An uncle of my GG grandmother murdered his wife and was hung. A brother of a G grandmother had a suspicious death after the govt claimed they had mineral rights on his oil rich land in Nebraska. I can trace my ancestors on my dad's side to Bern, Switzerland to the late 1200s. Things like that.
More personal though, were the connections.
- Several distant relatives returned my messages on ancestry and we filled gaps in the tree for each other.
- The granddaughter of my dad's first cousin popped up from the US to visit the old family stomping grounds. We had never met her.
- I discovered that my mom had a half brother who died at two. Didn't know he had existed. His grave is unmarked (died in 1924) but we wer ea
- My mom's nephew (from her oldest half brother) came for a visit. I had found him on Facebook about 2 years ago and we have messaged now and again. He knows very little about this side of the family and it was so good to have the chance to sit down and answer his questions. He looks so much like my uncle. My mom cried when she met him and hugged him
- On DH's side, we had a family reunion for his mom's sisters. Some of the cousins we haven't seen since my inlaws died several years ago. One, my husband hadn't seen since he was about 8. I was the youngest there, with the exception of the brief pit stop DS1 and GF did on their way to HER family reunion.
On my bucket list I definitely have a trip to upstate NY and the region below Ottawa to see more of where one of my branches lived. I would love to do the Bern trip too but I am not sure that my health will permit it. (and my wallet :-)
2 comments:
Family history stuff is pretty amazing, isn't it? All kinds of skeletons in all kinds of closets. We have a couple of suicides, one member going to New Zealand, and several who wound up in workhouses, which is quite sad but normal for the times I imagine. So neat where our families take us! Enjoy your journey xx
So fascinating isn't it? I can spend hours on ancestry. Lots of skeletons in my family too. There was a great uncle who deserted his family and married another woman and had a family with her (he was still married). My mom put together a reunion once so those two families could connect (he had long since died). There are a few alcoholics and my dad's parents were both placed in children's homes as the families were so poor.
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