent to one of his partner case maker manufacturers.
Do you know which line? I took SP all the time in my years as a young adult because my grandparents lived about 30 miles south of San Francisco, where I lived.
My mother discovered she wasn’t an only child after all when someone contacted her because this woman’s 63&Me report showed she had a sister in California. She and my mom met and stayed in touch until she just stopped hearing from Jean (pre-pandemic by years).
What was his name, does anyone know? This would be an interesting story to research more.
You can't miss something like that. They saw. They heard. They weren't going to give up someone who killed a collaborator.
Please tell me you named YOUR son Edward as well. (If he has one. And yes, I know he can't see this.)
Wowie-Zowie! My paternal grandfather traced his family back to the 900s and found out that the family name (Jett) meant “keeper of the keys.” Since the city’s keys aren’t turned over to just anyone, this makes him minor nobility.
I’m sooo jealous! I had a crush on Paul for probably 25-30 year...from my childhood well into my 20s.
Yowza! Check that out! I learned at my father’s funeral that he had been awarded three Bronze Stars for bravery during the Korean War. (My father was an alcoholic who spent all of his money at the bar, leaving my mother to scramble in order to feed me and my brother. When she found out she was pregnant with my sister, she left him, divorced him, and received sole custody of us from the court.)
I hate to be a party pooper, but the Cherokee Trail of Tears was from 1830 to 1850. You may have a very long lived grandmother, but that photo does not predate the Civil War.
My grandfather’s people settled in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1600s, which means they likely owned slaves. In my will I’m going to leave whatever money I still have in my various accounts to the NAACP as reparation for this ugly history.
My great grandmother (born in 1894) married Mr. Robinson, had my grandmother, and later divorced Mr. Robinson (I have no idea how she pulled that off back in the 1920s as a practicing Catholic), married Mr. Ness, had my great-aunt, left Mr. Ness and without divorcing Mr. Ness, shacked up with Mr. Robinson, carrying his name to her grave. It apparently caused quite the scandal in her small Oregon town.
Grace Sherwood, taken down a dirt lane now known as Witchduck Road and dunked.
It is pretty common with family stories of people being decendants of bastard children of kings. They seem to get around and contraceptions or abortions was probably not a big thing until in the 1900's. My great grandfather was such a bastard to a king, but the most interesting ancestor is perhaps Joséphine de Beauharnais or Empress Joséphine of France who was also Napoleons first wife. Some of my ancestors (her relatives) got beheaded in the French revolution, but if memory serves me right she became Empress like 10~ years after the revolution
One of the Reivers? Apparently that's where most of the Scotch Irish people in the US Appalachia areas have their origin, as well!
...”with two small children.” Did you mean to convey they were left behind or she murdered them?
Don't feel bad. My 2nd great grandmother was a madam. She even owned the house and had three other prostitutes that lived with her. Her name? Annie Smith. Her son had my grandfather who had my father so I am a "Smith" but I have come to believe that I can never trace that family. It's probably a fake name.
I know of two brothers who were on opposite sides. They had to fight against each other...
Tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family, which also includes potatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, and eggplant. 🥔🌶🍆
Oh that reminds me! My husband's family were victims of two Indian attacks. The first was my husband's great-great grandfather. He had a farm in Texas and the Indians tried to steal some of their horses and cattle. One of the farm hands took an arrow to his chest and still managed to stop them from stealing anything. The man survived and the gg-grandfather was forever in his debt. The second one was much more tragic. One of the cousins from the same farm family was a young girl. She was at the school house that was in a remote area. The school house was a cabin without any chinking between the logs, so Indians surrounded the school and began making calls at the children. The Teacher opened a hatch to get the children under the floor and all the while she was taking arrows. If I recall she managed to get all the children under the floor before she collapsed, but there was a gap in the back or something. One of the Indians pulled my husband's cousin out from under the school and the girl
Sam was fighting for justice of his brother, which it sounds like his brother's lynching was unjust. Reminds me of how the Jesse and Frank James family got started. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Jesse and Frank worked with Sam. As for the Nazi thing, many were forced into it or brainwashed into it. It's hard to imagine how these things happen, but is no reflection on you.
I read about that on Wikipedia. That is a tragic story! It's the kind that makes you question humanity. At least y'all don't suffer from the same demons your great aunt did.
There is no one "guy" who invented mass-produced consumer products, and the industrial revolution was the product of thousands of people in many different places, so I'm going to cast some doubt on this particular story.
we celebrate july the 4th in UK as the day we kicked you out of the empire just kidding we love our american cousins
Forgive me for being dumb, but what is NA? Do you mean North America? If so, I've just never seen it abbreviated.
I can trace my family tree back to 1600s. I'm related (through moms side) to both Harriet Beecher Stowe an Francis Scott Key. Great great great grand aunt and cousin in law resp.
My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a clergyman and my parents moved to the same village that he had been the vicar - his name appears on a board in the porch of the current church. My parents didn't know this before they moved there. For several generations the family were farmers some 20 miles away, living on a number of farms in that area, so it was quite a discovery to find someone who wasn't a famer!
most recent notable in family history is my grandmother who started out being a nurse. got bored w/traditional nursing & went into psychiatric nursing, working at back-then posh sanitariums for rich/famous who were suffering mental issues or drying out from drugs/alcohol. she was black belt judo which she said she needed at times. then, one patient knocked the crap out of her, almost killing her. she left nursing went into early computers, eventually worked on team that developed the bar code scanner. every time i shop i think of her.
I would love to tell a story, but my Family is so broken, we don´t talk to each other. I don´t know nothing about my grands.
Easy to find out if you know your parents full names and where they lived. But how far back? I am stuck in 1700 although I have easy access to the original records.
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My many times great grandfather on my mom's side discovered that potatoes could be eaten. His name was Antoine Augustin Parmentier.
Thanks to your long gone ancestor or we'd never know the joy of eating chips (fries).
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My italian grandfather was injured in WWI as a kid when the Austrian army fired shells on his village, he almost lost a leg. So he was unable for military service in WWII...the government sent him to Somalia where he fell ill with malaria. After the return to Italy, he was sent to Germany against his will to work in the armament industry. He organised a shoe-trade with his german supervisors so he could go twice a year back to Italy to get the shoes made by his friend, the local shoemaker. I still have his old passports with all the stamps of border crossing. My german great-grandfather was a member of the Nazi-Party and was probably killed in 1944 in Poland by the Soviets. He was a kind of administrator...
My great grandmother came over from Ireland as a penniless spinster at age 39 in the late 1800's. She married a Pennsylvania man, had 9 kids and lived to be over 100. I have a pic of her holding me as a baby.
My 3xgreat grandfather was baptized in Haworth by the Revd Patrick Bronte, father of the three literary sisters; my great-great-aunt Amelia Edwards married the illegitimate son of Rosamond Dixie, a baronet's daughter whose brother Alexander was married to Lady Florence Douglas, sister of the notorious Marquess of Queensbury.
We can pinpoint exactly where my dad's family came from because there's a small town in northwestern Germany (once the Netherlands) with my maiden name.
The only great thing that ever happened to me personally was - my dad was a milk man (ask granny what that was) he started out with a horse and wagon - he let me drive the horse (horse knew exactly where to go and when to stop) but we had a truck at this this time I met Jay Silverheels (Tonto) but best of all I was kissed by Walter Pidgeon a movie star when I was 5 years old. Ask grandma who he was! My only claim to fame in my dysfunctional family!
My grandfather worked in a palace while in the US Navy during the 1920s. In Hawaii!
My family apparently has a seat with the family name on it in Parliament. The family has been in the UK since 900ad, and the US since 1650.
How do you allanage to trace your great x7 ancestors? My parents don't even know the names of their own great grandparents so we've no chance. All I know is both sides of my family were dirt poor so no photos of them nor written records from them exist.
you know your parents names, so put those into familysearch.org with their dates of birth and got from there, their birth certificate details should be in there with the mothers maiden name (well that's if you're in UK, not sure what other countries do), then you just keep going from there... I've been doing mine for about 10 years and I'm back to the 17th century, that's when it starts getting tougher, I did find that my 3x Great Uncle was a Highwayman though!!
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My family are all murderous tyrants, political assassins and greedy dictators and still alive with key political positions today and are worshipped as heroes. One is about to declare running for a country's president. I had to change names on all media accounts because of shame in association. Also because I almost got kidnapped once.
my Great Grandfather was the only survivor of a plane crash in WWII his wife just passed away last spring R.I.P, and my Great x5 aunt was Annie Oakley a.k.a Little Miss Sure shot
There's a story that an ancestor of mine was an Earl who lived in Drummond Castle. He supposedly fell in love with a woman from India who wasn't royal, and got left the royal family to be with her. It was a story told by a great great grandfather (I think) who was born in India but I haven't been able to find out of it was true.
Few years ago I found out that I have distant relative who was king of Madagascar. His name was Moric Benovsky and he led quite adventurous life. He was even friend of Benjamin Franklin. My other distant relative led rebellion against Habsburgs and was executed. I have many interesting ancestors but these two are probably the most interesting.
I don’t remember the relation precisely, but I’m distantly related to someone who was there when the golden spike was put into the Transcontinental Railroad in America. Also, my dad’s side of the family has been in the same city since it was founded, it started with four families and I’m related to two of them.
I traced my family history only to find one day an American decided she liked my family, namely my Gt.Gt.Gt. Grandfather, changed his wife, half of his children to fit hers so destroying my family tree. I have no confidence in Americans tracing their family history, obviously the are not too particular who they decide fits. Left LDS site and found a safer one.
All of my men ancestors fought in American Wars from the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, WWI and WWII and Vietnam....all had the rank of Captain. All named Prowell.
My one ancestor on the Prowell side from Wales was a dentist in Denver Colorado in the late 1800's. He was so rich he took 30 of his closest friends on an all expenses paid trip around the world!
We had an uncle/cousin (not too sure of his actual relation to me personally) who was thrown from the boat on his way to Ellis Island. We know he was thrown. We know the mafia is involved. We've never been able to work out whether it WAS the mafia or BECAUSE OF the mafia that he was thrown. We have an entire history sorted for that side (like going back 100+ yrs) & thats still unanswered...
My husband and I have 4th great grandfathers who were brothers. We are actually 5th cousins.
I can trace my lineage back to my great x29 grandfather, who was born in 844. He was the first person to discover Iceland. Probably responsible for a whole lot of people here.
My great-grandpa is said to have connections to Jewish organized crime. We aren't proud of that, except for my great-uncle, he finds it cool. also i'm kinda related to that famous UCLA basketball coach (distantly, maybe only by marraige, i don't remember) and also a man who helped finid the geoglogical south pole.
I’m a descendent of one of the Txiguiris, Irishmen who came to the Basque Country in the late 1700’. My grandfather, Alejandro Smith, played in the Athletic Club de Bilbao when they got paid to win the Cup a pair of shoes to play. On the other side of the family, my grea, great, great… uncle, founded the Argentinian city of Olavarria, due to a spelling difference (My last name is Olabarria that is the right spelling in basque which doesn’t use V’s) we didn’t inherit anything in that side of the world. My husband, on the other hand, is a descendent of Robert the Bruce.
And is the first generation to not have fought in a war.
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My acestor 10 or 12 generations ago in the late 1500s was among a small group wanted for murder of a commander of a bisoph's guard. They all fled from the city. In the end the one man who returned first after a decade of fighting in wars all over Euorpe, was just tortured and executed for the crime. My ancestor and all other suspects returned to the city and my grandfather was the first in that line who left the area again.
Idk much about my ancestors, bc my g-grandma on my mother's side immigrated to the US at a young age. but i do know that on one side i have russian and ukranian genes and on the other i have hungarian and polish genes. i want an ancestry test done SO BADLY!
I have learned that most people are completely wrong about their family history. Slightly exaggerated stories become misinterpreted become outright lies over the generations. If you haven't been able to independently verify a family story with official historical records, it's probably not true. There are many, many legends in my family. Some may be true. Some probably not. One I can be sure of, because they are in living memory of living people, is that my daughter had one great-grandfather who was fighting for Nazi Germany, and one that was a Czechoslovakian Jew fighting for the Allies in World War II.
My mother's paternal great-grandparents patronized Renoir; those are my great-great aunts Yvonne & Christine Lerolle in the painting "Young Girls at the Piano" (along with several others he painted). https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/young-girls-at-the-piano/ZAGwT97hbG0-sg?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.196471438459898%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A3.3211469926818094%2C%22height%22%3A1.2374999999999994%7D%7D
In the 18th and 19th century, my family were fur trappers in what is now Quebec and Ontario. The were kind of nomadic and would travel as a group (including women and kids) trapping, hunting and fishing. At one point, they shot a bear that was especially riddled with trichinosis. As my grandfather said, "Those that liked their meat rare died. Those that liked it well done just got really sick." About 3/4 of my family died on that trip. My dad still has the gun that they used to shoot the bear
My paternal grandmother said that we might be related to Jessie James. It probably isn't true but it would be pretty cool if it was.
My grandfather once told me about an Uncle on his side of the family who was the one responsible for inventing Pitman shorthand :) Of course then he had to explain to me what shorthand was as I was only about five at the time but still though it was very neat :)
A relative of mine was the first person to be hung at The Gallows by Judge Isaac C Parker and they re-enactment his death(plus 76 others)every year
Let's see...for as far back as we can trace, our family is completely white. I'm part German, Welsh, Irish, and English. Also, I'm related distantly to John F. Kennedy, I believe.
I can trace my family tree back to 1600s. I'm related (through moms side) to both Harriet Beecher Stowe an Francis Scott Key. Great great great grand aunt and cousin in law resp.
My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a clergyman and my parents moved to the same village that he had been the vicar - his name appears on a board in the porch of the current church. My parents didn't know this before they moved there. For several generations the family were farmers some 20 miles away, living on a number of farms in that area, so it was quite a discovery to find someone who wasn't a famer!
most recent notable in family history is my grandmother who started out being a nurse. got bored w/traditional nursing & went into psychiatric nursing, working at back-then posh sanitariums for rich/famous who were suffering mental issues or drying out from drugs/alcohol. she was black belt judo which she said she needed at times. then, one patient knocked the crap out of her, almost killing her. she left nursing went into early computers, eventually worked on team that developed the bar code scanner. every time i shop i think of her.
I would love to tell a story, but my Family is so broken, we don´t talk to each other. I don´t know nothing about my grands.
Easy to find out if you know your parents full names and where they lived. But how far back? I am stuck in 1700 although I have easy access to the original records.
Load More Replies... My many times great grandfather on my mom's side discovered that potatoes could be eaten. His name was Antoine Augustin Parmentier.
Thanks to your long gone ancestor or we'd never know the joy of eating chips (fries).
Load More Replies... My italian grandfather was injured in WWI as a kid when the Austrian army fired shells on his village, he almost lost a leg. So he was unable for military service in WWII...the government sent him to Somalia where he fell ill with malaria. After the return to Italy, he was sent to Germany against his will to work in the armament industry. He organised a shoe-trade with his german supervisors so he could go twice a year back to Italy to get the shoes made by his friend, the local shoemaker. I still have his old passports with all the stamps of border crossing. My german great-grandfather was a member of the Nazi-Party and was probably killed in 1944 in Poland by the Soviets. He was a kind of administrator...
My great grandmother came over from Ireland as a penniless spinster at age 39 in the late 1800's. She married a Pennsylvania man, had 9 kids and lived to be over 100. I have a pic of her holding me as a baby.
My 3xgreat grandfather was baptized in Haworth by the Revd Patrick Bronte, father of the three literary sisters; my great-great-aunt Amelia Edwards married the illegitimate son of Rosamond Dixie, a baronet's daughter whose brother Alexander was married to Lady Florence Douglas, sister of the notorious Marquess of Queensbury.
We can pinpoint exactly where my dad's family came from because there's a small town in northwestern Germany (once the Netherlands) with my maiden name.
The only great thing that ever happened to me personally was - my dad was a milk man (ask granny what that was) he started out with a horse and wagon - he let me drive the horse (horse knew exactly where to go and when to stop) but we had a truck at this this time I met Jay Silverheels (Tonto) but best of all I was kissed by Walter Pidgeon a movie star when I was 5 years old. Ask grandma who he was! My only claim to fame in my dysfunctional family!
My grandfather worked in a palace while in the US Navy during the 1920s. In Hawaii!
My family apparently has a seat with the family name on it in Parliament. The family has been in the UK since 900ad, and the US since 1650.
How do you allanage to trace your great x7 ancestors? My parents don't even know the names of their own great grandparents so we've no chance. All I know is both sides of my family were dirt poor so no photos of them nor written records from them exist.
you know your parents names, so put those into familysearch.org with their dates of birth and got from there, their birth certificate details should be in there with the mothers maiden name (well that's if you're in UK, not sure what other countries do), then you just keep going from there... I've been doing mine for about 10 years and I'm back to the 17th century, that's when it starts getting tougher, I did find that my 3x Great Uncle was a Highwayman though!!
Load More Replies... My family are all murderous tyrants, political assassins and greedy dictators and still alive with key political positions today and are worshipped as heroes. One is about to declare running for a country's president. I had to change names on all media accounts because of shame in association. Also because I almost got kidnapped once.
my Great Grandfather was the only survivor of a plane crash in WWII his wife just passed away last spring R.I.P, and my Great x5 aunt was Annie Oakley a.k.a Little Miss Sure shot
There's a story that an ancestor of mine was an Earl who lived in Drummond Castle. He supposedly fell in love with a woman from India who wasn't royal, and got left the royal family to be with her. It was a story told by a great great grandfather (I think) who was born in India but I haven't been able to find out of it was true.
Few years ago I found out that I have distant relative who was king of Madagascar. His name was Moric Benovsky and he led quite adventurous life. He was even friend of Benjamin Franklin. My other distant relative led rebellion against Habsburgs and was executed. I have many interesting ancestors but these two are probably the most interesting.
I don’t remember the relation precisely, but I’m distantly related to someone who was there when the golden spike was put into the Transcontinental Railroad in America. Also, my dad’s side of the family has been in the same city since it was founded, it started with four families and I’m related to two of them.
I traced my family history only to find one day an American decided she liked my family, namely my Gt.Gt.Gt. Grandfather, changed his wife, half of his children to fit hers so destroying my family tree. I have no confidence in Americans tracing their family history, obviously the are not too particular who they decide fits. Left LDS site and found a safer one.
All of my men ancestors fought in American Wars from the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, WWI and WWII and Vietnam....all had the rank of Captain. All named Prowell.
My one ancestor on the Prowell side from Wales was a dentist in Denver Colorado in the late 1800's. He was so rich he took 30 of his closest friends on an all expenses paid trip around the world!
We had an uncle/cousin (not too sure of his actual relation to me personally) who was thrown from the boat on his way to Ellis Island. We know he was thrown. We know the mafia is involved. We've never been able to work out whether it WAS the mafia or BECAUSE OF the mafia that he was thrown. We have an entire history sorted for that side (like going back 100+ yrs) & thats still unanswered...
My husband and I have 4th great grandfathers who were brothers. We are actually 5th cousins.
I can trace my lineage back to my great x29 grandfather, who was born in 844. He was the first person to discover Iceland. Probably responsible for a whole lot of people here.
My great-grandpa is said to have connections to Jewish organized crime. We aren't proud of that, except for my great-uncle, he finds it cool. also i'm kinda related to that famous UCLA basketball coach (distantly, maybe only by marraige, i don't remember) and also a man who helped finid the geoglogical south pole.
I’m a descendent of one of the Txiguiris, Irishmen who came to the Basque Country in the late 1700’. My grandfather, Alejandro Smith, played in the Athletic Club de Bilbao when they got paid to win the Cup a pair of shoes to play. On the other side of the family, my grea, great, great… uncle, founded the Argentinian city of Olavarria, due to a spelling difference (My last name is Olabarria that is the right spelling in basque which doesn’t use V’s) we didn’t inherit anything in that side of the world. My husband, on the other hand, is a descendent of Robert the Bruce.
And is the first generation to not have fought in a war.
Load More Replies... My acestor 10 or 12 generations ago in the late 1500s was among a small group wanted for murder of a commander of a bisoph's guard. They all fled from the city. In the end the one man who returned first after a decade of fighting in wars all over Euorpe, was just tortured and executed for the crime. My ancestor and all other suspects returned to the city and my grandfather was the first in that line who left the area again.
Idk much about my ancestors, bc my g-grandma on my mother's side immigrated to the US at a young age. but i do know that on one side i have russian and ukranian genes and on the other i have hungarian and polish genes. i want an ancestry test done SO BADLY!
I have learned that most people are completely wrong about their family history. Slightly exaggerated stories become misinterpreted become outright lies over the generations. If you haven't been able to independently verify a family story with official historical records, it's probably not true. There are many, many legends in my family. Some may be true. Some probably not. One I can be sure of, because they are in living memory of living people, is that my daughter had one great-grandfather who was fighting for Nazi Germany, and one that was a Czechoslovakian Jew fighting for the Allies in World War II.
My mother's paternal great-grandparents patronized Renoir; those are my great-great aunts Yvonne & Christine Lerolle in the painting "Young Girls at the Piano" (along with several others he painted). https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/young-girls-at-the-piano/ZAGwT97hbG0-sg?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.196471438459898%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A3.3211469926818094%2C%22height%22%3A1.2374999999999994%7D%7D
In the 18th and 19th century, my family were fur trappers in what is now Quebec and Ontario. The were kind of nomadic and would travel as a group (including women and kids) trapping, hunting and fishing. At one point, they shot a bear that was especially riddled with trichinosis. As my grandfather said, "Those that liked their meat rare died. Those that liked it well done just got really sick." About 3/4 of my family died on that trip. My dad still has the gun that they used to shoot the bear
My paternal grandmother said that we might be related to Jessie James. It probably isn't true but it would be pretty cool if it was.
My grandfather once told me about an Uncle on his side of the family who was the one responsible for inventing Pitman shorthand :) Of course then he had to explain to me what shorthand was as I was only about five at the time but still though it was very neat :)
A relative of mine was the first person to be hung at The Gallows by Judge Isaac C Parker and they re-enactment his death(plus 76 others)every year
Let's see...for as far back as we can trace, our family is completely white. I'm part German, Welsh, Irish, and English. Also, I'm related distantly to John F. Kennedy, I believe.
