Genealogy - who are your ancestors?

#127
#127
My great grandmother was a Mary Coppage. The Coppage line is well documented. My 6th great grandparents were Charles Coppedge and his wife Lucy Lunsford. That's where mine gets interesting. The Lunsford line, through marriage, supposedly traces their roots way back. They claim to be descended from both the Neville and Rodham families in England, which would make them, and me a descendant of Edward III. I don't necessarily buy into that, but I haven't been able to refute it either.
 
#128
#128
Found out a few years ago that my fathers' mothers' father was a blacksmith for the Army around the turn of the 19th-20th century. He contracted some rare disease from the troops returning from the Spanish-American War and was sent to a clinic in New Mexico where he died and is buried.
 
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#130
#130
My 5th great grandfather, Captain Robert Messer, was executed along with five others by Governor Tyron for their involvement with the North Carolina Regulators after the Battle of Alamance (May 16, 1771). The Regulators formed as a response to unfair taxation and enforcement practices levied upon the populace of the western NC counties by agents of the Governor. Some historians consider the Battle of Alamance to be the first battle of the Revolution.
The story goes that the good Captain’s eleven-year-old son, Christian Sargent Messer (my 4th great grandfather), pleaded for the Governor to execute him in his father’s stead because he didn’t think his mother and sisters would survive without his father. Fortunately for me the Governor refused the offer.
Many of the families aligned with the Regulator movement removed themselves to the far western counties of NC (my grandmother was born in Haywood county) or to that little slice of heaven known as East Tennessee. I’m sure that some of those men exacted a certain amount of revenge at King’s mountain in 1781.
 
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#131
#131
I sent in one of those DNA test things. Turns out I’m mostly a boxer/malamute mix and a quarter pomeranian.
 
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#132
#132
My great-great-grandfather and his brothers founded the city of Joliet. IL. They left Boston to seek their fortunes on the frontier. They settled a crossing of the Des Plaines River traversed by many headed westward. The settlement grew, and the residents decided to form a township. My great-great-grandfather ran in the first mayoral election. He lost by a handful of votes purportedly cast by traveling players who his opponent had plied with drink.
 
#133
#133
Tin Man said:
My great-great-grandfather and his brothers founded the city of Joliet. IL. They left Boston to seek their fortunes on the frontier. They settled a crossing of the Des Plaines River traversed by many headed westward. The settlement grew, and the residents decided to form a township. My great-great-grandfather ran in the first mayoral election. He lost by a handful of votes purportedly cast by traveling players who his opponent had plied with drink.
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And there but for the iniquities of drunkards would have been your grand inheritance.
 
#136
#136
pismonque said:
I sent in one of those DNA test things. Turns out I’m mostly a boxer/malamute mix and a quarter pomeranian.
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My dad's story in reverse. He thinks its all BS, so he sent in his dogs (Australian Shepherd) spit in to see. Came back nearly all Scandinavian.
 
#139
#139
I am pretty sure I am a decendant of Thor. Oh, and Samson from the Bible. He slew 1000 men with the jawbone of an ass...you gotta be seriously peezed off to do that. Other than those 2, I am pretty much a mutt. Just a genetic hodgepodge of hybrid vigor from the far reaches of civilization, and all 12 tribes of Israel IIRC. IKR. TMI.
 
#140
#140
My grgr grandfather is driving me crazy. I've been trying to track him down for nearly 2 decades, and I'm no closer than the day I started. He appeared in Smith County TN in the 1860 census, living in the home of another family. He was 14 at the time. No trace of him in 1850, and no clue who his parents were.
 
#141
#141
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
My grgr grandfather is driving me crazy. I've been trying to track him down for nearly 2 decades, and I'm no closer than the day I started. He appeared in Smith County TN in the 1860 census, living in the home of another family. He was 14 at the time. No trace of him in 1850, and no clue who his parents were.
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Orphan maybe? Left on a doorstep, taken into and turned loose from a few different homes? Would explain the absence of records. Or maybe a hush-hush birth that was kept on the downlow to avoid scandal. Or maybe a runaway who changed his name. Lots of possibilities. Hope you find the answer.
 
#145
#145
My other great great grandfather shot a man in a dispute over potatoes..... that's all we were able to find out about the reason.... don't know if dude was stealing them from his garden or if the mashed potatoes were served cold.
 
#146
#146
Carl Pickens said:
My other great great grandfather shot a man in a dispute over potatoes..... that's all we were able to find out about the reason.... don't know if dude was stealing them from his garden or if the mashed potatoes were served cold.
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Don't mention that in the restaurant thread. A bunch of servers will come running in and chastise you for blaming them for poor service.
 
#147
#147
Carl Pickens said:
My other great great grandfather shot a man in a dispute over potatoes..... that's all we were able to find out about the reason.... don't know if dude was stealing them from his garden or if the mashed potatoes were served cold.
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One of my great great grandfathers stabbed a guy. The state of Tennessee sought the death penalty, but he died in prison awaiting trial.
 
#148
#148
pismonque said:
Orphan maybe? Left on a doorstep, taken into and turned loose from a few different homes? Would explain the absence of records. Or maybe a hush-hush birth that was kept on the downlow to avoid scandal. Or maybe a runaway who changed his name. Lots of possibilities. Hope you find the answer.
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I've always assumed orphan. It's also quite possible that there was a name change, because there is no record of his existence before he ends up in a foster home in 1860. It's also possible that he is related to the family he is living with. They don't give each person's relationship with the head of household prior to 1880.
 
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