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American Stories!
- Thread starter Rival
- Start date
One branch of my family tree came over on the Mayflower.
Their descendants in my family tree intermarried with Quakers, then - the ones I'm descended from, anyhow - fled for Canada during the American Revolution because of the religious persecution of Quakers in the new United States.
Another branch were some of the first European settlers in Elgin County, Ontario. They arrived in the 1830s just after the treaty was signed opening up the area to settlement. They were from Scotland; according to my grandmother, the father of the group was a ship captain from the Isle of Mull. I guess they liked clearing farms, because 20 years after clearing their farm in Elgin County, when the Bruce Peninsula opened to settlement, they moved up there and cleared another farm.
My Dad's side arrived here from Belfast by plane in the 50s.
My grandparents on my mom's side came from Luxembourg in the late 1800s. Mary Philomina is the name I remember...
On my dad's side, the ancestors came from Germany.
But my favorite story is of my Great Grandma Neelins.
She was in her late 80s, and still independent and driving. Her car was having trouble, and she took it into the shop. She was told not to fix it; the cost of repair exceeded the price of the vehicle. She spotted a young man with a car for sale; an old beater with flames painted on the side. My white haired old grandma asked the young man how much he wanted for it. $350, he told her(this was back in the 80s). She sternly told him she'd go play Bingo that night, and would be back the next day.
She won exactly $350 that night, and returned to the surprised man the next day and drove her new car home.
Her daughter(my grandma) said she was always doing that with Bingo... upcoming bill? No problem. And always specific amounts, no more, no less.
On my dad's side, the ancestors came from Germany.
But my favorite story is of my Great Grandma Neelins.
She was in her late 80s, and still independent and driving. Her car was having trouble, and she took it into the shop. She was told not to fix it; the cost of repair exceeded the price of the vehicle. She spotted a young man with a car for sale; an old beater with flames painted on the side. My white haired old grandma asked the young man how much he wanted for it. $350, he told her(this was back in the 80s). She sternly told him she'd go play Bingo that night, and would be back the next day.
She won exactly $350 that night, and returned to the surprised man the next day and drove her new car home.
Her daughter(my grandma) said she was always doing that with Bingo... upcoming bill? No problem. And always specific amounts, no more, no less.
I'm not American but i have a story of Sarah, I don't know much about her but what i do know is..
In the late 1690s she took a ship, the Elizabeth from Liverpool. Coincidence, one of my husband's ancestors was on the same ship. They probably met with only 78 passengers on board. I like to think they got together but records show he died "without issue". My ancestor however never married but had several children by different men who she met on her way to California. It seems her mission was to populate America.
In the late 1690s she took a ship, the Elizabeth from Liverpool. Coincidence, one of my husband's ancestors was on the same ship. They probably met with only 78 passengers on board. I like to think they got together but records show he died "without issue". My ancestor however never married but had several children by different men who she met on her way to California. It seems her mission was to populate America.
Sadly could also be rape
Sadly could also be rape
Quite possibly.
Though she'd have been very unlucky, i think she had around 12 children
Spice
StewardshipPeaceIntergityCommunityEquality
My paternal grandmother's line goes back to the 1680s, where by my France-to-England-to-colonies ancestor ignored the English King's order to not cross the Blackwater River in VA into NC Indian territory. He not only crossed, he made a significant trade with a Chowanoke Chief of two white stallions for a significantly good piece of land and a wife. The King eventually granted this piece of land to others, reciprocating the "ignore", and the family was forced to buy it again in later decades. Some descendants live there to this day.
In the meantime, my paternal grandfather's line had settled in VA just a bit farther inland. In 1703, they too crossed the Blackwater. Over the next several decades a few sons ventured back towards the east, following the path of a couple of rivers, until they settled very near the land bought from the Chowanoke Chief. Land that in part would eventually become the Chowanoke Reservation.
This generation of multiple sons, had one particular entrepreneur that eventually led to my father. His "businesses" were questionable in today's standings, but quite profitable for a time. The War of 1812 provided him opportunity for new lands in FL. He made arrangements with a "friend" and left behind at least one son, my great-great grandfather, and his sister, both of who had been born to a mulatto of his acquaintance. This bloodline, though thinned in comparison to the other, also remains in the same locale.
My maternal story is also old and, to me, interesting, but I'll save that for another time.
In the meantime, my paternal grandfather's line had settled in VA just a bit farther inland. In 1703, they too crossed the Blackwater. Over the next several decades a few sons ventured back towards the east, following the path of a couple of rivers, until they settled very near the land bought from the Chowanoke Chief. Land that in part would eventually become the Chowanoke Reservation.
This generation of multiple sons, had one particular entrepreneur that eventually led to my father. His "businesses" were questionable in today's standings, but quite profitable for a time. The War of 1812 provided him opportunity for new lands in FL. He made arrangements with a "friend" and left behind at least one son, my great-great grandfather, and his sister, both of who had been born to a mulatto of his acquaintance. This bloodline, though thinned in comparison to the other, also remains in the same locale.
My maternal story is also old and, to me, interesting, but I'll save that for another time.
In disgust following the Swiss religious civil war of 1848, my great greatgrandfather Samuel Mueller saved up money and emigrated to the United States in 1862...just in time for the American Civil War. He went as far as he could with the money he had, and ended up in a Swiss migrant community in St. Jacob, Illinois. By 1868, he'd earned enough to bring the rest of his family. He was a baker by profession. His son--also named Samuel, my great grandfather--became an iron smith. His daughter (my grandmother) married a farmer who also collected milk from local dairies for PET milk company. My dad chose to be a teacher instead of a farmer.
EDIT: And I chose to be on RF...
EDIT: And I chose to be on RF...
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My maternal grandmother's line arrived the earliest, being among the first Europeans to settle in what is now the state of Maryland (17th century). They were English. At least one of my ancestors fought in the American Revolution. My grandmother was a member of the DAR, but I never joined the SAR. (Apparently, it's not enough to simply prove you have an ancestor who served in the Revolution; there's some "process" to have to go through.) Regarding that ancestor, there was some confusion, since the story going around the family was that he fought side-by-side with George Washington. After someone did some research, it turned out that he just gave a canteen of water to George Washington. Also, in that same branch of the family, I have ancestors from both sides of the Civil War.
My maternal grandfather's line is a bit more sketchy, as they were French Canadians who got left after the French and Indian War. Then they settled in Louisiana, so they became Cajuns. They were mostly French ancestry, although there was an Irish and Spanish ancestor in there somewhere. Although they had been in America since the 1700s, my grandfather (born in Louisiana in 1905) spoke French at home growing up, although he left at around age 12 or 13 due to his father beating him all the time. That was unfortunate, and it led to my grandfather being written out of his father's will. They found oil on the property and his siblings cashed in, but my grandfather did not.
On my father's side of the family, they were from the Netherlands, Dutch Reformed, and very devout. They settled in the Midwest at some point in the early 19th century, somewhere in Iowa, although eventually spread out all over. Similar to my other grandfather, both grandparents grew up in rather insular Dutch farming communities and spoke Dutch as their first language. After my grandparents got married, they spoke English at home, and my father and his siblings spoke a little Dutch - but not much.
They sound like good people.
I, too, have a Sarah story.
Way back in the mid-50's my great grandmother would regale me with talk of Davy Crockett, assuring me that his oldest sister, Sarah Elizabeth, was my forth great-grandmother. (Sure enough, this is confirmed in Historical Southern Families, Volume IV, page 53.)
This was exciting news to a ten-year-old. After all, 1955 was the year that Walt Disney produced Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. Many decades later my claim to fame crashed. Quoting one source:
The identity of the eldest Crockett sibling, always believed to have been a daughter, remained unknown for many years. This mystery was resolved only in July 2008, at a three-day gathering of the Direct Descendants and Kin of David Crockett (DDDC) at Crockett’s birthplace on the Nolichucky River. For the first time, indisputable evidence was presented that David’s elder sister was Margaret Catharine Crockett. She was born to John and Rebecca Crockett at Womack’s Fort, built by Jacob Womack as a refuge from Indian war parties in the northeast corner of what eventually became Tennessee.
Identification of Crockett’s long “unknown” sister surprised the organization’s members, including Joy Bland, DDDC historian and a fourth great-granddaughter of David Crockett. “I don’t have a doubt,” Bland replied, when asked if enough evidence existed to authenticate the discovery. “Great descendants are coming from her [Margaret Catharine] and contributing to our history. There is a bible record that proves this.”3 This record was found in the family Bible of Louisa Taylor Lemmons, granddaughter of Margaret Catharine, and was brought to light by Timothy E. Massey, a great-grandson of Margaret Catharine.
In the Bible, a letter written by Louisa Taylor Lemmons spells out the family lineage: “This is what your momma always tole of your mammaw. Your mammaw was Margaret Catharine Crockett then oldest younon of old John Crockett of Limestone Creek. She was borned at a place called Womack’s Fort. Her brother was Col. David that all the stories are about.”
According to the handwritten letter, the girl was only twelve years old when she was “served out” by her father, John Crockett, to a prominent family residing at Jonesborough—a town established in 1779, only seventeen years before Tennessee was granted statehood. Soon after going to work as a household servant, the girl “got in the motherly way,” presumably through the amorous advances of her master. Margaret Catharine was dismissed by her employer’s wife, only to be turned away at her own family home by John Crockett, the pregnant girl’s uncaring father, who, more than likely, was angry that a convenient source of income had dried up.
It is difficult to imagine the feelings a pregnant girl, still a child herself, must have experienced. Pregnancy and childbirth were life-threatening events, and the infant death rate was high. Without proper care and attention, women and older girls frequently died from traumatic deliveries or a variety of complications. But, beyond the physical and psychological pain, a bound-out servant who turned up pregnant usually was branded as a cunning and seductive Jezebel and was blamed for the dalliance that led to her condition.
A compassionate preacher and his family, living on Limestone Creek, took in the abandoned girl. A short time later, a daughter was born whom Margaret Catharine named Catharine. However, the rigors of childbirth weakened the young mother, and later that same day she died.
So where did Sarah Elizabeth Crockett come from? I have no idea, and, believe me, I've look ... hard.
What I do klnow was that her husband, John C. Goodgame, was the son of John Goodgame. And this John Goodgame, my fifth great-grandfather, was hanged for treason near Augusta, Georgia, in June 1781.
My great grandfather grew up in a log cabin with a dirt floor, not far from where I live today. If you ever hear the tale of a boy who liked to grab snakes by the tail and crack them like whips to pop off their heads, that is him. Its a true story about his childhood. He was not a friend to snakes. They liked to sun themselves by the trail where people walked. Some were poisonous and some were not, but to him it did not matter. They were snakes on a human trail, and snakes did not belong there. He grew up playing in the woods and the fields and also doing lots of hard work. Water did not come from pipes, nor was there electricity. Food was made and grown. Women suffered, and men sweated; and the Sun was merciless. Some people kept their milk cool in cisterns and some in streams. People dug underground to store things such as potatoes and jars of canned foods. They bathed in streams. They ate everything that moved: squirrels, snakes, birds, crawfish, catfish, frogs and you name it. If it could be made edible it was food, and they left behind recipes for such.
When he grew up he made his own tools with a forge and a hand cranked fan he purchased through a Sears catalogue. Many years later his anvil was an item of desire to some of his descendants, and one of the lucky ones inherited. With forge and hammer and fan he made horse shoes, hoes, rakes, shovels, rings for various purposes and probably some cutting tools though I think knives and axes probably were outside of his skill. During his lifetime he drove carriages, but his sons obtained automobiles.
In his lifetime he built (himself with his hands) several houses one with a newer style on a crawlspace and somewhat like houses are today. At first there was no running water, but in the new house there was, and it saved so much work! He built a house for his wife. It was never taken down, and every wall and ceiling was made with interlocking wood panels. It was beautiful. The house had propane for heat and electrical outlets, and eventually a telephone was also added. In a town nearby was a small sawmill (now a museum) and and old railway station. That is probably where he obtained his wood for the house or perhaps had it cut to size. I suppose the wood was transported by truck, but I don't know. The foundation after fifty years or so became too moist and after many decades began to sag; but for a long time it stood and was a place where many family events too place.
In the yard flowers were planted and gardens, and there were pecan trees, blueberries, mulberry trees, muscadines (like grapes that do not grow in bunches). Children played and then worked in the fields and would be so filthy by the end of the day and then had to be caught and bathed, because they had boundless energy, unlike their mothers, sisters and aunts.
Sometimes there would be gatherings. Women would cook together or bring their food for potlucks. Funerals and all kinds of occasions brought people together. They made sweet pies of all kinds and cakes and cooked meats and vegetables seasoned, sweet potatoes, salads, fruit salads and pastas.
In the 20th century sometimes men would get together and make ice cream with a hand cranked ice cream maker. This required ice and salt and a strong steady hand to crank the device. Salt lowered the freezing point of the ice, which somehow made its temperature drop below 0C, so that the cream and sugar mixture in a container would begin to freeze. The cranking turned a stirrer to keep the contents soft as they froze.
Viker
Your beloved eccentric Auntie Cristal
I've got some incredible family history.
In short. My father's side is a mix of Welsh and English miners, Spanish/French settlers and of Shawnee/Cherokee bandits/raiders and African slaves. A motley crew if there ever was one. My mother's side is a mix of English religious dissidents/pilgrims, Various British and French settlers and in recent years (past 100-120) Ashkenazi Jews.
The most interesting is that one of my father's ancestors, a Shawnee warrior turned bandit shot and killed one of my mother's ancestors, an English settler and colonial then revolutionary soldier. Both are semi-famous regional historical figures. It was during the battles over the settlement and establishment of Kentucky. The Shawnee warrior was the child of another Shawnee warrior and a runaway slave. His wife was of Spanish and Cherokee (possibly some Choctaw and English) descent. His daughters married other Shawnee and Cherokee fighters. And they absorbed more runaway slaves, to boost their numbers possibly.
In short. My father's side is a mix of Welsh and English miners, Spanish/French settlers and of Shawnee/Cherokee bandits/raiders and African slaves. A motley crew if there ever was one. My mother's side is a mix of English religious dissidents/pilgrims, Various British and French settlers and in recent years (past 100-120) Ashkenazi Jews.
The most interesting is that one of my father's ancestors, a Shawnee warrior turned bandit shot and killed one of my mother's ancestors, an English settler and colonial then revolutionary soldier. Both are semi-famous regional historical figures. It was during the battles over the settlement and establishment of Kentucky. The Shawnee warrior was the child of another Shawnee warrior and a runaway slave. His wife was of Spanish and Cherokee (possibly some Choctaw and English) descent. His daughters married other Shawnee and Cherokee fighters. And they absorbed more runaway slaves, to boost their numbers possibly.