So Reddit, what awesome stories does your family history hold?

mooshoes · 3 months

My great-great grandparents homesteaded in South Dakota in the 1800s. One bad winter a sudden blizzard came in while one of their children was out taking care of the animals.

It snowed so hard, and the wind was so harsh, that visibility was only a foot or two, and the wind drowned out all sound. The family stood on the porch calling his name and banging pots and pans to give him a sound to head toward, but night set in and he didn't make it back. They hoped he'd gotten to the barn and would wait out the snow, and all they could do was wait and pray; going out in the white-out blizzard, with 50 miles of open land in every direction, would be death.

In the morning the blizzard left. My great-great grandfather went looking for his son and found his frozen body tangled in the barbed wire fence not far from the house. He had gotten most of the way home but fell on the fence, and died there alone in the night.

nowjimmy · 3 months

When the waffle maker died at my Grandma's house, my big Italian iron worker Grandpa ripped it out of the wall and threw it into the yard, yelling "YOU MADE IN JAPAN SON OF A BITCH". So yeah, that's what I come from.

laurieisastar · 3 months

I have lots, because my dad is really interested in genealogy!

A distant cousin was murdered in Boston in the 1800s. It was never solved but the police report said that the cause of death was strangulation by piano wire. Kinda crazy.
My many-times great grandmother was Rebecca Nurse. If you ever read The Crucible, you'll recognize that name. She was the first person hanged for being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. Interestingly, my family has several ties to the girls who accused her as well.
A direct relative had a pretty famous civil rights case heard in front of the Supreme Court. They ruled against him, and it's still studied in law schools as one of the worst decisions in the history of the bench.
My personal favorite: I'm a direct descendent of the legendary Ocean Born Mary. So yes, that does make me part ghost.

Cthulhuhoop · 3 months

My maternal grandmother's uncle got blotto and placed a classified ad inviting anyone who read it to a barbecue. The next Sunday rolls around and people start showing up at his house, and Uncle Peck is baffled, but everyone insists he invited them. According to my grandma, "hundreds and hundreds" of people showed up and, it being the rural south, each brought a dish with them, so it turned out okay.

blackmatter615 · 3 months

tl;dr prostate exam goes horribly horribly wrong.

History of prostate cancer in my family, so that means we get the full monty look and feel around once we hit ~40. That means a camera and other fun gizmos up your ass for those unenlightened. Whenever they do this, they give you a roofie-like drug so that you wont remember the probing, but they can still tell you to clench and unclench and all that fun stuff. My uncle one day went in for his first full exam like this, took the roofie. Next thing he remembers is waking up strapped to a bed with the biggest blackest orderly he has ever seen in his life standing arms crossed at the food of the bed, with a "come get some" look on his face. My uncle is about 6'4" and 270 lbs. His first thought is: The hell happened. The doctor walks in in a bit with a monstrous black eye, unstraps my uncle, and explains what went down.

Turns out an exceedingly rare side effect of that roofie-like drug they used on him is hyper aggression. Yeah, they gave someone a drug that made them hyper aggressive (even if its only a slight chance) and then tried to shove something up his rectum. Needless to say they probably noted that adverse reaction on the charts, and used a different drug in the future.

Crazy_Chemometrician · 3 months

My great great great (not really sure how many greats) uncle robbed a bank and in the process killed a guard. He was captured and sentenced to life in a maximum security prison. He then escaped, assumed his brother's identity, who died as an infant, and then lived out his days on the FBI most wanted list.

Faranya · 3 months

Apparently, I had a some-number-of-greats grandfather who was a loyalist in New England during the Revolutionary War. He was accused of being a spy, and murdered by an angry mob on his front lawn. His wife and children then fled up to Canada.

I'm Canadian now, so thanks angry mob.

DingusMoose · 3 months

My ancestors showed up late and were unable to board the titanic.

7heCrim · 3 months

A few generations back my ancestors were living out on a prairie or something. One day the family was attacked by indians. Everyone was killed except my great ... great grandma. she then had her tongue cut out and was left for dead. Until a ranger showed up and saved her.

That day my lineage almost ceased to exist. I wouldnt have been born. Weird to think about.

TrueBlonde · 3 months

My great great grandfather was a big angry German that the whole town hated. He would spend every night in the local bar getting roaring drunk before stumbling home down the main road and beating his wife and children.

One night he was at the pub playing poker with a stranger, drunk as always. He accidentally dropped one of his cards and bent over to get it underneath the table. Upon doing so, he saw that the stranger had a tail and cloven hooves - he was playing poker with the devil. He of course lost to the devil because well, how could a mere mortal stand a chance? He stumbled home and told his wife about it, mumbling something about how it was a bad omen.

The next day, he went to work as always, building and repairing train tracks out on the Nebraskan prairie. He was working on repairing some tracks on a bridge that spanned a river, completely hungover and shaken up from his encounter with the devil. He was too engrossed in his work to realize that a train was coming. He had two options - either jump off the tracks into the dry river bed (certain death) or get run over by the train (certain death). He wasn't ok with certain death though. He threw his wrench at the oncoming train, hoping that the train would stop. It didn't and he died. The whole town had a party that night to celebrate the fact he was finally gone.

tl;dr Angry German great-great-grandfather played poker with the devil, tried to stop a train with a wrench, and the whole town partied

pantsareamyth · 3 months

My mom comes from a family of Hungarian Jews. Shortly after my mother was born, their family took in a refugee from Hungary, a 16 year-old named Gary. He had been wounded in the Hungarian uprising against the USSR, and then been smuggled out of the country and to America after the uprising failed. He lived with them for a few years, then moved away. My mom still kept in touch with him for years afterwards.

When my Mom was around 30, she gets a call from Gary. He had been studying his family history, and he noticed something weird. They compared facts, and realized that my mother's maternal grandfather was Gary's great-uncle! The random teenager they had taken in turned out to be a cousin, and after the holocaust, the only family that had been left in Europe.

Fjosnisse · 3 months

My grandfather gave the last radio address at the battle of Cisterna di Latina in WWII. He was a US Army Ranger (1st batallion). The rangers experienced a casualty rate of around 95%.

JesusPlayingGolf · 3 months

My grandfather was a bootlegger during prohibition, the biggest in our county, apparently. He was best friends with the local sheriff, whom he had known since childhood, allowing him to bootleg without the threat of police intervention. He also supposedly helped hide some of the bigger names in crime from that era, providing a brief safe haven for the likes of Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd. Though, that last bit may be little more than a rumor.

_little_kid_lover · 3 months

I'm a Daughter of the American Revolution and I've had a family member that was active duty military/fighting in every war the United States has been in.

underwaterthoughts · 3 months

My Grandmothers Grandfathers Father arrived in town wearing rags and pushing a handcart one day. He promptly bought himself a plot and had a house built whilst saying he was a recently retired ships cook. He got married and had three sons, confessing to them he had been a Pirate! That handcart he arrived in town with had contained three chests of gold which he kept under his bed. He never worked a day in his life. When he died the two older brothers rushed to the house to find the gold, but it was gone. The youngest brother swore he didn't know what happened to it but then bought his own plot of land, built a farm and never worked for the rest of his life either.

This explains my love of rum.

Sapone · 3 months

( I'm Polish ) My father told me that during WWII, my grandfather was captured in a battle by Germans. They were taking him somewhere by train. But on one of stops a Nazi officer gesticulated to my grandfather that he can escape in that exact moment. The train station was in a small town so he managed somehow to escape unseen.

ratfink808 · 3 months

I think this counts.

My Great-Grandpa joined the Army during WW1, the war ended a week after he was done training. My Grandpa was almost drafted into WW2 just before it was won. Then my Dad joined the Infantry during the Korean War, just as he finished his training and was going to be deployed, the war ended. My Dad's brother was in the Army during Vietnam, but was part of an Armored division. He had 1 month of leave a year, his last year in the Army he saved it till the end. So basically he had leave time until he was done. The month he took leave his squad went into battle and every one of them perished in one attack. Hopefully when I join in a year I'll continue the tradition.

EDIT: Just remembered, My Dad was called to go to Vietnam and when he had to do a physical exam they deemed his hearing as inadequate. He was Honorably Discharged, he got lucky twice.

TL;DR: My family has been very lucky at avoiding war.

throwmeawayprince · 3 months

gonna use a throwaway for this, pretty well kept family secret:

TL:DR: If it weren't for the shithead Qaddafi and if I killed my older brother I would most likely be a multibillionaire king of Libya today.

My grandfather was adopted by the king of Libya and because he had no biological sons it is more likely than not that he would have been the next king. Of course in the late 60s Qaddafi took over power and sent the entire royal family into exile so the lybian side of my family spread across the world seeking refuge. my grandmother and grandfather (the adopted son) didn't manage to keep in contact, so my mom was raised by my grandmother. my mother tried to look for them by checking in with the lybian embassy a few years back, but as she tells it the people working there behaved very suspiciously once she mentioned her dad's name. She fled the embassy because she feared getting captured or whatnot, giving the Lockerbie bombing and the Labelle bombing ni Berlin really not that unreasonable to assume.

It was just a couple months ago that she finally found her father again, he fled lybia before my grandmother and him got married, my mom was only 8 years old at the time. They were planning to move into the palace in lybia with him before Qaddafi toppled them; my grandmother was raised in a strict Christian household in Europe so it took a couple of years of convincing my great grandmother to let her go. I think that palace (my would be home) was in the news during the revolution when it got bombed and raided I believe this is it. As I said they lost contact during Qaddafi's takeover and just a couple months ago we finally found him. After over 40 years of being apart they finally got to talk again and the old man was really excited to have his daughter back in his life. The sad part is that the love of his life, my grandmother died a couple years ago and my mom can't bring herself to tell him. My mom actually didn't tell us about all of this until recently because she feared that people would find out about our secret. Now that Qaddafi is gone I feel safe writing about it and have clued a couple of close friends in, but most people wouldn't believe me anyways if I told them that my grandpa was one of the richest people alive making millions a day with oil springs, especially considering that we have lived on welfare for years up until recently

Unadvisable · 3 months

I (and my family) are direct descendants of the royal family of the Korean Silla dynasty. In Korea, we have a (extended) family tomb/cemetery and my family is ranked quite high in the different clans. To this day, relatives (technically) must bow to us.

monsda · 3 months

My great (times something in the teens?) grandfather was Francis Cooke, one of the passengers on the mayflower.

Apparently, that makes me related to these people.

Notable descendants of Francis Cooke include Cephas Thompson, William Drew Washburn, Elihu B. Washburne, Cadwallader C. Washburn, Israel Washburn, Jr., Mrs. Anna Mary Robertson ("Grandma Moses"), (George) Orson Welles, Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (Texas cattleman who introduced the Brahman cattle breed into Texas), Actor Richard Gere, Beach Boys Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and U.S. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Herbert Walker Bush, and George Walker Bush.

theslowwonder · 3 months

Appalachian black magic. My mom's family comes from the hills of Kentucky. The men in the family would pass down the "family gift" from grandfather to grandson. My mom, who's normally sane, claims that her grandfather would simply rub slowly on warts and scars and make them fade away in a few minutes. My uncle never learned it because the family found religion and abandoned it.

A distantly related aunt did a similar thing by having my cousin gather pebbles for each of her warts. She mumbled while touching each pebble to a wart, then dropping them in a cigar box. She instructed my cousin to put the box somewhere where someone would find it, and that person would get her warts. She convinced her sister to take and open the box. Her warts were gone in a week and the sister that had never had warts had them.

Wish the stories were more interesting than curing minor skin maladies, but I'm still kinda fascinated by the heritage of Irish black magic, utilized by hillbillies.

Eisnel · 3 months

A family legend from the 19th century tells of an Indian (Native American) couple that discovered the charred remains of a wagon that had been attacked by Indians (presumably a different tribe). It belonged to a family moving from the East to start a new life on the Frontier. All were slain, except for a baby boy found under the wreckage. The Indian couple raised him as their own. This was my great-great-grandfather. Since they never found out who the murdered family was, his family tree stops there.

Here's the kicker: We're pretty sure that this story is bullshit. Part of it is factual: my great-great-grandfather was raised by an Indian couple, and he appeared to be caucasian. But we suspect that the part about the wagon was fabricated. Instead of being the sole survivor from an Eastern family, we think that he was born of mixed-race parents. Perhaps the Indian couple was his mother and a step-father, or maybe they were his grandparents. The story was intended to protect him from 19th century prejudices. He was able to pretend to be entirely white, even though people knew that he was raised by Indians. This is our hunch. As far as I know, he never admitted that the story was false.

TL;DR: When great-great-grandpa was a baby, he survived an Indian attack and was raised by Indians. Or did he?

A_german_in_amerika · 3 months

My great great uncle killed 3 Russians with his bare hands during his service on the eastern front, earning the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Close Combat Clasp. He may have been a Nazi but he was a badass. I still have his helmet. His brother, on the other hand, was an SS fiend and was executed for his war crimes. I have more info if anyone's interested: I took a keen interest in my family's military history. It goes back quite a bit.

Okuu · 3 months

My great-great...-great aunt Maude is told to have lived on the warpath of General Sherman during the Civil War. Back in those days, Southerners who lived on that path learned to hide their money and valuables by burying them underground. Unfortunately, this tactic wasn't always effective. Now, Maude had recently had a miscarriage (twins), and had them buried in her yard. So, when the Union soldiers marched up to her house, demanding her valuables, she only gave a small amount (allegedly all that she had). The soldiers didn't buy it, so they inspected the grounds and found a dirt pile in the yard. Of course, they dug it up, and discovered two fresh fetus-corpses, despite the repeated protests of my ancestor. The troops, ashamed of themselves, settled for simply burning her house down and continuing onward.

After the war ended, General Sherman himself sent her a letter of apology.

le_capitan_pose · 3 months

My grandpa used to harvest hemp, sadly that's as cool as my family can get.

snikyllek · 3 months

My great great grandfather was convicted of conspiracy to murder Abraham Lincoln.

VikingEsquire · 3 months

When Norse Paganism was outlawed in Scandinavia my family continued practicing the religion in secret; holding Blots, practicing pagan funerals, etc. Many of my family were tortured and killed over the course of 700 years. My family immigrated to Scotland where we acquired our modern family name; and then to the new world, where we spread across the U.S.

Very few of my family still practice our ancestral religion; my cousin, my uncle, and I are the only modern heathens that I know of.

Quellsnot_Fezzipeg · 3 months

Apparently I'm descended from hydrogen...

GarththeGarth · 3 months

My great great grandfather's brother was killed in a barfight by the son of a prominent local politician. He wasn't charged by the local police and the killer was rushed out of town by the rich family. My great great grandfather managed to get on the same train, and the prodigal son didn't get off.

puurboi · 3 months

This will probably ge buried but here is my story of my epic 4'9 grandma.

As i said she ws 4'9 and had a tiny frame. She beat the ever living shit out of a woman who came onto my grandad, (her second husband) in a supermarket in her 30s. She was pulled away with bloody knuckles and chunks of the other womans hair in her hands.

Another story about my grandma, her 1st husband used to get drunk and beat her a lot. One day she was like "fuck this" so while he was asleep she brought a deep pan full of cooking fat to the boil and then poured it all over his cock and balls. He lost a ball and never went back to the house.

TL;DR my grandma of 4'9 and 80lbs was a BAMF

ChocolateAlcohol · 3 months

This isn't mine, but one of my friend's. Her mother's family was kicked out of France.

Camaroshi · 3 months

My great great grandmother was the royal seamstress for the last Czarina of Russia before the Revolution.

i_hate_lamp · 3 months

My great-great-grandparents were slaves.

Barkingpanther · 3 months

Grandpa on my mothers side survived the Bataan Death March during WWII. After a day of forced marching with an injured arm, he pretended to be dead, rolled down a hillside, fled into the jungle and hid out for a few days. Pretty hardcore from what little she's told me of it. She was maybe 2 when it happened, and he didn't like to talk about it. He died in 1962, long before I was born so I never got to quiz him about it myself...

GarryOwen · 3 months

A great great uncle died in a gun fight in Tijuana around 1910ish.
A great uncle piloted a P38 recon plane over the European theater during WWII and lost an eye.

landdolphinman · 3 months

I didn't know about one of my cousins until I was 14 because at 15 he decided to rape someone jogging past his house. And my grandfather nearly severed the neighbors hand when said neighbor declined to loan grand pappy a lawn mower.

pippypep · 3 months

My grandpa was kind of a playboy. While living in the middle of colonial Africa he cheated on my grandma with a local lady. After the Nigerian civil war he fled to the south of France and lived for 30+ years in a menage-a-trois with his best friend and his best friends wife. Never had any issues...everyone was happy with the relationship, we went out to visit his olive farm a couple of times. Not a perfect person, but found a life that made him happy at least.

bthoman2 · 3 months

My parents took me and my brother to Gettysburg for vacation (we were into those "learn something" vacations) where they had a museum with various weapons and items on display. Pretty cool stuff.

That's when we see it, a saber with the name MAXWELL THOMAN engraved in the blade. I had never seen anyone with a last name like ours, our family had no idea. Turns out he was in charge of the Union Artillery in the battle and died from a cannonball hitting him in the leg. We later found his grave in the massive graveyard devoted to those in the battle.

FrankYang · 3 months

My dad is EXTREMELY into genealogy (he's Mormon). On my fathers side, we're direct descents of Charlemagne (Charles the Great). Pretty crazy.

On my mothers side, we're descended from some extremely wealthy slave trader who owned an ENORMOUS piece of Brazil. My family was supposed to inherit a huge chunk of land, but there's a city there now (forgot which), and so legally we can't take possession. I think my family in Argentina is still trying to resolve the issue in court.

You can learn a lot through genealogy.

thedragslay · 3 months

My great-uncle once flew his small plane under the St. Louis Arch. My mom was in the plane with him. They landed, and there were cops EVERYWHERE.

Also, my Dad was one of the Jews who managed to get out of the USSR in the late 70's/early 80's. 1978, i think. He basically had to say to everyone "I'm going to betray you and my country by moving to Israel (really, he was going to the USA) laters!"

I have a ton of stories. My mom was once put on the FBI watch list for a few months, after stumbling across this weird secret military base in a mountain in the desert outside of Tucson, Arizona. She and a bunch of friends later found this weird underground road (neatly paved, clearly maintained) that seemed to lead back to the weird hollow mountain. Her phone was wiretapped, strange people trying to ask her questions, follow her, ect. Shit was freaky.

Mr_Biggleton · 3 months

My great Grandparents were knighted in the Belgium Congo. One of my Granddad's best friends was the leader of MI6 a while ago.

notthegolfer · 3 months

My great uncle(my great grandfather's brother) was a rags-to-riches millionaire. His dad owned a coal mine that paid its workers in dollars that were only valid in the store he also owned. These workers also included his son whom he didn't treat very well at all. My great uncle decided to open his own store that also accepted these tokens and ran his own father out of business(his father was abusive and rather deserved it). From here he kept making money and one thing led to another and next part of the story I actually know he owns a hotel and an island that now belongs to Cuba(it was seized by Castro during that whole deal). He was possibly the cheapest person who has ever lived on this planet. My father's brother was invited to the hotel he owned but upon arrival it turns out my great uncle gave him a room that was completely shut off(no power, water, toilet paper). When my uncle asked for toilet paper, my great uncle actually asked him how many sheets he needed and was planning on counting them. He'd also go into the rooms after each person would finish their stay and gather all of the ketchup/mustard and decant them so he'd have to buy it less often.

He also wanted a pickup truck but didn't feel like paying for one. He took his old mercedes and literally took a saw to the back end and cut the roof off the back so he could throw trash into it like a pickup truck.

It's depressing, really. My father was promised quite a bit of property by my great uncle(my father was like the only one who my great uncle really bonded with) but he died a bit prematurely and never got around to writing a will so his wife got all of it. She just got up one day, sold everything, and left. Not a word has been spoken to her in well over 30 years.

flatfalafel · 3 months

All I know is that historically my family is in "Braveheart". We are the first group that gets slaughtered in the movie. Another fun fact is that I am directly related to Benedict Arnold. I wish I lived closer to my grand father because he has his diary. If I can get a picture of it I'll show the proof

drkush · 3 months

My great grandfather died of what they think was a heart attack while he was feeding the hogs on his farm, no one discovered him missing for several hours and by then the hogs had eaten off his face and various body parts. They had to have a closed casket funeral as a result, this happened way back in 1927 and for years it was something that we weren't supposed to talk about. Whats up with that?

xKazimirx · 3 months

One of my ancient ancestors was one of King Boleslaw's (as in King Boleslaw the Brave, the first king of Poland) bodyguards.

colorudy · 3 months

Just discovered this last year -- Several of my direct ancestors were Mayflower passengers, including 3 signers of of the Mayflower Compact.

I have a friend who descended from Pocahontas and John Rolfe. My 11th great-grandfather was present at their wedding. Before that, he arrived at Jamestown after surviving a shipwreck on Bermuda. There he was spared a death sentence after a failed mutiny by begging for his life. His story is believed be some to be the inspiration for some of the plot and a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

My second 11th great-grandfather was a spiritual elder who led the Separatists first to Holland, then onto the new world. His kids were named after emotions. I descended from Love. Sarah Palin from Fear.

My 10th great-grandfather arrived young, an indentured servant, and died relatively wealthy.

Two of their lines connected after about 3 generations, but the third connected after 8 generations. My great-great-grandparents were likely unaware that they were both Mayflower descendants. Their families had taken different paths through Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota, and I imagine that they just lost track of it. Maybe they did, but there was long forgotten until recently.

wearsredsox · 3 months

Will Rogers ran over my grandma's dog when she was a girl in San Francisco. He stopped and apologized, but that was the end of Biscuit :(

Also, my grandpa was a Navy cryptologist throughout most of the Cold War, but he doesn't share many stories/ I forget a lot of them.

G-Winnz · 3 months

My Dad was sent to China for a few days back in the 80s (before he was married, and therefore, before me). Deng Xiaoping had recently opened up China, and now getting Americans interested in doing business with you was the cool thing to do. I should preface this by noting that my father is a classic WASP, happiest when eating a steak and baked potato with some Wild Turkey and ginger ale. While my tastes are more varied, I have enormous respect for him. But anyway...

Landing first in Beijing, then flying to an airfield closer to the final destination, Dad was greeted at the final gate by the army general who would be his guide. Dad started towards the customs desk, but the General pointed out that he was an honored guest - no need for customs! So he bypassed the desk and entered the PRC. Dad was in China to visit a chemical plant making feed stock for the steel mill he worked at. The only problem - the plant was about as far from anywhere you can get, in Inner Mongolia. So Dad, the General, and the General's aide hopped in a car and started driving.

Many hours later, they arrived. The tour was educational. His final morning there, in honor of the valued guest, the plant owners unveiled a lavish feast. All kinds of fruits and vegetables (I believe Dad mentioned a bounty of strawberries) along with plenty of meats and other foods. This was not only notable for being in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but also because it was the middle of winter. About to dive in, Dad was halted by the General.

"Don't eat the fruits and vegetables."

"Why?"

"They were fertilized with human waste."

Dad ended up sticking to the meat. In addition to the food, there was an ample supply of a local rotgut. Dad tried it, concluded it was probably turpentine, and thereafter forewent the liquor. His Chinese companions... not so much. There was great merriment. After the meal, Dad, the General, and aide set out. Dad was already uneasy driving with heavily inebriated men, but figured it was safe for the time being, seeing as they were driving through the Gobi Desert with nothing to crash into.

Eventually it came up that Dad liked to shoot (a hobby he passed on to his children, I might add). Well, stop the car! The General was thrilled by this revelation. He and his aide got out of the car, popped the boot, and revealed a mighty collection of firearms. My father and the couple drunk Chinese soldiers then spent the next couple hours shooting random shit in the desert with the collection. Ammo expended, they kept driving. They wound up back at the airfield eventually, and Dad parted ways with his travel companions.

Preparing to leave the PRC, Dad headed for the customs desk. "What's that, Mr. Customs Agent? There's no record of my father having officially entered the Peoples Republic? Well, you see, I know this general, and he let me bypass this when I first got here. You don't believe me? Well, um..." I'm not sure of the complete details, but I know my father managed to leave the PRC under sufficiently amenable terms. Thankfully through customs, Dad got on his flight back to the Northern Capital. He thought the hard part was over. Nope, now he had to make sure he could keep breathing.

You see, not long after takeoff, many of the passengers (Dad included) began to cough badly and get tunnel-visioned. Dad recounted watching the old lady next to him puke. It turned out the operators of the airline were chuffed to have an American on their aircraft, so far from America (or really anywhere, for that matter) so, in the aft of the plane, they were preparing tea for the treasured guest. Instead of opting for the microwave they didn't have, they went with the stove fueled by not-entirely-identified petroleum distillates. This was in a pressurized (i.e. - not ventilated) aircraft, so exhaust fumes, complete with plenty of CO, filled the cabin. But, hey, Dad got tea out of it! Eventually, they landed in Beijing and everyone aboard was thankful for the doors opening - sweet fresh air. At long last, the trip was over. In China, that is. Then Dad boarded a plane bound for India...

In conclusion, this event must have affected my father's genes, as, several years later, I graced the Earth with my birth. 22 years later, I now speak Mandarin, enjoy many Chinese foods, and eagerly await the day I can return to the land I love: Taiwan (the two months I spent there in 2010 revolutionized my life in a Close Encounters of the Third Kind kind of way).

TL; DR - My father went to China to visit a factory. He ended up shooting with drunk Chinese guys in the desert and nearly being killed by hospitality on the flight back.

LeonardoFibonacci · 3 months

More properly a "legend":

Philosophy buffs will probably know the name Ludwig Wittgenstein. Well, when my granddad was at Cambridge, they lived in the same building. Granddad was more in what you'd call the "attic." Anyway, he started taking piano lessons from a woman who would ultimately become his wife and my grandmother; shortly thereafter Wittgenstein left Cambridge.

A few years later, Granddad and a few of his friends stumbled across a biography of Wittgenstein saying that he left Cambridge because he "couldn't tolerate the noise."

We put two and two together.

tl;dr My granddad drove Ludwig Wittgenstein out of Cambridge with his piano playing.

ReallyNotACylon · 3 months

I've posted this before, but as far as I know my past hasn't been changed.

My paternal grandfather fought at Peleliu during WWII.

I believe that my maternal grandfather may have been in a POW camp, I'll have to check to make sure.

I had a great-uncle who was at the Normandy Invasion and almost got killed. He was in the transport and claims he had a funny feeling about sitting in one spot, so he moves. A few minutes later, a shell lands where he was sitting.

I have a great (or great-great) grandfather who burned down a courthouse, he was the Sheriff at the time and his reasons why have been lost to time. We've settled on either he had to destroy some evidence or the man just liked to burn things.

I have some relative, either great-great or great grandfather who claimed to have been chased by a man with no head. He was on his buggy coming home when he noticed a man standing in the woods. He shouts to the man but gets no response. So he gets off the buggy and walked towards the man. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed the lack of a head. The headless man began to chase him, so he hops back on the buggy and leaves as quickly as possible. I don't think this is the same one who burned down the courthouse, but if it is it might explain a lot. Either he was crazy or he burned down the courthouse to stop the headless man.

Way back in my family's history is the tale of my Scottish ancestors who sided with the English and as a reward got the Castle Leod, which had belonged to the MacLeods. So my family owns the Highlander's castle.

gnusounduave · 3 months

I'm a son of the American Revolution. One of my many great uncles was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington to end the war. While some of my family took up arms against the Red Coats the others hauled supplies up and down the east coast for the young US Government. After the war my family got a plot of land from the government in western PA and we owned it up until 2000 when we sold the farm in an auction. Had I lived up in PA the farm would have went to me.

There is also a book in the library of congress that talks about my family in the US Revolution. There is one more copy and I think it resides in the university of wisconsin library.

I'm also related to this lady, http://books.google.com/books?id=FGlIAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false , and the church where she is laid to rest is almost directly across the street from where my family owned land for ~224 years

IThinkitsFunny · 3 months

My mom's life story has played out like a Hallmark movie.

She was molested as a kid by her father, neglected by her (likely autistic) mother, ran away with my dad at 15, lived in a car hiding from the cops and picking strawberries, had me at 18, left my dad for beating her/cheating/rampant gambling, went to UW and graduated (despite dropping out of high school), met my stepdad and got married, and now living a cushy ass life and can afford to support my poor student life and even pay for my boyfriend's uninsured dental!

Oh and despite her sketchy past she's never done drugs, smoked pot, NEVER swears, and only has been with 2 guys in her life (my dad and my stepdad). Also, she looked like a fuckin' supermodel back in her day...I'm appalled she didn't shack up with some millionaire but I think she's too honest to do something like that.

She's writing a memoir. I fully expect it to be a big deal cause her life has really defied every expectation

strangler317 · 3 months

I am half Cuban and my grandpa told me about how his father's life changed for the best as the result of a bar fight. My great grandpa was at a bar and a drunk man started talking shit about my great grandmother. So my great grandpa got into a fight with the drunk and the drunk ends up having his hand cut off by my great grandpa's knife. So my great grandpa ends up in jail where he becomes friends with the warden. The warden was sympathetic to my great grandpa because he knew the circumstances. He bent the rules a bit and allowed my great grandfather to get educated. Upon his release he was able to make a better life for his family. That time in prison taught him much about life, not just book smarts, but things that can only be learned through experience. He died before he could see his family escape Castro's communism, but my grandpa, along with my grandma, uncle, and mother escaped Cuba in 1960 and later received their citizenship.

Ml1125 · 3 months

Apparently, my great great great(something like that) grandfather was Sir William Herschel, the man who discovered Uranus.(but he didn't pick the stupid name)

Also, my grandmother traveled from Ireland to America, all alone at the age of 16, to start a new life and escape her family's extreme poverty.

Macdoogle · 3 months

The lady I think of as my Grandmother was a German Jew living on the border of Poland and Germany during the Nazi invasion. Her mother, grandmother and sister were loaded on a train car and sent to a concentration camp one night while she hid in the nearby forest. At the time she was 15 years old. No one remained in the village that she lived, so she basically began walking towards the nearest large city and eventually ended up in Berlin where she was able to find a job in a Nazi hospital treating soldiers returning from the front lines.

While there, she stayed with a refugee family in a hostel style building, and was sleeping one night when Allied forces began bombing Berlin. After several days of bombing she woke to find herself trapped in the basement of the building where everyone had been sleeping for safety. She spent about 72 hours buried in rubble in the basement of the building until she heard someone digging through, shouting. She was rescued by the man who's children had been sheltering with her, and had died while they waited for rescue.

Another time (either before or after the other bombing), she heard the planes coming in for a bombing run and was pushed into a ditch by a german man (not a soldier) who turned out to have been killed by the blast.

Quickly after, the war ended and she was able to get a job at a local pub as a barmaid, and somehow (I'm not certain details) was able to get a job in England near a U.S. Air Force base, as a barmaid. She said she would work from morning till night as a waitress, serve alcohol until close, and sleep in a booth until the next morning (homeless).

Her mother, and grandmother were killed in the concentration camps, but her sister survived, and still lives in Germany today.

In 1954, while attending a movie in London, she met my Grandfather and they were married for 56 years when she died in December 2011. She was a wonderful lady, and continued to tease her WW2 bomber pilot friend about his poor aim almost every time she saw him.

moontabu77 · 3 months

My great x(insert number) German grandpa apparently promised to be a slave if they could just get him to the U.S and once they did he took off and started a 1000 acre farm that still stands.

Also I have a genealogy book to prove I (and about everybody in NE OH and western PA) am related to the Hohenzollern family of Germany/Prussia and they have a pretty bitchin castle. Castle pic

SusieQ314 · 3 months

Well, I'm not too sure how interesting mine is, but it's the family story so here goes:

Many many years ago, my family moved from Germany to Russia. They refused to be Russian citizens; instead, they chose to be Germans living in Russia. I believe religion was part of this (my family is Catholic), but I'm honestly not sure anymore.

Eventually, before or during WWII (I believe), the Russian army tried to force my great great great uncle to join the army. He refused, due to the fact that he still didn't want to be a Russian. He ran away to Canada.

When he got off the boat, a man saw him and said, "Oh, look at you! A strong young man! Say, are you German?" and my great uncle replied that he was. The man then said, "Well, I have a job for German men. Come with me!" So off they went.

When they turned a corner and got away from people, the man turned around and threw a bottle of acid onto my great uncle's face and ran away. My uncle lived, got the rest of his family over, and raised a family. I think there's a picture of him and my grandmother floating around somewhere.

Anyway, not too interesting, but I thought it was kinda neat.

cymrufollies · 3 months

My uncle invented the iridium pointed pen and manufactured same in NYC. To do that he needed platinum, a supply of which he kept in a safe.

WWI broke out and the government needed platinum, of which he had the largest supply in the country. Government bought his platinum. He took the money and bought most of Hackensack, N.J., then he died of a heart attack in his doctor's office.

His widow, my Aunt Jen, inherited it all. She decided when I was about 10 that she'd change her will and give me more than enough money to put me through college. The morning she had an appointment with her lawyer to change her will she died in her bed.

All of which proves the motto, "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations."

Perk-a-Derk · 3 months

My Grandparents on my moms side were so incredibly in love.

Basically, my grandfather stole my grandmother away from the man she was engaged to. He was crazy about her and it worked. My grandmother was the smartest person I think I could ever know, and my grandfather the most suave.

No one had spunk like him and he stuck right there with my grandmother when she had her brain tumor removed...Unfortunately the surgery process at that time was pretty rudimentary and did a lot of damage to her brain. She began to lose the ability to speak, and eventually he was her sole lifeline. He took care of her for so long, refusing assistance for himself. (He wasn't in the greatest of shape himself at his old age)

Eventually my grandmother had to be taken to a hospital and then a nursing home, where he fought to have a double room right there with her. We later found out he had pancreatic cancer that had spread through his body and he was in a lot of pain. He hung on for her though. A few days later my grandmother passed away. After this it was like my grandfather knew his job was done and his love had passed on. No more than a week later he passed away.

I know without a doubt in my mind that she was the thread keeping him alive, and he fought for her for so long. I only dream of finding someone capable of sharing a love like my grandparents shared.

I miss and love them both so much.

jsdeerwood · 3 months

I found out my Great great, great, something great (not sure how many) grandfather on my granny's side was the gardener for the Earl of Skegness, before eloping with his daughter. (...Alright he didn't ACTUALLY elope, they got married and the Dad was fine with it but it sounds better when you say his daughter ran off with the gardener).

leftofleftists · 3 months

One of my Scottish female relatives was involved in a war against an English king. She was sentenced to death. She got shipped to the Americas as a servant. Then when she found out where the natives were, she ran away and married into a native tribe. This was probably in the 1700s.

Her daughter married a French man. He was left in the area west of the Appalachian Mountains after the French and Indian War ended with the British holding all land east of the Mississippi River except for Spanish enclaves in Florida and the south.

As far as I could tell all from my mother's genealogy papers, all of her female descendents married scum.

He was the last arrival of any of my known ancestors in the Americas. Well before the Rebellion against King George.

morgueanna · 3 months

Not me- my boyfriend's family on both sides have some crazy stories. His paternal grandfather worked with FDR on the New Deal and other policies. His dad is a published college professor who regularly talks with heads of state on current conditions in southeast asia (he's also writing a book about said grandfather). His wife, my boyfriend's mom, is Vietnamese and left with her brothers and sisters during the conflict of the 60's/70's. She learned english, went to college and wrote a book about four generations of her family, following one familial line through the past 100 years of wars in Vietnam. It's considered one of the definitive books on the history of the conflicts there.

I really, really like them but I have no idea what to talk about when we go out for dinner...

SophieTugela · 3 months

My grandpa tried to rob a bank in London, pretending he had a gun when in fact what he had was the end of a hosepipe. It seemed a bit strange...he was a rather rational man apart from that quite bizarre incident. It was like one day he woke up and decided to be a bit mental, you know, just for a change.

I wasn't born, but weirdly my Dad kept the newspaper cutting reporting the event as a souvenir.

coffeecupashtray · 3 months

I have several cousins that got scholarships to college for rodeo stuff such as cattle roping and barrel racing. That's the best I got...

ritzamitz · 3 months

My Grandad did the opposite of what Rosa Parks did. He was from Niagara falls and white so had never witnessed segregation. However when he went to Alabama for military training he sat in the blacks only area of the bus because that's where I wanted to sit.

Also his dad was a professional boxer who claimed to be a Mohawk warrior (even though he was half english/half irish - his great grandmother was a mohawk princess like the myth goes) and his stage name was the indian. He also fought the world champion at the time.

thegreatgazoo · 3 months

I had several relatives come over from Europe as indentured servants, which were basically voluntary white slaves.

My grandfather was 2 in 1898 when the family moved from the Missouri Ozarks to eastern Kansas in a covered wagon. It took them a week to get there. Today it is a 3 hour drive.

annafrida · 3 months

My great grandparents had a farmstead in a Swedish enclave in the Red River Valley (Minnesota). They got married and the first child they had that survived infancy was named George. They then moved into a city where my great grandfather got work at a lumber mill. Then, George contracted polio and was put in a polio hospital. At the same time, my great grandfather contracted tuberculosis and was told that he either had to move to somewhere with fresh air or stay and die. The catch: they can't pull George out of the polio hospital. So they leave their 5 year old son in a Stillwater, MN polio hospital and move to Montana. They homestead there for three years and have more children (twins) while there. They then move back to Minnesota (to go back to their original farmstead) and pick up George from the polio hospital on the way (he is now 8).

A few months later, George is on the way back from school with his cousin Charlotte (age 12 or so). They are crossing the train tracks when one of his crutches becomes caught in the slats. Charlotte stays to try and help him remove his crutch, but apparently they don't get it out in time and they're both hit by the oncoming train and killed.

Their uncle survived WWI, but then when he came back he was getting a routine injection but the syringe contained an air bubble and he died.

Also, Charlotte's father was struck by lightning something like 4 times.

mavsfan0041 · 3 months

My grandfather joined the army out of college, had his minor league baseball career ruined in a motorcycle accident, rose to a pretty high place in IBM's R&D but got passed over for promotion eventually in favor of people with college degrees. Eventually got fired in favor of some young college grads who could do what he did for cheaper. Nothing too amazing, but he's always been an inspiring figure for me.

Also, my family had someone fight in the Civil War (Union), someone fight in the Revolutionary War, and someone who arrived in America around ~1630 something making him one of the first people to colonize Connecticut. I'm very distantly related to Robert the Bruce and even more distantly related to some Viking king from around 500 AD. Family genealogy is a fun thing to research.

omplatt · 3 months

My great grandfather saved a boy who was being attacked by an alligator by shooting in in the eye. We still have the gator's skin.

Wayfarer7 · 3 months

Some of my ancestors were pirates (more correctly shipwreckers, but pirates sounds cooler). They operated in the Florida Keys and would move the lights from lighthouses around to cause ships to wreck. They would then "rescue" the now shipwrecked passengers and crew for a price, then return to the ship and claim it for salvage.

acewing · 3 months

My great-grandfather owned all the land that is now Gary, IN. He sold it for moonshine whiskey in the prohibition to the man who later developed it into the steel mills.

randygiesinger · 3 months

My family lineage dates back to the 1700's. We were apparently royalty in what is now the community of Giesing of Munich. While it apparently is in ruins, we have a fucking castle bitches. The only information I have to prove this is in a family tree book written in the 70's by my dads uncle. I can't seem to find shit online.

MouseWithTheOverbite · 3 months

Apparently my great Grandpa got mad at a mule that wouldn't work, so he punched it so hard in the head that he killed it.

Sexy_Fish · 3 months

my great great great grandfather was a grand dragon in the KKK. his wife (and therefore his children) were native american. wah-wah!

milleribsen · 3 months

Well we found out through some elementary school projects that my brother did that both sides of our family trace back to Spanish Gypsies.

Best actual story though.

My grandfather was a brakeman for BNSF in the late thirties. (My grandparents were married in 1929 in Paris, Texas. A few months after they were married and settled on to the family farmland this little thing started called the dust bowl. They packed everything and took to the road (route 66) to California looking for work - this story was scoffed at by a High School English teacher of mine who told me that my family history was a lie and I was stealing the story from Grapes of Wrath). By the time the draft was starting for WWII my Grandfather was 30 and they weren't taking his age group so he decided to enlist. My grandmother (as she used to tell the story) cried and cried telling him not to go as they had a young daughter (my aunt) who was just an infant, but my grandfather told her he wanted to serve. Well he planned to go one day after work to enlist, unfortunately on that day a minor accident on the rail yard caused an engine to take the wrong track in the yard. My grandfather saw this and jumped out of the way of the train, but not quite enough, his foot and ankle were crushed by the train, and he was rushed to the ER. He survived his injury but due to the extent of the damage and the medical knowledge of the time, his entire leg was amputated and he was fit for a wooden leg. This kills his chances of enlisting. My grandfather turned to the drink for fourteen or so years, finally beating his alcoholism, and impregnating my grandmother a second time (sixteen years after their first child) who is now my mother. My grandfather became a union man with the railroads and helped to found many branches of the union (I don't recall which one) along the West Coast. He died one month to the day before I was born.

tl;dr - if he hadn't got hit by a train, my grandfather would have gone to WW2 and possibly died.

ohmygulay · 3 months

My grandfather was a messenger for the guerilla forces during World War II in the Philippines (he was around 16-17). He would relay messages between American soldiers and guerilla groups in the mountains of Laguna. On one of his missions he was discovered by a Japanese officer out on patrol and my grandfather killed him, and took the officer's katana as a keepsake. We still have that katana in my grandmother's dresser, complete with an imperial seal on the hilt of the blade. He later became an pilot / electrical engineer for the Philippine Army. My grandfather was pretty bad-ass. Unfortunately he suffered multiple strokes due to diabetes which rendered his right half paralyzed. Most of my memories with him were of us playing dominoes or blackjack together because he couldn't go outside on his own. RIP

Vusocool · 3 months

Unlock all of the levels "secrets" in the original Super Mario World

wl6202a · 3 months

Well, this is going to be buried, but whatever. My mother's side of the family is Italian (from the Piedmont) and most of them came over sometime in the 20s. Now, during prohibition, my great-grandparents were somewhat heavily into the booze game, and use to make some good side money by selling liquor; my grandmother has a lot of funny stories about how she would "ride" on top of the liquor barrel in the car so no one would suspect, or how the local Irish beat cop would stop by once a week to get his drink.

Now, despite the fact that their local beat cop was paid off nicely in booze, eventually the higher authorities got the tip off that my great-grandparents were selling booze, and went off to arrest them. Hearing the sirens, my great-grandfather grabs the liquor barrel and tries to make a run for it and hide in the nearby corn field (I think they were in Wisconsin at this point). However, my great-grandfather was a portly little Italian man, and those stubby legs couldn't get him really far, and he was surrounded in the cornfield, and he fell down and broke down into tears. When my great-grandmother and grandmother went to bail him out in jail, he was still on the ground, sobbing his eyes out. Much more of a lover than a fighter.

That whole side of the family has really funny stories; my great-uncle Sebastian used to grow weed back in the day, and when the cops arrested him for it he claimed that he was only growing it because he "fed it to his canary to make it sing sweetly."

postal83 · 3 months

My great grandfather painted Lucille Ball's house, which she then invited him inside and signed an autographed picture of her to him. My great grandmother said she was being really flirty with my great grandfather. This dude even was hit by a train while driving, ejected from his truck and landed on a house. Er, so the legend goes.

Thats_classified · 3 months

Eeeh, I might be a little late in the run for this to go anywhere, but I'll tell it for those who are willing to dig.

My great grandfather lived in the Czech Republic when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire pre WWI. His family owned a medium sized farm and made a living with agriculture.

Every spring, my grandfather, then a young man, would have to go out and plow the fields with a team of two oxen. This was long, and my great grandfather felt, inefficient. He asked his father for a team of horses instead. Horses are better workers. My great great grandfather refused. This little spat ended up blowing waaaay up.

 So in his rage, my great grandfather decided that he was just going to go find himself another country. So he stowed away in the cargo hold of a ship that was bound for America. Once the ship was about 3/4 of a mile from New York harbor, he jumped ship and swam downshore, eventually getting to a deserted beach. He had nothing. So he ventured his way down the east coast until he got to central Pennsylvania, where he found a group of friends that had settled there a year previously. There, my hardass, old country, illegal immigrant Slavic son of a bitch of a great grandfather lived until World War One. 
 At the start of WWI, America developed a program that granted citizenship to any illegals willing to fight for America. My great grandpa volunteered. So that's how he got to be here to stay. We live about a half hour away from his old homestead. I feel privileged to be descended from him.

Side note, his son, my grandpa, was part of the Normandy invasion at D-Day in WW2, survived that, fought in Germany for a while, and was later taken prisoner and sent to a German prison camp in Poland. He survived that for 9 months. Came out like those pictures of the starved Jews when he was finally liberated. He happily resides about a half hour from where I live in central PA. He's 86. Just visited him yesterday. Damn, I'll never get tired of listening to the stories that man tells. He's a living treasure.

privatedonut · 3 months

not a ton of people believe this, but my ancestor was Robert Thwing. This is a lord from medieval times, and thought of to be the most prominent robin hood found to date. Plenty of people did robin hood like things back then, but he is the most well known and most influenced the story so... robin hood is my ancestor.

soster506 · 3 months

My greatx11 grandfather was involved in a siege in 14th century Germany. As they attacked, his army was falling back, but he (as a simple foot soldier on the attacking side) led a final assault up a ladder and over the wall. He was made a Baron for his efforts in turning the tide and was given the name 'von Donop', with Donop being similar to the vernacular at the time for 'go up', as in, "Go up the ladder," which he was heard yelling on his ascent.

Found this out with I was younger, we went and visited the estate (small castle-ish thing) in Germany with my family. They had portraits of the head of house going back all 9 centuries and I got to meet his descendants. Awesome shit.

FVBLT · 3 months

EDIT: I'm adding these two I thought of to the top, because they are the best stories.

My dad's great aunt was one of those "doesn't take shit from anyone" types of people. There was this kind of lifeless area on the farm with no grass or trees or anything, that the locals thought was cursed. So, at some point someone started stealing the cows, and she and a few locals stayed up all night to catch the thief. They found the guy, and he was dressed as the devil, probably to try and prevent superstitious people (which was most people at the time) from trying to stop him. So my dad's great aunt goes up to confront the guy, and he just starts dancing and offers his hand to her. So she takes it. So now according to local legend, my dad's great aunt danced with the devil, and that is where the lifeless area came from.

ANOTHER GOOD ONE: My dad's grandpa was a priest, and a guy he recognized burglarized his house. He was going to go report the guy after mass and confessions and stuff, but the guy went to his confessional and confessed to robbing him. Brilliant bastard.

My grandma survived the worst of the Spanish civil war. One thing that always stuck out at me was how the Republicans would throw things at people on trains and shoot anyone who spread their legs to try to catch it, because they were probably used to wearing robes and therefore must be priests.

Less dramatically, my dad has gotten at least one hate letter from Chile every year since he wrote some kind of scholarly paper pointing out that their national epic, La Araucana, is actually racist no matter how many natives are main characters.

Also my grandpa on my mom's side used to drive a train and was seriously injured in the caboose. He also speaks 5 languages from when he was shuffled around after WWII. Also also he has cleared out a 20-foot snow drift to make a walking path after a Canadian blizzard.

xaogypsie · 3 months

My grandfather, when deployed in the South Pacific during WW2, decided that he wanted a swimming pool among the coral. So he obtained plenty of dynamite.....and created a swimming pool. I guess he was quite the problem solver.

Irish_Pineapple · 3 months

My Great Grandfather served as a paratrooper during World War II. He actually participated in Pegasus Bridge. We still have the actual parachute folded up in my parents attic.

He eventually hurt his leg, but instead of going home he somehow managed to acquire a camera and document his squads travels. My family has over a hundred photos of men all across France and Germany.

oOmoonyOo · 3 months

Not really cool, but my mom's uncle used to make drugs and cook supper at the same time so they all sat around the table and talked while he was making meth. He also used to drug his daughter.

BMinsker · 3 months

My many-times-great-grandfather hid his wife and child in a trunk to protect them from marauding indians in 1756. He later died during the Revolution as the Washington's army retreated following the Battle of Long Island. His son Kaspar was a long hunter in Tennessee and founder of Mansker's Station (just outside Nashville).

sujetdirect · 3 months

My great-grandpa had a moonshine still. He lived a little farther down the road than I do. Once, cops came. He shot at them. This was told by his daughter, my grandmother.

slimkwik · 3 months

My family was banished from Ireland to Scotland and when they landed, my great great great whatever grandpa declared that he was the king and nobody stopped him, so he was the first king of Scotland... at least this is how I have come to understand it...ಠ_ಠ

I AM A MCALPINE

Watermelon_God · 3 months

My family surname comes from Scandinavian nobles who tried to over throw the king, or something along those lines. needless to say they failed and somehow in their exile settled in Sicily. if enough people care ill post a source

whynotsoserious · 3 months

There has always been a short temper in members of my family but nothing too bad... for my generation that is. My great-great-great grandfather had come from Ireland and was raising a son and a new born baby girl with his wife. One day, as he is leaving for work, he asks his wife where his hat is and she does not know. He then asks her to help him find it but she says that she can't because she is changing the babies diaper. He then calmly walks over to the fireplace, grabs a fire poker and proceeds to beat her with it. The son sees this happening and quickly grabs the family shotgun and shoots him in the stomach. He bled to death. Good riddance. The son was let off because he had just saved his mother from psycho dad. All because she did not help him find his hat and seriously, a fire poker?

Originalname1234 · 3 months

This guy is in my family tree. His horse Comanche survived the Battle of Little Big Horn. Comanche lived for another fifteen years, drinking beer and leading parades at military forts in the Midwest. When he died he was buried with full military honors. He was then stuffed and is now on display in the University of Kansas.

TL;DR - My four greats uncle's horse was a badass.

[deleted] · 3 months

My ancestor was the mayor (I think, I may be wrong, I'll have to check with my father) of Philly during or right after the rev war.

shrance84 · 3 months

My Grandfather was a Scotsman in the British Royal Navy. Right before WW2 started he was stationed in Australia. He found news that his true love was engaged all the way back home in Scotland. He begged to his superior to leave Australia and head back home. Of course his request was denied so he ignored it and hopped on a boat destined for Russia. From there he hitchhiked all the way to France and then hopped on another boat to England. Again he stuck his thumb up and hitched a few more rides to Greenock, Scotland. He put an end to that engagement, married my Grandmother, and then they had 5 children. Sadly, I never met this great man. Post World War 2 they bought a house together and the first night in the house it caught fire. He pulled out all his children except for my uncle. He fought the firemen to go back in the burning house to look for his only son. As he went back in a fireman came out the other side of the house with my uncle in his arms. My Grandfather never came back out. He is the greatest man I have never met.

Cameroon62 · 3 months

I used to think that my great-great-great-grandfather was the king of Denmark. And I heard this from my mom back when I was in about 3rd grade. Later on, I figured out my great-great-great-grandfather was actually a royal guard for the king. My childhood mind just processed the king part. Still kinda cool though. And it would explain why my family isn't considered royalty.

Kapitezuka · 3 months

TL;DR: Pirates, a few "almost didn't exist" stories, ice cream!

My father is descended from river pirates that would block the Danube with ropes and then attack the ships transporting goods. Apparently this was a family tradition from the 1800s to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire. This side of the family is a bit muddy, though, as my great-grandmother had an illegitimate child with a jewish doctor. To cover up her son being half-jewish, she said the child's father was some priest that had already died so he couldn't refute her claim. Luckily, the ruse was believed.

On my mother's side, her dad had a very christian upbringing so his father (my great-grandfather) killed himself to evade fighting for Hitler. According to my great-grandmother (that I had the pleasure of getting to know until I was about 8) he said: Killing people is wrong, especially for that bastard. She had a hard time after that, managed to cover up the suicide and make it look like a accident, but left with 5 kids who didn't always know how to behave like "proper aryans". According to my grandfather, she was also a rom (gypsy) that had been abandoned as a baby and taken in by a family in Munich.

To end this on a lighter note, on my maternal grandma's side, her grandfather was one of the first pastry chefs that made czech delights available outside the royal court by coming to lower Austria and setting up a pastry shop. Lots of the things he introduced are staples of Austrian pastry artistry today. It still exists today, they make the best icecream ever in the summer.

sneakysnakenig · 3 months

-I can be traced back to Daniel Boone. -My many times great uncle was a Confederate general during the Civil War.

macros-the-black · 3 months

My grandfather served at Monte Casino and we still have a bunch of photos that he took of the monastery before it was destroyed by the allies. Probably nothing that rare or special but I feel very connected to history when I look at the photos.

OhNoOboe · 3 months

On my mom's side of the family, I'm related to Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde, and on my dad's side of the family, I'm related to Johnny Marks.

That's really it.

acridict · 3 months

Not really awesome but kind of sad. I once had a conversation with my mom about family history. Apparently my great grandad on my grandpa's side, being the typical Chinese man of the time, smoked a lot of opium while cheating on his wife in addition to gambling. Later, gg dies while wife is left with three children. Her being a stubborn women, she never asked for family help, causing for my grandpa and his siblings to grow up poor. Eventually grandpa's older brother is taken in by rich parents of late father, leaving the rest of the family to try to survive. The leftover family of grandpa, his younger sister, and overworked mother continue on poorly as overworked mother becomes increasingly sick. She eventually dies, but by then grandpa and his sister are working and as stubborn as her. Eldest brother got an education and everything he could want from rich parents of deceased father, being a success by the way.

On my grandma's side, my great grandmother had five children. Youngest child, around five~ years old, becomes sick. He doesn't get better for a month or so, so my great grandmother decides to take him out to the streets of 1960s-1970s China and leave him there. He was never seen again, or at least no one knew what happened.

More of the fact that shit like this actually happened was interesting to me, I guess.

zachstr · 3 months

One of my grandpas was a ski troop in World War 2, and the other was a nuclear physicist. My great grandpa was a famous geologist and discovered another way that granite can form. Also, I am distantly related to Eli Whitney, and one of my relatives turned down Mark Twain on a date saying that he was a "ne'er-do-well".

thatlazygamer · 3 months

I've been told that one set of great-grandparents met because he jumped out of a train, and she was the nurse that took care of him till his injuries were healed.

Then there is the story about my French great-grandmother who walked out in the middle of a busy highway to the protests of her children and grandchildren. Head held high, she insisted it was fine because "I am old and no car would hit an lady, especially an old one". I never met her, but apparently she did these sorts of things all the time.

flossette · 3 months

My grandfather was born in 1899, in Scotland. Ran away to join the navy when he was 14 - 1913 wasn't one of the best years to join a military force.

He survived the WW1. Also survived WW2. He eventually left the navy after the ship he was on had been blown up three times. The last time, the person he was standing next to as the ship was hit was killed, and my grandfather survived. At that point, his response was along the lines of 'Fuck this - I'm out of here', so he left, got married, and became a farmer in Wales. Tried to find his family, but they had moved to America, and we have no idea about who they are/if I have any relations from that side.

Also, somewhere along my lineage, an widowed ancestress married her dead husband's brother - which has certain similarities to Hamlet. Cue family scandal

Uberrees · 3 months

When my grandfather was 13, his father and mother were sick in bed. This was in rural Louisiana during the depression, so they ran out of food rather quickly. My grandfather was from a very large family, with many young children. He knew they would starve if they could not get food. He got a shotgun and went out into the woods, hoping to find a deer. He ended up having to be the only one to provide for his family for almost a month, with only what he shot in the wilderness. He was fucking 13. He later went on to survive pearl harbor by jumping off of his ship (uss Oglala) as it capsized.

Bittergreens · 3 months

My great grandpa on my mom's side was cutting the heads off of chickens one day when he accidentally cut off his finger instead. The chicken whose head he had meant to cut off, seizing the moment, grabbed his finger in its beak and ran off with it, never to be seen again.

dawsonn007 · 3 months

My great great uncle's name was John Nichols he wrote a variathion on Oh, Susanna and it was widely know through california.

TroutTroutBass · 3 months

My Dad's family has both Irish and Italians in it, so he's got some pretty funny stories. My favorite of these involves my great-great-grandparents. My great great grandfather (GGF) was a big strapping Irishman who had a grand red handlebar mustache of which he was very proud. He was also an angry drunk who would come home and get into knock-down fights with his wife. One night, my great great grandmother (GGM) got fed up with my GGF's behavior, and after he had passed out drunk, she shaved off one half of his mustache. Well, when he woke up in the morning, he was furious and they got into yet another fight, where my GGM hit my GGF with a frying pan. As they came to a lull in the fighting, my GGM said, "Listen, you come home that drunk again, and it won't be your mustache that's missing!"

I don't know if the fight ended there, but the family mythology says that he never came home drunk again.

My Dad's father was a B-17 pilot in World War II, and so we have lots of crazy war stories also. But those aren't nearly as funny.

zordon_rages · 3 months

When my grandpa was in elementary school some kid kept bugging him and wouldn't stop, so he stabbed him in the shoulder with a sharpened pencil. Pretty bad ass if you ask me.

itslocked · 3 months

My family believes that one of our ancestors was one of those Native American babies that was abandoned on a battlefield and taken in by our family. If only I could get the people who give out scholarships to agree...

poloport · 3 months

My uncle was in the Portuguese Colonial War. He was stationed in guiné-Bissau for about a year when the revolution occurred, unfortunately due to the nature of the conflict communications were... less than optimal. He ended up living in a hole with some other guys, continuing to fight, for about a year after the war ended, not knowing it was over.

My grandma thought he was dead.

Then in 1975 he just came back. One day he just walked back home, and my grandma burst out in tears when she saw him walking up the street (mind you, she is a very strong woman, who didn't even cry when she lost her leg a few months ago).

He's always refused to talk about what had happened there, but even today he's not quite right in the head because of it.

SerinaLightning · 3 months

My grandfather worked in Linus Pauling's lab, and the story goes that my grandpa was so bad at chemistry that he got fired because he kept accidentally blowing stuff up.

My aunt and uncle just finished their goal of running a marathon in all 50 states.

My maternal grandmother survived Auschwitz.

theparagon · 3 months

My grandfather is a second generation American (his parents were from Italy) and was drafted into the military for the Korean War. The military trained him in the use of radios and other electronic equipment the military used. He was in California waiting to ship out to Korea when the war ended. After he was honorably discharged from the military he began working with electronics. He is one of the pioneers of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) which is basically the electronic transmission of documents from computer to computer.

bobaimee · 3 months

I am a direct descendant from Erik The Red. My grandma has the genealogy charts to prove it!

rohirrim · 3 months

My great grandfather fled nazi Germany because he refused to fight for Hitler. He lived well into his nineties, even after they took his legs.

My father is probably the most remarkable man I know. A stark union man, he's been arrested on more continents than I've visited. He once very nearly killed a man for me.

Also, one time, my sister stabbed a kid in the eye with a pencil because he was being a dick. Legend says she threw it across the room and it took him clean in the eye.

Eode11 · 3 months

One of my great-great uncle or something like that was cattle rancher out on the prairies around the turn of the century. Him and his family would regularly trade/buy/sell things to the local Native Americans.

Well, one day my ancestor goes out and, through a series or trades, exchanges horses and some other goods with a local Indian. On his way back home, he begins to take the blankets off his new horse's back, and finds that the horse is sway-backed, and completely useless. He shoots the horse, takes the blankets, and walks home. When his wife asks him why he just showed back up at the house with a pile of blankets, and no horse. He calmly explains the full story, then sits down and begins to eat dinner. When his wife asked him if he was going to do anything about it, his response was "No, I actually came out ahead on this - the horse I gave him was blind. But now we got all these nice blankets."

TL;DR: My ancestor and a Native American both tried to screw each other over in a horse trade - My family came out a stack of blankets ahead.

Enqespee · 3 months

Two of my Great Grandfathers were in World War 1 and one of my Grandfathers took part in World War 2 and the other was living in nazi occupied Holland.

The one pulled an officer trapped in no mans land to safety, he also took a signet ring off a dead German. I don't know the context, but I assume it wasn't as simple as looting a body.

The second survived a mustard gas attack and was sent home due to the injuries he sustained from said attack.

I'm afraid we seem to have lost track of most the the medals, however I know that my great uncle has the signet ring and pretty much keeps it on 24/7, I would love to get a good look at it.

My Grandfather on my dads side worked in the RAF during World War 1, however he was slowly going blind due to a genetic disorder that historically had only ever effected females of the family. But it seems to have died with him, so he never got to fly any planes, however he played a large part in the maintenance of aircraft.

The Grandfather in Holland/Amsterdam was only about 4 or 5 at the time and he doesn't talk much about what he saw, however on a christmas evening after plenty of alcohol he told us he saw Germans taking civilians off the street and lining them against the wall for execution. His uncle knocked on a door just off the street and managed to get himself and my grandfather inside. He later went on to serve in the Dutch navy at 16 and was occupied at New Guinea for several years.

I do know also that on my Dutch Grandfathers side there is a famous Poet Laureate who wrote several plays and other things of that nature. I can't remember any other stories. There are probably loads more as the Dutch side of our family is FUDGING HUGE!

PrecookedDonkey · 3 months

While I myself am not very interesting, according to my grandmother, my family on her side is related to some old Italian royalty, and we are also related to King Richard the Lionheart. Those charts or whatever you want to call them are somewhere; if I find them I will upload.

LuklearFusion · 3 months

My Mother, Father, Grandfather (Mom's Dad), and my Great Uncle (Mom's Uncle), have all competed internationally for their countries of birth in various sports and won medals at major events. My other Grandfather (Dad's dad) and my Father have also coached teams at international competitions. Two years ago I made it three generations of national athletes.

DrRam121 · 3 months

So according to my grandmother, my great grandfather owned most of the land that made up a county in eastern NC. Some business men were trying to buy the land, but my great grandfather wouldn't sell. The guys then got him drunk and enticed him to gamble the land away in a game of cards. This kind of sucks, but then again, I could have been a farmer instead of a dentist if he hadn't have done that.

g77r7 · 3 months

My great grandfather designed the p-51 mustang.

Not sure if there is much of a story, but kind of cool.

SpillClinton · 3 months

Just last year I found out my great grandparents were part of a German social experiment to start a "pure" Aryan society in South America. It was led by Friedrich Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth and her husband. It ended up failing due to the poor farming conditions and the heat. A lot of the Germans (like my grandfather's parents) ended up assimilating into Paraguayan society. Some still live there to this day. Apparently Josef Mengele spent some time there as a refugee during WWII.

FYI - I share none of those beliefs. Just thought it was an interesting bit of family history.

Link to Nueva Germania:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nueva_Germania

phil1232 · 3 months

My grandfather helped construct the avro arrow we were given a poster sized cross section of it several years after it was decommissioned.

tacosarentgreen · 3 months

On my mom's side, my family originally came from Spain and were sheep herders in Spain..not very exciting. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but my mom's side is also part Italian. O n my dad's side, originally from Germany, my entire family were Nazis. Not because they wanted to, but because they just sort of had to. I had a family member who was a Nazi fighter pilot who was shot down and killed in a dogfight.

DemCheeks · 3 months

Apparently my great great grandfather was a Scottish highwayman. After robbing one stagecoach he got caught and was then hanged by British. Am strangely proud for some reason?

Edit: Also my grandfather on my mums side performed (safely I would say! He was a doctor) illegal abortions in a country I shall not name.

Yeah maybe my family past is a bit dodgy...

GodMadePigs4Bacon · 3 months

My grandmother's side of the family has had a history of bone fusion, one funny instance was my great grandfather always drinking with his pinky out. Our whole family made british jokes and poked fun about him being 'posh' and 'dandy'. This was until we found out my great uncle went to the doctor for foot pains and found out a couple of his tarsals bones in his feet had fused. My great grandpa couldn't even bend his pinky.

My now six or seven year old cousin was the first in the family to receive genetic augmentation to remove the defect. Her lineage will, from here on, never have a problem with it.

fatcat2000 · 3 months

My great great great grandpa was a pirate/viking then he settled in florida. My Great grandpa was pronounced dead twice in the Korean war he also took a hatchet to the back of the head and was fine other then a scar.

redfeatheredcrows · 3 months

I'm 100% italian on both of my sides, so I have interesting stories. My grandpa on my father's side became an enemy of The Five Families mafia in Brooklyn back in the 50's when he was 18. He couldn't remember which family it was, but the Five Families was a big italian gang back then. My great grandpa borrowed money from them, and when he couldn't give it back in time, they chased after my grandpa. He was working in a subway station store when two men with fedora hats and suits walked in with guns. They started shooting everywhere and hit my grandpa's coworker in the back. Luckily he survived and spent his whole hospital visit laying on his stomach. The mafia wasn't going to stop until they got my grandpa. Somehow they managed to hide from them and my grandpa had to spend most of his life paying my great grandpa's debt. He almost died over money my great grandpa spent gambling.

TL;DR: My grandpa became a target of the famous Five Families italian mafia when he was 18, due to money that my great grandpa owed them. You think you had bullying problems? Try being chased by men with suits, guns, and fedora hats!!!

[deleted] · 3 months

My great-grandfather always used to say, "Never look too far back in your family history, there may be a horse thief there." We always figured it was just some oddly-translated Gaelic saying. Nope, turns out his father was a horse thief.

I'm also a descendent of this guy, the last king of the Polish-Lithuania commonwealth, prior to the tsars taking over. That's on my dad's side.

dreamCrush · 3 months

One of my great-grandfathers escaped Prussia in a pickle barrel to avoid being drafted into the Kaisers army.

dammsugare · 3 months

My sister is currently mapping our family lineage on Ancestry.com and while we already knew we were related to Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony, we just found out we are also related to Massasoit, the leader of the Native American tribe Wampanoag. He was basically responsible for making sure the pilgrims didn't starve their first winter. I like to imagine my two ancestors were both present for the first Thanksgiving dinner...

Nokel · 3 months

My grandfather's cousin was part of the IRA in Ireland during the major uprisings.

I don't know much about him except that he was hanged for blowing up a truck that was carrying English soldiers.

Lord_John_Marbury · 3 months

I'm a descendent of a line of executioners from Germany, and our last name is a bastardization of the French word for cutting, as in beheading. Our family shield also indicates this, depicting a pair of trees (where executions were held) and balances of justice.

PredictableUsername · 3 months

My grandmothers last name was 'Murat' until she got married. Murat was the nephew of Kng Lois. The nephew married George Washingtons great grandneice or grandaughter. One of the two. It was investigated after we visited the Murat House in St. Augustine. I thought it was pretty friggin awesome that we were related....to George Washington.

5lightly5toned · 3 months

My great aunt was given a new job working with some sort of machinery. Being her first day she was not aware of all the Safety precautions. She proceeded to work with her fancy lady gloves on because noone had told her otherwise. What ended up happening is the machine snagged her glove and pulled her hand into the machinery. She was now left without a thumb or index finger. But wait...It gets better. . I'm totally blank on medical procedures from back then, but the doctor decided her thumb was too vital to go without, so he took her big toe off her foot and reattached it to where her thumb would be. I have only seen said hand once and it's quite a sight. It basically looks like a lobster claw. The skin looks all twisted and glossy and she does not have a nail on the her toe thumb. That's the story of Ol' Four Toed Lois

My grandpa knocked up my grandma, and left for Vietnam before the baby was born. On the same day my bastard mother popped out my granny's cooch, half way across the world my grandpa was shot in the knee during combat. Neither of them had any idea about the other event untill months later when he returned.

Also my grandpa, uncle, father and I all have our birthdays on the 29th of different months...but I seem to be the only one who finds that interesting

peacelovenflute · 3 months

My maternal grandfather was the son of two Polish immigrants, went off to fight in WW2 at the age of 19, went into the Army, fought in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, was shot in the leg (and somehow lost an eye) and was awarded a Purple Heart. He then went home, became a postman, married my maternal grandmother, and had five kids before moving to Arizona (taking my grandma and mom with him) where he lived like a badass, shooting pigeons with a BB gun, and dealt with colon cancer for five years until he died in 2004 at the age of 77.

My papa was a fucking badass.

[deleted] · 3 months

During World War 2, my grandpa was in a building where they kept wounded soldiers, he was watching over them and guarding the house. Then a german tank blew the roof right off the house, but miraculously no one died.

There was another time that he got separated from his detachment in Germany, and found himself in a big open field. He started to move across it because his platoon was on the other side, in the forest. As he was moving across, though, he said he began to hear pitter-patter sounds all around his feet, and he looked down and realized that he was being shot at, so he zig-zagged all the way across the field to the cover of the woods, all the while being shot at.

kry1212 · 3 months

When I was 15 my father was picked up for solicitation. It was in the paper and a kid whose mother once tried to molest me tormented me relentlessly.

Fiasko21 · 3 months

My grandfather was a Nazi and shot a lot of Jews in WWII.

Kubaker1 · 3 months

Let me just say one of my close ancestors fought at the battle of the Alamo, if you've studied it for more than five minutes you've heard of him.

Edit: Not Davy Crockett.

jeffanie96 · 3 months

My great-grandfather was killed in a gulag as a political prisoner in Russia and knew Leo Tolstoy

likeBruceSpringsteen · 3 months

My great grandmother's 2nd husband was living in Montreal during prohibition. Ended up becoming friends with an American guy smuggling liquor. The American gentleman ended up giving my great grandmother's hubby a gun to hide, which he did. Turned out the American man's name was Al Capone.

Tom504 · 3 months

My great great great grandfather was the son of a Scottish immigrant who ended up in the American south around the early 1800s. One thing led to another, and in a few years he had built himself an awesome plantation with tons of stuff in it. He ran a cotton farm that held over 900 slaves. During the Civil War a band of freed slaves with the union ransacked the plantation, broke into the wine cellar, got wasted, and burned the whole place(save three columns on the front porch) to the ground. Nothing except a piano was recovered. The book So Red the Rose was based on this incident.

An ancestor on the other side of my family had a brother who was mayor of New Orleans(A great-great-great uncle of mine I think). He ran for governor of Louisiana but could not get elected because he was not married. He wasn't married because he was white and the lady he loved was black, which was forbidden in those times. Later he shot and killed a U.S. senator in a duel.

Cool stuff.

Tastes_like_SATAN · 3 months

Trace the line back far enough and you'll find that my family used to be a star. Beat that.

gunslingerzig · 3 months

Grandfather was one of the first 5 pilots that shot down a German jet fighter. they were in formation flying back from a bombing run. He noticed something coming fast below their planes and decided to dive down in his P-47 Thunderbolt. We he came into range he was able to see the German markings. The jet itself was on it's way to land at a hidden air field.

Grandfather was able to dive directly on top of him and shoot him down. The German pilot never saw it coming. Looking back he states it was the idiotic for him to dive into an air field with out his other wing men and shoot down a jet. I think it is bad ass, the jet wreckage has been recovered and is on display in a German museum.

redditerla · 3 months

1.My maternal grandmother was cousins with famous archbishop Oscar Romero 2. my Tia Lucia was also killed during the salvadorian civil war as well, leaving my cousin orphaned and with a price on her head. The military killed my aunt because she worked at a photostore where her boss was apparently helping out the guerrillas unbeknownst to the employees, which got them all killed point blank range. At a funeral or ceremony for my aunt and the employees, something like that, two people were walking through the crowd offering money to whoever would tell them who the immediate family members of the deceased where. My moms side of the family come from old money, but my grandpa drank away his inheritance, so despite being dirt poor my mom and some of her family members managed to come to the states illegally to protect my orphaned cousin and themselves from those putting prices on their head. 2. on my dads side I'm part native American, chiricahua apache to be exact, and from the same band as Geronimo.

Edit: my mom has told me a little about what it was like to grow up back then. Walking to school and seeing dead bodies on the street, always fearing someone's going to shoot up your school, etc. After they came to the states, the first time they heard fireworks they all ran for cover thinking they were guns. M grandpa is about 94 now I believe. I haven't had a chance to just sit and talk to him about it all, but I think I should, there's so much history o learn.

thaiswe91 · 3 months

Not sure of awesome but. My grandfather fled to Thailand from Bruma while he was serving the army. He was hiding from both the Thai and Brumese governments so there are no pictures or traces that he ever lived in Thailand. It doesn't even say on my mothers birth certificate who her father is. Quite sad if you think about it.

kerblo · 3 months

I was Irish nobility until 2003 when the system was dissolved.

llamaswithcats · 3 months

Okay so my grandfather is pretty awesome (well at least to me). When he was a little kid he suffered from scarlet fever and a few other diseases, and lived in a hospital in Indianapolis for sometime where he met Babe Ruth. He grew up in bad neighbourhood in Indianapolis with his father and step mother, at some point he joined the circus in his teens, I'm not sure if that was before or after he was banded from the state of Indiana.

Dlax8 · 3 months

Grandfather flew a bomber in WWII in the pacific. Returning from one of his flights he was so low on fuel he landed in a lake somewhere in California (seaplane do it was ok) asked a local for jet fuel. Eventually took off again with less than ideal gas (90 octane instead of 100 I believe). fuel returning to base was running low again. To make it back to base he decided to fly under the bay bridge. after he did that he ran out of fuel to continue flying and decided to taxi the rest of the way into base. once landed he was told the higher ups (sorry I forget the rank) because of his incident. he walked into the office and the officer used to be a pilot and understood the situation, yet had been ordered to "Talk" to the men because it was out of the ordinary. his "talk" consisted of "rough flight home?" "yes, sir" "you are free to go".

Also, I can trace my linage to Irish Nobles and possibly the first king of Ireland.

soulofWren · 3 months

My mothers grandmother was born and raised in Estonia. Her family decided to move to America when she was about 13 years old.

So her father and her moved to America and went looking for a house and jobs. Her father went back to Estonia to bring back the rest of the family. A war broke out, however. My great grandmother was trapped in a foreign country, and her family was trapped in their home country.

This 13 year old girl somehow survived, prospered and got married, all in a foreign country. But she never heard from her family again.

TherapeuticTherapist · 3 months

One of my uncles (far back) fought alongside Simon Bolívar to rid the Spanish from south America as a fucking GENERAL when he was 29. We have the documents in Colombia to prove it. I get my middle name from him, and it will be my son's (if I have a son) first name (Rafael).

brokebackhill · 3 months

My husband's mom was born in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. Her mother and father were FLDS and when my m-i-l was about 7, her father took a second wife at the urging of Ervil LeBaron, the "Prophet." His first wife (my m-i-l's mother) was opposed to the LeBarons, and it was well known that those who opposed the cult leaders died or disappeared. (The LeBarons were, as a family, prone to violence and insanity.) One night she rounded up all her children (five girls and 1 boy), hid them under some straw in the back of a wagon, and smuggled them out of the Colonies and across the border into the United States. She knew that if she were caught she would be murdered and her children would be returned to her husband and his second wife. She made her way to Utah and stayed with family, raising her children as mainstream Mormons in Nephi, Utah. They are all very laid-back and nonchalant about this whole thing.

EvilMcBadguy · 3 months

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Brien_dynasty
Take your pick.

Sleepybutt · 3 months

I think my grandpa is captain america.

Talwyn · 3 months

My white grandfather was a Realtor up in Illinois, back when it was hard for a black family to buy a home. He was the first in his town to sell a black family a home.

When people complained that black family would bring down the neighborhood and all that untrue crud, he would take them for a drive down the neighborhood that had a black family living in it. When the drive ended, he would turn around and ask them which house the black family was living in. They never got it right, because the black families took care of their houses just as well (or better) than their white neighbors.

ScottyChrist · 3 months

My great grandfather or his father bought all the land of what is now Hague, New York (bunch of lakefront property on Lake George) before there was even a road there, and slowly distributed it through the family/sold it off until now, where one of my mom's aunts has one house left there.

Badwolf84 · 3 months

My great uncle was in the US Army during WW2. He was driving a supply truck on a very rainy night, and inadvertently drove onto the wrong road and right into Nazi territory. When he saw the Nazi guards in their towers give the ole Sig Heil, he (as he told it), he returned the gesture, drove on a bit, stopped the truck, and climbed into the tower and captured the Nazi's with his pistol.

Also, my gr-gr-gr-etc-etc-etc grandfather invaded Ireland, married the daughter of an Irish king, and had a cider named after him: http://imgur.com/4zSsG

Berding · 3 months

One of my great uncles used to fix Al Capones car back in those days. They lived in a small town about an hour north of the US/Canada border. Whenever Capone or his guys had vehicle problems on the way, they would pull up to my uncles farm, and he would get to work. There was always a case of whiskey for my uncle whenever he helped them out.

basilobs · 3 months

My great grandfather who immigrated to the US from Serbia was a 6'2" blacksmith. One day someone bet him 5 dollars he couldn't knock out a horse. He walked up, punched it in the forehead, knocked it out, and went home with 5 dollars.

snorga1 · 3 months

My family narrowly survived the last Indian massacre in the state of Georgia. A group of Seminoles attacked early one Saturday morning in 1838 and only four teenage boys escaped. My entire family has descended from them. There's a small museum in the Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Interestingly, a lot of us are die-hard Florida State fans. Go figure.

MedicalMechanica · 3 months

My family used to enjoy burning Native Americans. ಠ_ಠ

Stanley_Goodspeed · 3 months

My family has been in the Atlantic City, NJ area since the 19th century and my great grandfather used to be buddies with Knucky Johnson (Nucky Thompson in the HBO show Boardwalk Empire). My GGrandfather wasn't a gangster but he was in charge of the Atlantic County Alcohol Board. After prohibition ended guys like Knucky still had to make money and they used government positions to make things happen. My grandmother and great uncle tell me great stories about how they could park anywhere they wanted, get any restaurant job in the city and always had cases of liquor to the ceiling. My family is still in the area which I am proud of. We don't have any political power because AC is run by the corporations/casinos now but it's cool to know we once were a big deal in the town.

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