People of interest in your family history

[Tiamat]

Hmmm......well there's my dad who fought in WW2, Vietnam and Korea as a fighter pilot and flew in Franklin Roosevelt's funeral fly over. Then there is my distant cousin who would be Chuck Yeager. Small claims to fame but mine none the less.

[Kramerman]

Depends. If you're talking direct bloodline, my great...great (insert as many greats in the ... as required) grandfather on my father's side fought in the American Revolution...for the Brits.

Traitor!

my great great... great grand father was Augusts Caesar. And my cousin a million times removed was Alexander the Great Oh! I almost forgot, Elvis is my great uncle

[Rogan Josh]

One of my ancestors performed unspecified 'favours' for the King in the colonies way back in the 17th (16th?) centuary. We reckon he was a pirate or somesuch but aren't sure.

Anyway, the King rewarded him by giving him land in American - Manhatten Island. Unfortunately, his ship sank on the way home and the documents were lost.

A few years ago, a copy of the documents were found in the vatican, so my family now have legal documents proving they own Manhatten Island. There is a lawsuit for compensation pending.....

[TheStinger]

my mums cousin lost the most ever on who wants to be a millionaire

[AnnC]

Originally posted by Sten Sture: My kids are now the eighth generation decendents of Thomas Jefferson, and I think are eligible to be buried in the family plot at Montecello - but that is through my wifes side.

Which of Jefferson's children is your wife descended from (if I may ask)?

[Sikander]

Like AnnC, I am descended from Andrew Jackson's clan (American President who currently resides on the 20$ bill). Several of my uncles fought in WW2, and one of them drove the second tank over Remagen bridge (and of course the Rhine). He also fought in North Africa, Normandy and Battle of the Bulge. His brother joined the marines and fought on Guadalcanal, Saipan and Okinawa. Their Uncle killed a man in New Orleans and evaded capture, hiding out in the hills of Northwest Arkansas near the Missourri border. He was friendly with the James gang, and kept fresh horses (and food etc.) for them, which they used to elude the Pinkertons who were pursuing them. He got paid 20$ everytime they came through. When Frank James got out of prison he wrote a book and went on tour. My great great grandfather and his brother went to see Frank, and when they saw him Frank James broke into tears and hugged them both. He hadn't seen them in very many years.

On my Dad's side we have relations who came over on the Mayflower. We are supposedly related to Welsh Royalty (Llywellyn sp?), though this line was deposed permanently in the 1200s IIRC, after they revolted against the English.

[uh Clem]

The loinburgers apparently migrated over from France and Belgium awhile back, and started working as lumberjacks in Canada and Michigan, where they drank, cut down trees, and whoremongered. If they did anything interesting, then I am (probably thankfully ) unaware of it.

What about the women's clothing?

[Solly]

Not got a clue, but something about freemasons and I've also heard a couple of rumours about someone Jewish in my history (perhaps one of my great grandparents)...but I haven't a clue and it seems something has been covered up!

[Solly]

How do we find out where names come from?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Boddington's
How do we find out where names come from?

Oxford Press has a huge dictionary of (family) names, but it's so expensive that I haven't bought it yet. There are numerous books that trace the origins of first names, and they are inexpensive for the most part.

[Solly]

Cheers.

[Saras]

My Grandpas case is mentioned in Solzhenytsins "Gulag Archipelago"

His dad was estate manager for the second richest man in Russia (Duke Something) and was ordered to bury all his jewellery and gold somewhere on his estate in Ukraine when the Bolshevik revolution came. He never went to russia cause he thought he'd be arrested and tortured to show the place.

[Clear Skies]

You've got to go a long way back to find anyone of even remote interest in my family...
My gran's a Campbell, the clan who massacred the Mcdonalds at Glencoe (hm, not exactly something you want on your wall), and one of my ancestors helped illustrate the Book of Lindisfarne...oh and another was Bishop of Durham at one point.
That's pretty much it.

[Dinner]

Geneology has been one of my pet hobbies for a while now so far the furthest back I've been able to research on my mother's side is Salvi-Salvy Barsolou. We don't know when Salvi was born or when he died but in 1603 he and his wife had a son named Joseph in Ste Foy Agen, France. We also know that Josph was a Protestant convert who listed his occupation on the French census as a "land owner and wine maker"; in the early 1670's Joseph's grandson Gerard was accused of Heresy & disloyalty to the crown because he wouldn't convert to Catholicism and so he and his family were sentenced to trasportation to New France. So I know I have relatives in North America by the 1670's.

On my mother's side I'm related to President Jackson and my first ancestor to graduate from college was Paul Keeley Barsaloux who graduated from Notre Dame University in 1910. Other then that their's nothing to interesting that I know of.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Sikander
Like AnnC, I am descended from Andrew Jackson's clan (American President who currently resides on the 20$ bill).

Hey Sikander! It looks like we're both related to Andrew Jackson. I guess we're long lost cousins.