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What's your heritage?

rrr

Senior Member
5,065
0
I got a message tonight from my grandmother that brought me to tears. The older I get the more I realize that my time with my grandparents is dwindling. I can't say enough for my grandparents and think the world of them. They live in Upstate NY and I don't see them very much but when I do it's a real treat.

What kind of a family do you come from?

My mother's side is pretty crazy, but there are 6 kids. My grandfather passed away a few years ago and I wish I knew him better. He was a nurse in Korea and then a locksmith and later became a securities tech. Grandpa loved brass bands and I gained my love for that music from him. When he passed, I got a lot of his cold weather clothes, since those NY winters are brutal. Every time I put on his Carhartt jacket, it's just a special feeling. My grandmother's mother is about to turn 100 and is still kicking. I hope that I'm as tough as she is. A few years ago she needed double hip replacements and the doctor said no, you're too old. After the doctor, much younger than her, died - she got them done. I hope that she makes it to 100, that'd be special.

My dad's side of the family is predominantly where I get most of my traits from. (I'm a spitting image of my father). When my dad was brought home from the hospital, my grandparents had 6 kids under the age of 6 and then added another aunt lol. My grandpa was in the Air Force during the Second War, though at the tail end and he never saw combat. He was a union carpenter for his career, where I get my love for work. My grandma ran for country clerk and sold hunting licenses - and where I get my love for politics. My aunt and uncle, twins, were actually born on the base in Lybia and my uncle is proud to be a true 'African-American'. Nearly all of my aunts and uncles are teachers and so it makes for interesting family reunions. Including me and my two siblings, there are 16 grandkids on that side of the family - 8 boys, 8 girls. I'm in the middle of the pack and it's always a blast.

My great-grandfather from that side of the family was also someone that I really wish that I knew. I remember him as an old man on the old family farm and the uncles shooting guns there at Thanksgiving, and then when he was in the nursing home. We brought our dog once, and I remember him lighting up. Like lots then, he did everything from farming, being a multiple year NY State sheep-shearing champion, game warden, John Deere mechanic (patents on the combine), and such. He's also still got the record for being 'drunker than a skunk' in the county!

They don't make people like that any more, and I'm glad that I've got the extended family that I do. They truly were the greatest generation.

Steve
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,707
191
Mahoning Co.
My dad's side is Pennsylvania Dutch. Pretty much all my paternal ancestors were farmers, one even farmed in Manhattan. My one 2x great-grandfather was the first Mennonite bishop west of the Alleghenies, coming to Ohio in 1813 and is credited with the founding of many Ohio churches. Another came to western PA in 1815 and bought 5000 acres and the village of Harmony from the Harmony Society. Another's house was a station on the underground railway in Stark County. Both of my dad's grandpa's were named Samuel so that's how I was named. Never knew my paternal grandparents, my grandfather died over 30 years before I was born. My farm has been in the family since 1838 and the house was built in 1861.

My dad was 16 in 1931 when his father died, his brothers were all married so he had to drop out of school and take over the farm, The next year his brother-in-law died so my aunt moved home with her 3 young children. So in 1932 Dad was 17 and supporting himself and 5 others and was a "step-father". Because food production was important and my dad was the only male family member on the farm he received a deferment from WWII.

My mom came from Florida, her family has deep southern roots. Her paternal line were sailors, leaving the US after the Revolution for the Bahamas and sailing around the Caribbean. They came back to the US and homesteaded at what is now Clearwater Beach just in time for the War of Northern Aggression. My 3x great-grandfather was a blockade runner until the Yankees scuttled his schooner then joined the CS navy and was a helmsman on the CS Savannah, near the end of the war he was transfered to the Army and was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered. On Mom's maternal side during the revolution some severed with Francis Marion (The Patriot was loosely based on this) in the Carolinas. In the Civil War my one 3x great-grandpa was a cavalry officer with the 2nd Florida and one history book claims he was physically the strongest man in Florida at the start of the war.

When my grandma was 14 her father bought a model T school bus, Grandma drove the bus to school and picked up the other kids along the way. My grandpa served in France in WWI came home and became a tile setter, during the depression they traveled around the country to find work.
 

Mike

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,840
223
Up Nort
Cool stories. Both of my parents are of Ukrainian decent. I'm first generation on my mom's side and second on my dad's. My grandmother, who is 89 and the the only grandparent left, is very sick with colon cancer. Hospice is helping her deal with pain. She and my grandfather were put into a concentration work camp during the war. After the war, they came to America in 1951. All of the holiday traditions are still practiced.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
About all I know is my grandfather on my dads side came from Chios, Greece when he was 3 years old in the 1920's. Came by boat into Ellis Island.
Our name originally started with a "K" and was shortened, but nobody knows exactly what it was.
 

RRJJ

Removed by Request.
14,062
0
Mostly German, some Irish and Welsh.

If I could pick my heritage I would choose African, Mexican, and Native American. Had I been that combination I probably could have attended Harvard for free.
 

Geezer

*Hims a Super Moderator*
11,640
0
Mostly Amish, some Gypse and Redneck.

If I could pick my heritage I would choose African, Democrat, and Amish. Had I been that combination I probably could have attended Ohio U for free.

Dang John - i would have never guessed - dang :smiley_cigar:
 

rrr

Senior Member
5,065
0
Sam - that is a cool history, thanks for sharing.

Mike - also very neat, there are less and less of those individuals that suffered in concentration camps - I hope that their stories are not forgotten by my generation.

---

A little more:

On my mom's side of the family, it's been traced back to the Mayflower and John and Pricilla Alden. They were kinda a big deal!

Dad's side includes a few generations of captains on the Erie Canal, a cousin named 'James Fenimore Cooper' and more Coopers, who founded Cooperstown NY, where the baseball hall of fame is.
 

Geezer

*Hims a Super Moderator*
11,640
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Muh momma wuz a American Indian princess - she workd as a stripper on Fridaiy nites at the VFW and played the banjo on Sunday fo da church chior - she wuz a very poplar stripper even doe her hadz a wooden leg - her indian name wuz Pookie Pookei Nono - i doan know wud dat ment - - - i got ta hang round in the dress'n room wif the udder strippers and rund errands and stuff fo dem - mommas stage name wuz da Apache Grinder - dang - that wuz back in the day - Muh daddy wuz a highway man and rode wif Quantrel till he hooked up wif Waylon - Willie - and the boyz - him wuz a good man and together they provided a good life fo us boyz - i did have a sister i doan know much about - she was the first born and times were hard - i never seez her - ther wuz always talk bout her be'n sold ta the gypsies that come ta our town every year but i doan know the details - muh daddy was a Utsie and muh momma a Apache so uhm a cock=eyed half breed and proud ta be an American - dang :smiley_cigar:
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Muh momma wuz a American Indian princess - she workd as a stripper on Fridaiy nites at the VFW and played the banjo on Sunday fo da church chior - she wuz a very poplar stripper even doe her hadz a wooden leg - her indian name wuz Pookie Pookei Nono - i doan know wud dat ment - - - i got ta hang round in the dress'n room wif the udder strippers and rund errands and stuff fo dem - mommas stage name wuz da Apache Grinder - dang - that wuz back in the day - Muh daddy wuz a highway man and rode wif Quantrel till he hooked up wif Waylon - Willie - and the boyz - him wuz a good man and together they provided a good life fo us boyz - i did have a sister i doan know much about - she was the first born and times were hard - i never seez her - ther wuz always talk bout her be'n sold ta the gypsies that come ta our town every year but i doan know the details - muh daddy was a Utsie and muh momma a Apache so uhm a cock=eyed half breed and proud ta be an American - dang :smiley_cigar:

Dang geeze.. Ya be a geezer. Yo daddy rode wif Quantrel? Hims was a good man.. Till he got killed by some yanks in KY.. Least that's what they think anyway.. Rumorz had it hims was still alive.. I guessn your proof of dat. :)
 
we can trace our ancesters back to the nazi camps , where most of them were gaurds, my great grandfather wanted out of germany , came over here changed last name from langer to langoehr , thats about as much as i know , i do know my granma and grandpa met working for the white horse ranch in settled down in mansfield ohio where my grandpa helped build the general motors there , then hired in and finnaly retired from there
 

rgecko23

*Supporting Member*
7,466
0
Massillon, Ohio
About all I know is, my fathers side of the family came from Ireland on "the boat", and my x2 great grandma was an Indian Chieftess or princess, something like that...

Dont know how a Irishman and an Indian girl hooked up but good thing they did I guess.
 

Geezer

*Hims a Super Moderator*
11,640
0
Dang geeze.. Ya be a geezer. Yo daddy rode wif Quantrel? Hims was a good man.. Till he got killed by some yanks in KY.. Least that's what they think anyway.. Rumorz had it hims was still alive.. I guessn your proof of dat. :)

Yeah - Quantrill wuz a good ole OHIO BOY & A TEACHER afore he relaized the error of him ways and went rogue
 
i am a melungeon . my family has been here since the early 1500,s. were shipwrecked slaves or so from europe. mixed with indians and blacks over the years . my great grandfather couldnt go to school in ky because he was conciderd a person of color. we would move, settle ground, build town , and the white man would come and tax us so bad we had to move again , then they would take over the land that we cleard and the buildings we built . want some interesting reading type it in google .
something itersteng . abraham lincolin was a melungeon , ricky skaggs is a distant relitave . loretta lynn,. when my g g grandfather( hansford gibson) moved to ky from tenn and they lived in a cliff overhang for 2 years till they got a cabin built . i have tons of real stories from history about my family , collier's, sparks, gibson and several family's. i guess what im trying to say is . im three colors and i dont get shit!! lol . oh my great grandfather that couldt go to school turned out to be a baptist preacher .
 

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
My heritage?

I've been told we're German and I've been told we're Scotish/Irish.

Which one is it? IMO who cares. I'm an American. While I appreciate where my family "might" have come from in the end it doesn't matter. Shoot my distant kin could have been from the Congo or Saudi Arabia for all I care. The bottom line is that I'm an American and I'm damn proud of it. No one in the world has it as good as us and no matter what they say they all want to be like us.

Semper Fi!!!!!
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
Love it Chuck!

Irish (Mom) German and Italian (Dad). My Grandfather was a competitor of Larry Flints (running booze) as a kid. My moms maiden name is Conley. My father name was a 12 syllable German name that when they hit Ellis Island the nice people from immigration said...hmm nice name your now Beener. Gotta love it. Beener didn't have the negative connotation as it does now.

Beentown