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I was looking through my family's history and reading some of the stories, such as one ancestor that got washed overboard from the Mayflower and subsequently pulled out of the drink, to another that was a shipwright in Nova Scotia and his contributions to the science.
There was one group I am related to who lived in Northern England and began killing tax collectors. They had a sentence of death passed on the whole family, so they legged it into Scotland for a few generations, then crossed to Ireland, where after another few generations, got shipped to Tasmania as seditionists.
I know there are probably some really cool ancestor stories here on Dakka. I opened this thread so people can share some, so have at it!
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I'm related to one of the men who signed the deceleration of independence.

Being descended from the Normans of Sicily;

About a decade before he left for the Crusades, Bohemond had been engaged in ongoing conflicts with the Byzantines in Greece. During this time (about 1083 I believe) he received some Byzantine dignitaries who were trying to arrange a peace settlement. They basically offered Bohemond and the Normans nothing in exchange for an end to hostilities, which he took as an insult. He sent the men from his tent to where their horses were being kept by some Norman knights. As they approached one of them was stoking the Horses mane. It was a beautiful horse, with very white coloring and strong legs (words of Kenneth Harl here). The knight said "you have a lovely horse." He then promptly punched the horse in the face so hard it fell over and then died.

Is the story true? No idea. But it certainly says "don't feth with the Normans"

Other than that the best I got is that my mom's side of the family came over on the Mayflower, and my grandfather was the first man to lead Green Berets in Vietnam. One of his cousins is Lawerence N. Guarino, who was shot down during the war and wrote A P.O.W.’s STORY: 2801 Days in Hanoi

Martin Bormann :-\

I descend from the inventor of shirt printing.

My Great-Something Cousin was on the whaling ship Essex when a whale breached on it. He died of dehydration, and was eaten by the survivors of his lifeboat.

John Alden came over on the Mayflower. He was a cooper.

Bear with me now. Everardus Bogardus was one of the founding members of New Amsterdam.

I'm really freakin' American.

I come from a long line of blacksmiths and bastards. I guess blacksmiths really get around.

 Chowderhead wrote:
My Great-Something Cousin was on the whaling ship Essex when a whale breached on it. He died of dehydration, and was eaten by the survivors of his lifeboat.

John Alden came over on the Mayflower. He was a cooper.

Bear with me now. Everardus Bogardus was one of the founding members of New Amsterdam.

I'm really freakin' American.

My ancestor from the Mayflower was John Howland.

Some info about your ancestor:




http://mayflowerhistory.com/alden/

A list of people you are related to through John Alden:

http://mayflowerhistory.com/famous-descendants

My ancestors come from lines of both Polsih and Lithuanian nobles who went around and fought pretty much every neighbouring country

A story that I heard growing up:

An ancestor of mine (I think a multi-great grandfather) fought for the Union during the Civil War. At the end of the war, he went home, traveling by foot. Towards the end of his journey, he traveled past dark and finally bedded down to sleep beside a fence.

When he woke up he realized he had slept just a few hundred yards from his house. He could have just walked home and slept inside, but he didn't realize how close he had gotten in the dark. I always thought that was pretty funny.

I have an ancestor who fought in the revolutionary war, war of 1812 and tried for the civil war but got turned away for age. Also, my ancestors have a book written about them

My great-grandfather blew up a bridge so the Germans couldn't use it.

My grandfather survived... a lot during WW2. Germans, Russians. Could fill a thread about him P
His brother fought alongside the French Army at the Sloedam in Zeeland, where remnants of the Dutch army made a last stand alongside the French army. He was injured, and my grandfather and his parents had to look for him at night, searching through the bodies.

Not too sure about longer ago, but there's Dutch nobility somewhere, and Swedes. According to dentists I have that Hapsburgher-family chin, so that may be something. I'm also likely descended from Charlesmagne... like most Europeans

 Sasori wrote:
I'm related to one of the men who signed the deceleration of independence.

I am as well, John Hancock was my great-great-great-great-great-great- grandfather.

I am related to one of the Salem Witch Hunters, don't know much about him but he was one of the first to come out and admit what they were doing is wrong.

Also related to Aseline the Wolf, a Crusader of the fourth Crusade, I believe.

I expect a LOT of tall tales in this thread.


For my part, My great, great uncle (iirc) went down with the HMS Hood.

Once you go back past 8 generations you are pretty much related to everyone...

I'm descended from these noble geniuses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazzi
Suffice to say, we weren't the smartest at times... though we do claim ancestry to Julius Caesar! (like all noble Italian families did back in the day, because "hail Caesar!")
The Pazzi line can be traced back to the dark ages, though finding out much about our family is rather difficult, due to the fact we were also excommunicated by the Church for trying to assassinate the Pope at one point... (oops!)

On my mum's side, my great granddad joined the Canadian military at 15 at the outset of the Great War. He fought in all of the 4 major battles, including being among the charge at Vimy Ridge - Canada's greatest victory of the First World War.
Sadly I never really got a chance to know him, as he passed when I was only about 2 and half years old.

My granddad was a dispatcher during the second world war. Unlike my great granddad though, he never really talked about any of what he did, though his back was badly scared by a German flamethrower.

I have had a member of my faimly tree in every major war that the UK and England has ever forght since the Civil War

 Ribon Fox wrote:
I have had a member of my faimly tree in every major war that the UK and England has ever forght since the Civil War

Even that one faought over the tea crumpets?

No, thats the one with Parliment and the Crown :p

 SilverMK2 wrote:
Once you go back past 8 generations you are pretty much related to everyone...

Pretty much true.

I think someone did the math and found out that you are related to someone twice over if you go back a certain number of generations.

 SilverMK2 wrote:
Once you go back past 8 generations you are pretty much related to everyone...

To an extent.

I think it would take more than 8 generations to connect someone living in Sweden to someone from Vietnam(provided they were both ethnically "pure")

Once you hit the 1800s or so the number of generations to relate to everyone else increases drastically.

Mostly prisoners, I think a few came over during the gold rush but mostly prisoners.

One of the ancestors on my father's side was sent over for sedition (usual Irish stuff basically). Another one tended the horses for Hume and Hovell, got a great deal of land out of it in the Hunter Valley, which he gave to the church once he died.
I may also have some relation to the officer involved in the Fitzpatrick incident. But that's something we don't touch with a 10 foot pole.

On my mothers side I have a couple of great great uncles who fought in France in WW1.

Smugglers, soldiers (WW1, Irish Civil War, and Vietnam), rebels, police, jail breakers, sailors, servants, carpenters, one grandfather was present when the German North Atlantic U-Boat fleet surrendered, and I had relatives on the Lusitania when she was sunk

I'm black, so. lol

 BlaxicanX wrote:
I'm black, so. lol

I had afriend in New Oeleans who was "Black", that saw roots with some buds. This encouraged them to research their familie histories, which revealed that pre Civil War, his family owned his friend's family!

I'd like to do that someday. I know that my great-great-grandmother on my Dad's side was a slave. Beyond that, my family history past my grandparents is more or less a mystery.

My mothers side of the family descends from the Normans that attacked England in 1066. Ironically my fathers side of the family descends from the Saxons that lived where my mothers side of the family attacked.

Their marriage ended up just the same.

My ancestors are all dead. D: