Your Ancestry

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I have a cool murder mystery / paranormal story that I’ll share later.

POST IT!
I love a mystery!

This is not from my family, but an old Wisconsin story that I've heard a few times.

There was a young lady that got married to this guy. Their wedding day they were on horse/carriage. On the way home something happened and he apparently got attacked by a half man, half goat creature. (so claims the bride)

I have always wondered if the bride actually brutally murdered him, or if there really was a creature.
I guess we will never know....

I'll try to find the actual history info.

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: IAMTAT
One of my Scottish ancestors was claimed to have been a 'Changeling'...placed, by the Fae, on the clan castle steps as a baby.

Now that is fascinating......

My family name is from a long line of warlocks, apparently our last name allows us to automatically
be witches or warlocks or something like that...

Ditto.
Witches in my mom's line going back before my G-Grandmother.

Not witches, but it is family legend that one of my ancestors was a Druid. I've never put much credence in it because there's no way to ever verify it, but who knows, maybe there's something to it.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: JAGStorm
You come from the Chinese?

No, a slightly more sophisticated culinary locale.

McDonalds ?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Tell me something cool about your ancestry.

We make the best food the world has ever eaten.

Sorry to disagree, but we Polish make the best food the world has ever eaten...

originally posted by: 35Foxtrot
Sorry to disagree, but we Polish make the best food the world has ever eaten...

Yup, Polish cuisine, what everyone goes out for on Fridays. Followed closely by Hungarian food.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: 35Foxtrot
Sorry to disagree, but we Polish make the best food the world has ever eaten...

Yup, Polish cuisine, what everyone goes out for on Fridays.

I thought getting a Polish on a Friday was just a euphemism...

Maybe it was a university thing.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I have a cool murder mystery / paranormal story that I’ll share later.

POST IT!
I love a mystery!

This is not from my family, but an old Wisconsin story that I've heard a few times.

There was a young lady that got married to this guy. Their wedding day they were on horse/carriage. On the way home something happened and he apparently got attacked by a half man, half goat creature. (so claims the bride)

I have always wondered if the bride actually brutally murdered him, or if there really was a creature.
I guess we will never know....

I'll try to find the actual history info.

We had a murder in my family back in the early 1900's.
My Grandfather was still a little boy.
He left school early in rural PA...to check his traps...so he got home early and found his mother and little sister brutally killed with a shotgun.
The story is that some vagrant was seen in the area...but others say the mom went mad and killed the baby before killing herself.
In the family, they say she was a French woman (unusual in the area)...and always acted a little crazy.

Not much in the way of a police force in the PA hills back then...so, it appears, the mystery was never solved.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Great topic! I'm fascinated by so many interesting stories and backgrounds, especially those that can go back really far in history.

My ancestry is not particularly compelling. Both parents and distant relatives from Italy.

On my mum's side, from the Abruzzo region, they were mainly simple folk, mostly tailors or shoemakers. My grandad, like many, went to Venezuela after the war and fortunately returned after three years with enough cash to emigrate the family to the USA. Many families became broken because many men never returned from South America.

As for my mum, grandmother and great grandmother, they were all very good at "witchcraft". Not 'Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble' style. More, 'malocchio' (evil eye) sort of thing. We never had a proper mother/son relationship, but we've always had a sort of telepathic bonding. I picked up a lot of traits from her, especially the 'malocchio' ones. Our idea of fun was to go around the 'Campo Santo' (Cemetery) of the small town she grew up in and examine/read graves. She knew everyone buried there going back at least three generations. That's when I noticed that many names had a French slant, so, many villagers must have come from France/Belgium over the centuries. In fact, even my mum's maiden name is a mix of Italian and French. Anyway, I still like to hang around cemeteries... I feel oddly at peace and safe amongst the dead.

My dad's family were from Sicily. I know there must have been a Mafia harassment angle because they, too, left for the USA, which wasn't necessary because they were economically sound. However, in Philadelphia there was a relative who was definitely a mobster and looked after my Sicilian relatives, both during the war and after.

The only claim to fame is a relative of my dad who was a Hollywood actor, not massively famous, but he was in about two dozen movies and worked with Clint Eastwood. I can't say his name because I'd be giving away my own identity.

That's it, a lot of words for very little substance.

On my Mother’s side of the family there is actually a documented blood line back to 1066 AD. One of my ancestors came over with William the Conqueror. Apparently it went down hill from there. According to family stories our first family member to come to the New World, was a young sailor on his first voyage. He became so sea sick on the trip that he jumped ship in the Carolina’s, he was more willing to become a criminal rather that face another sea voyage.

Another was a war hero from that little skirmish in 1812. For his deeds he didn’t have to pay taxes the rest of his life. Yet another was hung for stealing a horse. His advice was,” Son, in the dark of the night, no matter how pretty the girl, take the fastest horse.” It May have had something to do with the innkeepers wife?

On Dad’s side we don’t have much in the way of documentation, my great, great, ect, grandmother was Cherokee, and she had 3 sons. Family legend has it, there may be some African blood there as well. I can’t confirm one way or the other. Because of a fire we could only trace the family to the Shooting Creek/ Copper Hill area of Tennessee.
After the boys were born my great, great, ect, grandfather took off to California for the gold rush, he came home well heeled and I have some of his rock samples. He bought up property all around East Tennessee with the Gold profits. When he went back for a second trip to check on his holdings, he disappeared, leaving the Cherokee gal to raise those 3 boys alone. He was probably killed or Shanghaied along the way. Life was tuff back then. What ever happened, I expect the ole SOB gave as good as he got, as that always been our way.

My family has made and lost a dozen fortunes, with luck, I intend hold on to mine.

a reply to: IAMTAT

We seem to have an uncanny amount in common.....

My grandfather is from rural PA
My G grandmother was French, also in rural PA.

a reply to: Encia22

It appears ATS is 80% descendants from Sicily..

originally posted by: JAGStorm
It appears ATS is 80% descendants from Sicily.

While my family is a bunch of Italian rednecks we're not that rednecky.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: IAMTAT

We seem to have an uncanny amount in common.....

My grandfather is from rural PA
My G grandmother was French, also in rural PA.

My grandfather was a coal miner and stone mason in PA (Uniontown area and WV).
His father was also a stone mason...and responsible for a lot of the monument work @ Fort Necessity.
Grandad also did some stone work on Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water.

a reply to: network dude
As a German, I approve this message and assure you, you are great just for this fact alone. Disagreeing with your message is now verboten.

I am a mud between Italian and German. But there isn't much known beyond WW2 about ancestry on the Italian side.

Enough to make me dislike snow. It's snowing outside. Feels like a late April fools joke.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Encia22

It appears ATS is 80% descendants from Sicily..

It's not so surprising when you consider the mafia is also referred to as 'La Piovra' (The Octopus); not only for its strangling effect on government and law enforcement, but also for its long and global reach. Sicily is a beautiful place and its people are mostly honest and hard workers; you just have to not judge badly simply because of the mafia stigma.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: JAGStorm
It appears ATS is 80% descendants from Sicily.

While my family is a bunch of Italian rednecks we're not that rednecky.

Hey, I resemble those remarks.

a reply to: IAMTAT

My grandfather was a coal miner

uhmmm
and so was mine......but not from Uniontown..
I'm guessing a lot of folks in Penna worked the mines back then.
My Gpa had something to do with the building/materials for the Golden Gate Bridge.

originally posted by: FauxMulder
Hey, I resemble those remarks.

Yes, yes you do.

a reply to: Nickn3

For his deeds he didn’t have to pay taxes the rest of his life.

Oh my goodness, can you imagine that?
Imagine if that was a prize for people, no taxes for the rest of your life!!!