How many generations since your last peasant/farmer ancestor?

[Jon Miller]

Unless the point was that they raised chickens for sale/etc.

I think that just having chickens which you get eggs/meat from occasionally was how people lived life back then. It wasn't being a farmer.

JM

[Lorizael]

Yeah, iirc (which I may very well not), they simply had chickens they raised while doing other things. But I'm not terribly connected to my extended family, so I really have no idea.

[Al B. Sure!]

Mother's side, I don't know yet.

Father's side, it'd have to be pretty far back. One great grandfather owned a bookstore in Yaffa and married my great-grandmother who was of a 'prominent Sunni Muslim family' (not my words; from wikipedia regarding the Salam family of Lebanon). The other great grandfather was a senior official in the Lebanese Ministry of Finance whose family, Touqan, originally came from Nablus. The Touqan family has a fairly in depth wikipedia article on it. I mentioned it here on Apolyton before. Leaders of an Arab tribal confederation who served as officers in the Ottoman military becoming local rulers in Palestine around Nablus.


I don't know about farther back but my great-grandparents, at least, were clearly not peasants and considering their stations, peasant ancestors were probably still a ways back.

[mrboo123]

My mom and dad both lived on farms, and the standard of living during their childhoods could be considered in line with "peasants" (Dad born in late 30s, mom in the 60s ish). I was born on a farm, but we moved to the "city" (if you could a call place with about 5000 people a "city") when I was young. My sister (married) lives on a acreage where they did have some livestock for a time. Since she had the first kid there just focusing on raising them (two). Said husband works at a local hardware store. Still have a lot of relatives living on farms or acreages. Far as I know, all my ancestor where peasants (maybe, somebody mentioned that one of them was a "kulak", which is why they had to flee the oncoming Bolshevik revolt).

When my Gedo (mom's dad, Ukrainian) first came over however, he was a hobo before he got marry. Became a long time RM council member afterward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulak

[DanS]

Both of my grandfathers farmed as well as did other things (oil, aeronautical engineering). They weren't peasants though, in that they didn't work somebody else's land.

[Al B. Sure!]

Both of my grandfathers farmed as well as did other things (oil, aeronautical engineering). They weren't peasants though, in that they didn't work somebody else's land.

Farming and aeronautical engineering? You say it like of course, they go hand in hand What's with that?

[mrboo123]

looks like me and Albie have compeltely different backgrounds, uh?

[Jon Miller]

The most famous physicist in my PhD experiment who showed up to meetings/etc occasionally had went from industry to a professor with a farm.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

looks like me and Albie have compeltely different backgrounds, uh?

Don't speak to me, peasant

The funny thing is, I'm the one here in the ghetto.

[Jon Miller]

You could get out. Follow the directions of KH.

JM

[mrboo123]

Don't speak to me, peasant

The funny thing is, I'm the one here in the ghetto.

Even funnier, I just finished a fully paid intership and I'm going into my final year for my Civil Engineering degree. The tables might be turning

[Zoetstofzoetje]

does running a plantation and ordering around slav... very loyal servants count as being a farmer?

[mrboo123]

Sure

[MikeH]

Plantation owner != peasant farmer!

[Ben Kenobi]

Two for me, if you count my Grandfather who owned a ranch. Three otherwise.

I think it's hilarious that Al has such distinguished ancestors and yet lives in a ghetto in Philly.

Let's see.

Draftsman/Teacher/Trucker/Homemaker/Rancher/Teacher/Farmer/Homemaker/Farmer/Homemaker/Farmer/Homemaker/Mechanic/Homemaker.