The Proud of My Heritage Thread

“I never knew my great grandfather. He died at Natzweiler-Struthof at the hands of the nazis after being caught and correctly identified as part of the French Resistance. Nacht und Nebel prisoners were treated with absolute inhumanity above and beyond others within the camp.

I found his name in the memorial two summers ago when I visted Le Struthof. I am proud.

Jean Augustin Boyer
1901 - 1943”

“He died the year I was born.

As I said on another thread, the French Underground paid dearly for their efforts to disrupt the Nazis.”

“Interesting, Phaedrus. Maple and I took the kids to Ellis Island recently and found my grandfather and a few uncles and aunts' names on the big wall there. I must say I would love to know what happened to the brothers and sisters that never made it over here.”

“Like I really needed another reason not to like Phaedrus.”

“Bacpac, your dislike is a badge of honor I'll wear proudly.”

“I'll have to do more research. Although, I know my background, I don't know specifics about what they did w/ their lives.”

“I think my ancestors were banished, never to return.”

“I think my ancestors were the reason for AA and Jerry Springer show.”

“Some of mine were refugees from West Virginia.”

“That's cool, Phaedrus!

I imagine that if bacpac knew about my ancestors he would have another reason to dislike me, too.”

“Dad
USS LCS(L) 75 "The Fightin' Sixbits"
Okinawa/Japan 1945

3X Grandfather, Zion
50th GA Volunteer Infantry
Army of Northern Virginia, CSA
1862-65”

“I'm related to Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. They are cousins of mine, apparently. My mother is big time into geneology (no, we ain't Mormon) and she looked it up and verified it.”

“gojo
They might have been the "600 Georgia riflemen" who held "Burnside Bridge" all day Sept 17, 1862 at Sharpsburg, Maryland.

I think it was Georgia riflemen.”

“Phaedrus - sounds like a brave man, and you should be proud!

Great-Great=Great Grandfather served Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War.

Grandpa I - WWII Eurpoean Theatre
Grandpa II - Navy - Guadalcanal (Wounded in Battle of Bloody Ridge)
Distant Great Uncle - Fired first US shot of WWII. Link

Dad - Navy - Vietnam - code breaker in Intelligence.

Grandma and 2 aunts worked in a tank plant during WWII.

I'm very proud of my family, and the sacrifies they made to ensure my freedom.”

“Two great-uncles - my granddads brothers - were in the Phillipines prior to WWII. They were captured, marched to Bataan, then liberated by McArthurs Return. They were among the fortunate few to survive the ordeal...”

“That's something to be proud of as well, gojo. They don't call it the Bataan death march for nothing.”

“My dad was close to his two uncles in age, but not old enough to fight until 1944. If he had been old enough, he would surely have been in the PIs, too.”

“Oh yeah, TomT -
Ummm, Sharpsburg?
I do believe the 50th fought that battle, but so did several other GA regiments.

I've not found alot of detailed info on the 50th's history. Battle names and dates, but few battle reports, diaries, letters, etc.

Basically all I know is that they marched with Lee from mid '62 til Appomatox.”

“gojo - you should read "Ghost Soldiers". It's about a rescue of a Phillipines prison camp by Army Rangers.”

“In the late part of the day the Ga guys held long enough for A.P. Hill's light infantry to arrive from Harper's Ferry, double-quickin' all the way(12 miles).”

“I have a client that did a re-enactment of Sharpsburg this summer. He said the 17 mile hike in period shoes was pretty brutal.”

“as my (ex) secretary used to say when I was being obnoxious . . .I descend from "shanty Irish".


I have a reproduction of a picture of my grandfather, and his father taken with the other workers at a shipyard near Boston in 1915 or 16. My understanding is that they had come down together from Nova Scotia looking for work in the shipyards.

My mom's side of the family has been here since before the revolution . . .and are also irish . . .but Northern irish protestant.

Great blood mix. Plus I am a gemini . ..I have great religious arguements with myself.”

“3x Great Grandfather, Jacob Wade 27th Va., Infantry, (Colonel Grigsby commanding, Stonewall Brigade. Cedar Mtn. to the Wilderness. WIA, Wilderness.

3x Great Uncles, Aaron(WIA, died), Stephen and Benjamin Law (WIA), 11th Va. Calvary, Laurel Brigade.

The times now, they ain't so bad...”

“Well... my family's been settled here, near Vancouver, for nearly 100 years. Granddad (born a British Subject, in Boston 1884) was a forman at Fraser Mills, once the worlds largest plywood mill.

His mother's family we have traced back to the UELs (United Empire Loyalits) in New Brunswick around 1770 or so. My cousin is a pastor there and doing further research. He recently sent me a photo of himself meeting the Queen.

My Dad's mother was ninth of seventeen children (no twins), and the last born in England, before coming over. It makes for a very interesting, not to mention lopsided, famliy tree.

My mother's side has been over here 100 years also. Her father was captured as a Royal Canadian Mounted Rifle, in Ypres, during WW 1. I still have his war journal and a pocket watch, which had been beautifully incribed by a Frenchman, in the POW camp, with a rusty nail.

Okay, if I don't stop now.... this could get really long, and I'm probably the only one interested... He He”

“I am adopted. I have no roots other than one side id Scots/Irish, one side German/Dutch, with Amerian Indian in there somewhere that someone's not talking about. I can tell by my tooth structure.”

“Wow, this is fun. I was under the impression that Teddy and Franklin D. were not related to each other. Yet they are related to Artex. Probably to Kevin Bacon too (six degrees of Kevin Bacon?). Genealogy is fun. Treebait, what is the American Indian thing about teeth that you are talking about? I have some Cherokee blood. I recently read the "Creek Mary's Blood" book, though, and I think that the "Cherokee" blood could have been quite a mixture by the time it got into my family. Once the government herded the eastern tribes west, there seems to have been a lot of intermarriage between tribes. BTW, it is truly awful how the government and local gangs abused the indians. Makes you wonder how we came to be this great democracy, with the terrible government crimes that were committed in country's first few hundred years.

I am northern Irish, some Scotch, Welsh, English, French and German, along with a little American Indian.”

“There are some differences in the molars, with more lobes and roots. I found out about the extra roots during a root canal.”

“http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1862_cwa/boury_richard.html
Its possiblewere related”

“Lyndy, I believe Teddy and Franklin were 5th cousins, if I remember right.”

“Yes they were related to each other. Eleanor Roosevelt was a niece of Theodore Roosevelt and a cousin of Franklin Roosevelt.”

“Papa was a rolling stone wherever he laid his hat was his home and when he died all he left us was alone.”

“Interesting thread..

I am related to the Rifes. They invented the rifle. I love my rifle! I think of them when I shoot it.

I am also related to Henry Clay, but he was a great-great-great and so on uncle.

Most of the family on my dad's side we have researched. I still have alot of family in Harrodsburg and Ebenezer, Kentucky. We have one more county seat to go to in Kentucky, and then we have to go to Viriginia and/or Pennslyvania.

My mom's side is hard to find. She is from Germany, and she told me that most of the records were destroyed or something. But I think she said my German great grandfather was a deep sea diver or fishermen. I can't remember which?

I love geneaology!”

“Hmmm, I had a great uncle who died drunk in a snowbank. A great grandfather who bought (for $1000) a coal mine that was "dead" and resold it for $10,000. My grandfather wrote the insurance policy for his business in the light of its fire. My uncle was a concienscious objector in vietnam, my dad was too fat.

On my moms side they were poor polish factory workers and housewives.”

“I come from a long line of Irish bomb throwers.”

“Yeah, wel my mom's family has 1 guy hit by a train, one pig thief, and HPM has 2 axe murderers!”

“Full quarter Viking here.”

“Actually that's one axe murderer and several moonshine makers and runners. Also related to Henry Hudson of the Hudson Bay company. You know, the explorer.”

“Hey lee, My Irish ancestors moved to the USA from Nova Scotia too. There are still numerous cousins there, in Black Rock, along with a family farm.”

“The Roosevelts were related, then, sorry that I commented otherwise. Were they prone to oonga boonging for cold weather also?”

“Dad's side goes way back in British History. There's a manor with our last name there.

Robert ____, son of Josiah ____, was born in East Hempstead, Berkshire, England, in 1697. He arrived in Amercica, in the Philadelphia area, in 1713. They were Quakers here (Religious Society of Friends).

I have a hardcover genealogy book on them and it includes some of their religious writings at the time. They helped the Indians a lot in the area and also as they moved west.

The first to ever fight in a war was a barkeeper, I he fought in the War of 1812.

The book was put together in 1851 by the Press of M.L. Marion in Philadelphia. It's truly a treasure, as it's filled with writings from the different periods and tons of information.

I should read through it, although some of the stuff in it are copies of actual letters, which are hard to read in their script.

On my mother's side, we don't have near the genalogy. She was a Mc____
I can't even remember if that's Irish or Scottish. Originally ended up in the U.S. in Virginia. This side included a hanged horse thief.”

“hey deathmarch...any relation to eric the horrible? red?

nothing like have an ancestor that sailed into harbor with his crew all hanging from the mast....

so, whos up for a hike?”

“sass --
I am not sure what my Nova Scotia connnections might or might not still be.

My father's father and grandfather came down from there.

On my father's side of the family more is known about his MOTHER (they were Brady's straight off the boat to boston) . . . less is known about the nova scotia connection. Although my aunt kay probably knows something.”

“Okay, y'all got me. On father's side I am descended from woolen mill machinists from Halifax, Yorkshire, who settled in a mill town in Phila. called East Falls around 1890. I am now editor of the neighborhood paper that serves that old neighborhood. Great-grandfather worked for Baldwin Locomotive works, Grandfather for Exide Storage Battery, and Father for anybody who would hire a high school dropout.

Mother's family were Pennsylvania German farmers from Adams County, Pa., who settled in Bucks County. That farm now raises kids, cats, dogs, and boxwoods instead of cows, chickens, and corn.

I was the first person on my father's side to serve in the military and the second on my mother's side. I served in the Vietnam era, but not in Vietnam, in intelligence work. My cousin was an artillery sergeant in Nam. A cousin on my father's side joined the Navy after I joined the Army.

My mother's ancestors lived fairly near Gettysburg and the story was handed down that they heard the cannons. I've always figured they were the Pennsylvania German farmers the Confederates particularly despised. The manpower pool in the north was vastly larger than in the south.

Anyone who served in the Army of Northern Virginia and survived was very lucky. The Stonewall Brigade at the end of the war mustered less than a regiment. Jackson's brilliant Valley Campaign of 1862 remains among the most studied campaigns in history, since it was a campaign of movement and relentless assault. The effect it had on northern command and morale was paralyzing.”

“OK, my turn. I'm lucky enough to be descended from people with a pretty rich history. The first of my family to immigrate to the New World came here in 1635. Now, whenever you've got someone coming over that early (and to Massachusettes, no less) you're going to be related to lots of famous people. Among a few of them are Jonathan Edwards, famous cleric, Aaron Burr, 3rd VP of the U.S., and murderer of Alexander Hamilton, and Teddy Roosevelt's second wife, Edith Kermit Carow.

Going back further in this line, there is at least one English MP, (whose name I can't recall right now, Jordan I think) and a few members of the Baskerville family. I've gotten it successfully traced back to a couple born in the 1460's.

Coming forward, there are about 4 or 5 Revolutionary War vets, one 1812 vet, many Civil War vets, no WWI vets, and a couple of WWII vets. Nobody in my direct family has served since WWII.

My heritage is mostly English, but there is some German, Swiss, Irish, and Cherokee. The most recent immigration in my family occurred in 1847 when my 3rd great-grandfather came over from Ireland.”

“Ooo, forgot to mention that some of my family lived for a time in Bucks County, PA, too. Quakers, I think they were...”

“My mom was adopted, she was found on the steps of an orphange.

Otherwise go Polocks!!!!!!”

“I have an ancestor, Daniel Weaver, who was the aide-de-camp to Francis Marion, (the Swamp Fox), in the revolutionary war. He was almost seven feet tall, so they tell me.
I descended from a lot of hard-core farming types, of whom I'm very proud.”

“Uh, Buddha,

We can argue about what was the first shot of the Second World War, but it wasn't 7 December, 1941.

My dad, his three brothers and his father-in-law, my grandfather (my other grandfather was already dead), volunteered on the Monday after war was declared by Britain and the Commonwealth (Empire) in 1939. They tried the navy, but they weren't recruiting and so they joined the army.

The eldest brother, John, was a 'starred' man and wasn't allowed to join and they caught him. He took a train to Halifax and joined the navy there. They found him again and told him he would be imprisonned if he tried again. He was in international finance and was involved in the transfer of the Royal Treasury to safety in the vaults of the Sun Life building in Montreal.

My dad married my mother on December 7, 1940, one year to the day BEFORE the attack on Pearl Harbour (it was a Saturday in 1940) and left for Europe on the Monday, not to return until 1946.

He saw action in (well, no action in England for a long time) France landing on D3, Belgium, Netherlands (push to Arnhem - the infamous 'Bridge Too Far') and Germany. My uncle Norman fought in North Africa and up the boot of Italy and was in the batle of Monte Casino (and later in the Korean police action). My great aunt found my uncle Jimmy and informed the authorities that he was 14 years old (he was tall for his age - the tallest of all the brothers).

I was born in 1948.

No further comment.”

“Hey, Pennsylvanians! My relatives seemed to first settle in Chester Co, PA. Some then went to Wilmington, Delaware, as well as Salem, Ohio”

“Very interesting histories here and I've enjoyed reading them.

Here's one from waaaaay back in my family:

On my Mother's side of the family there is Mary Brown, nee Moore. She was living with her family in a remote valley in Western Va. in the 1700's, the days of the French and Indian wars. The French, allied with the Shawnee, made a habit of raiding English settlements along the Allegheny front. The supremo bad dude was one "Corn Stalk". He made a raid on the Moores remote homestead that rubbed out all but Mary and her sister. Her Father and brothers were caught in the fields by the raiders. (They ran to the cabin door only to find it barred by the women, as they were instructed to do. That was it for them.) The women were eventually flushed out of the cabin and her mother was tomahawked. Mary insisted on digging graves for the members of her family and burying them. This, apparently, was quite to the amusement of the Shawnee, who indulged her. Then, she and her sister were hauled over the mtns. and up the Ohio to a French trading center. I believe her sister was lost on the march North. No more was heard of her until years later a traveler who had been North said that she had been sold to a Huguenot family and was living as a bond servant to pay off her ransom to the Shawnee. Let us just say she was not living a life of leisure there. She related that the only way that she could get enough to eat was by straining crumbs off of the top of the dishwater every night. Prominent locals organized a mission to rescue her, and suceeded. She lived out her days as a wife of a local Prebyterian Minister and is buried in the New Providence churchyard, Brownsburg, Va. The ordeal, as you might imagine, left some pretty deep scars and one of her more curious sources of solace was to be rocked like a baby, even when quite old.

These kinds of capture narratives are pretty common in that part of the country. One episode gave name to an area near Marion, Va.: Hungry Mother State Park, but that is another story.”