I am related to...horse thieves and whackaloon preacher-cussing-out French Huguenots (ah, Jacob Salle, you are my favorite ancestor), among other sturdy peasanty types.
My most interesting relative is probably the guy who was the first person in New Jersey convicted under Prohibition. He was also tangentially involved in the Lindburgh Baby case. (As far as I can tell, in that one, he blatantly lied under oath, probably because he was being bribed and/or threatened by gangsters.)
I am descended from Irish farmers, and the records get too vague to trace after a couple of generations, because absolutely EVERYONE in West Cork has my family's name. So much so that people are referred to by their first names. "Oh, you're Denny John Michael's niece."
I'm pretty sure my dad was longing for kilts. The last name is derived from MacGregor, that is certain, but he can't find the definitive JUMP.
Poor Dad.
I lose the "John Taylor" trail pretty quick, but I got lucky with the Brooks family. I was also lucky because someone (as far as I can tell, on behalf of my mother's cousin's children) has done a lot of the work. And that the Rochester Library has every city directory from 1880 - 1930 on line. My grandpa's family owned a house in what is now a somewhat bad part of the city from 1880 - 1950 at least, but it looks like it has since been demolished as it is now a vacant lot.
Timelies all!
My deepest sympathies, Anne.
Plei- are you friends on LJ with mustangsally? Because she has posted her comparison of her cat to Benedict Cumberbatch!
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I'm related to slaves, indentured labourers, and statistically slave owners. Apparently we're also related to some famous Moulton who was married to a female British poet or something, but I think that's just one side of the family making shit up to feel special.
One of the weird things I had to think about when I started doing geneology is that my family probably was an oppressor, if not of slaves, than of Native Americans/Indians. I had sort of absolved myself of that because I had been told that everyone in my family immigrated after 1900, but that was totally not true.
Although sort of weird that I was told that?
Well, take it back far enough, and the whole damn human race is just great-to-the-nth cousins.
No wonder we can't agree on anything.
"Mooom! Gnar is TOUCHING ME!"
"Don't make me put this travois down or I swear I will knock you both back into the Mesozoic."
Well, take it back far enough, and the whole damn human race is just great-to-the-nth cousins.
The differences in our genetic material from individual to individual is statistically insignificant. As far as stats are concerned we're all the same person.