Your family tree

14 years ago

Having been raised in a generally non-religious household, it was with some relief when I discovered as a teenager that my great-grandmother on my mother's side was Jewish... and therefore my grandmother was Jewish, and my mother was Jewish, and I was Jewish. So I happily traipsed off to synagogue and began the process of learning to be Jewish.

Except when I really dug into my family tree, I discovered that I wasn't Jewish. While my great-grandmother was German and Jewish and left the country in 1940 for some reason or other, bringing her two children along... they were adopted from an English orphanage. Furthermore, she had converted prior to adopting them, so she never raised them Jewish at all. My grandmother was Scotch-Irish, raised Lutheran, and converted to Baptist to marry my grandfather (he was a minister).

So I had to go through a conversion process to remain a Jew.

On my father's side, every male child has served in the military all the way back to the 9th century. I do have two cousins who haven't served, but they're not blood relatives - they're my uncle's stepchildren from his wife's previous marriage.

More interestingly, I discovered that my father's great falling-out with his father wasn't the typical father/son tension. It seems that my grandfather on that side of the family was a major supporter of Mussolini, and fled the country the night of the coup. So when my father called him a fascist, it wasn't just a figure of speech.

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"The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers

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glchandler 14 years ago

My father retired from the military on 1/1/70 and spent quite a bit of time an effort collecting such information. About 1985 he compiled in print and all family members got a copy. Your post prompted me to dig it out of storage and read a bit.

Yesiree---quite interesting people those ancestors. Seems a few of them joined Joseph Smith early on in Utah to feed grasshoppers to seagulls (religious statement without being a religious statement?). Others were in the Oregon Umpqua river area farming around 1850. Still others running a freight company from The Dalles over to Boise in Idaho.

More (and more and more and more) in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. When the polygamy laws went into effect some of them ran down in to Mexico with all their wives---until Pancho Villa chased them back across the border.

I was laughing at this polygamy thing and told my not to worry, that I did not believe in it. That's when she reminded me she was wife #4---only difference is that I did them one at a time. Whoops!!
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KenThompson

14 years ago

Michael? CDarklock? Can I get a little help?

I read your posts and thought it would be cool
to check this out. But it seems I've hit an
immediate wall.

My father died in 1967, and all contact with his
family just kind of ended at that point.

My mother died last year. But she was born in
a house in the middle of nowhere. No birth
certificate was ever filed. She was never sure
what year she was born in. She had a good idea,
but that's about it.

I don't think this is something that will work for
me unless maybe I pay a professional. But it's
not that important.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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MissTerraK

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KenThompson

Michael? CDarklock? Can I get a little help?

I read your posts and thought it would be cool
to check this out. But it seems I've hit an
immediate wall.

My father died in 1967, and all contact with his
family just kind of ended at that point.

My mother died last year. But she was born in
a house in the middle of nowhere. No birth
certificate was ever filed. She was never sure
what year she was born in. She had a good idea,
but that's about it.

I don't think this is something that will work for
me unless maybe I pay a professional. But it's
not that important.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Ken,
Sometimes it's just best to not find skeletons!

Speaking from personal experience, just to name a few:

I come from "Savages" can't tell you more because my Slovakian grandmother slammed him in the head with a wrought Iron Skillet during his afternoon nap after he savagely beat her! He left and never came back!

I have a distant relative who was mutinied by his crew and thrown overboard to his death!

There is a history of two brothers fighting because one slept with the other's wife, and murdered him!

I have women who were "kept women" by mafia men.

And owners of Brothel Establishments

...LOL

Sometimes it better not to know! I just decided I would be a rebel to the family history, and happily announce I am none of the above!

MissTerraK

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Tina Golden 14 years ago

I prefer not to shake my family tree. I know the nuts that are on the bottom of the branches and that's enough.

Tina
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KenThompson

14 years ago

Wow TerraK, that's kinda interesting. lol. I think I would want to
know more about the guy who got thrown overboard.

And how on earth do you discover stuff like that?

Well, we're indians. So I really think it's pretty much impossible
to find out anything. Although it would be really nice to know
something, even if it was on the unsavory side.

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MissTerraK

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KenThompson

Wow TerraK, that's kinda interesting. lol. I think I would want to
know more about the guy who got thrown overboard.

And how on earth do you discover stuff like that?

Well, we're indians. So I really think it's pretty much impossible
to find out anything. Although it would be really nice to know
something, even if it was on the unsavory side.

Are you indian also? I can tell you my grandfather never came back, but did go on to be the Police Chief of Clawson for 25 years until retirement somewhere in Florida where my mother last heard from him.

The only position he could really be hired for, as he went to serve in the Military to get off the reservation. He qualified!

The man thrown overboard by his crew comes from the French/Engish side of my family. My grandmother's name was Lottie Pernilia Hudson. The man I speak of was her great, great, great uncle, none other than Henry Hudson !

On a lighter note: When my grandmother on my mother's side still lived in Czechslovakia, her name was (and you must roll the r's) Marinka Vrabelova. However when Hitler was going to march, her father put her on a ship to America at 16 years old, and when she got off the ship, they gave her the new name of "Mary Vrabel", that with a long a and no rolling r's.

She is still alive, is 91, and is still a tough cookie. She gave me the Ruby ring her father bought her before he put her on the ship. It's prescious to me and I wear it often!

The lighter side is, you will not believe what she gave me as a wedding gift? A wrought iron frying pan along with these words of wisdom, "Don't be afraid to use it if you have to!" LOL!

My hubby is lucky that I don't have a temper and that he never beat me LOL!

Wow! Something just popped into my mind! If somehow we were able to keep her last name, I would be, remember to roll the r's, Terra Vrabelova!

Ooooh, I like it! It sounds so classy! Oh, I forgot to mention all the men were just Vrabels, only the females had the ova after indicating a female and I'm sure you can figure that one out on your own!

MissTerraK

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derekwong28 14 years ago

Sometimes, it is easier being Chinese. We have a habit of having family temples where ancestors and descendants can be traced, sometimes over a thousand years.

It is quite easy on my part because all four of my grandparents were from prominent families in the Guandong region in the 19th century. My great grandfather was a Ching dynasty official sent by the Manchu Imperial Court to study in Australia in the 1880's. There he met 3 coolies by the name of Kwok, Ma, and Choi and they became lifelong friends and probably blood brothers. The 3 coolies then returned to Hong Kong and started 3 different chains of department stores (Wingon, Sincere, and Tai Sang). Basically the Wongs, Kwoks, Mas, and Chois started intermarrying each other. My own grandfather worked as a general manager at a Tai Sang Store (no longer in business) where he married my grandmother who was a Choi. He then went on a start a taxi company.

Likewise, my maternal grandmother's father was a Ching dynasty official in the city of Foshan that was famous for its Kung Fu masters. But it is my maternal grandfather's family, the Li family which is by far the most prominent. They claim to trace their roots back to a Tang dynasty emperor whose surname was also Li but I am not sure how believable this is.

Powell's Books - Li Dynasty Hong Kong Aristocrats by Frank Ching

Its exploits are legendary and to this day, it remains very wealthy and powerful. Unfortunately, the wealth is not on our side of the family. One of its members is the current chief justice. Another runs the Bank of East Asia who paid a 6M fine to the US SEC recently for alleged involvement in the Dow Jones Murdoch insider trading scandal. Another Li was the chairman of the stock exchange and is reckoned to be a billionaire. But he was jailed for over 2 years for a corruption scandal involving the listing of stocks. But there were many others who were famous in government, professional and business circles.

Derek
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Kenster

14 years ago

Are there any specific sites or resources you are using to find all this information? If so, what are they and are they free or paid?

Thanks in advance

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Stylight Banned 14 years ago

[DELETED]

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- Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago
  
  My family tree is planted deep in my backyard.
  
  And that's where it's going to stay until our sun goes nova and sends it
  hurtling into the next galaxy.
  
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Kurt

14 years ago

"If your family tree only has one branch, you might be a redneck". Jeff Foxworthy

"My family tree is a stump". Mojo Nixon (From Redneck Rampage)

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derekwong28

14 years ago

I would be interested how many generations ago that our ancestors were real monkeys.

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ThomM 14 years ago

Originally Posted by derekwong28

I would be interested how many generations ago that our ancestors were real monkeys.

I asked my daughter, she said one
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- MissTerraK 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by ThomM
  
  I asked my daughter, she said one
  
  Don't feel bad Thom,
  My mother thought my little brother looked like one at birth. My dad said it was just the meds they gave her.
  
  Either way, does that makes me a sibling to a monkey?!
  
  Oh lil bro, oh Locpic63,
  Come out, come out, where ever you are!:p
  MissTerraK
  
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Grace Johnson

Banned 7 years ago

[DELETED]

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Regional Warrior

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Grace Johnson

I have been working on my family tree for several weeks. First of all, I think it is important to use a proper family tree builder, personaly I chose MyHeritage from 5 Best Family Tree Builders or Genealogy Software - Free and Paid as it allows me to go through countless documents and interact with other genealogists. Also it is possible to view and donwload the original file in case I find a document connected to my ancestor. We live in a time of technology, and I think it is great that I can create a family tree on my computer, and I hope my children/grandchilren will add data to it in future.

Spam has been reported , wonder why they get the old threads like this one 9 yrs old

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hardraysnight 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Regional Warrior

Spam has been reported , wonder why they get the old threads like this one 9 yrs old

is spam similar to fudge?
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- Claude Whitacre 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by hardraysnight
  
  is spam similar to fudge?
  
  Thanks a lot Buddy! Now I'm hungry for both Spam and fudge.
  
  Thanks
  
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  hardraysnight 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre
  
  Thanks a lot Buddy! Now I'm hungry for both Spam and fudge.
  
  highly recommend a fam and spudge cocktail
  
  really is the breakfast food of champions
  
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  yukon Banned 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre
  
  Now I'm hungry for both Spam and fudge.
  
  So you just woke up?
  
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Dennis Gaskill 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Regional Warrior

Spam has been reported , wonder why they get the old threads like this one 9 yrs old

You might want to edit your post to remove the spam link. The post has been deleted, but his spam link is still alive in your quote.
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yukon

Banned 7 years ago

Old threads should never be locked, even 8 year old threads, that way they can easily be bumped by link spammers and profiles jacking up post counts.

Still wonder why they target old threads?

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Kay King

7 years ago

Hey guys - do you realize if you get the spam post deleted and DON'T comment...the thread returns to oblivion where it belongs?

"They" target old threads because they believe they will get a link and the spam will go unnoticed. Delete the post and the thread returns to 2009 - post in it and it stays in 2017.

Have to ask - why QUOTE the spam - that just keeps it visible.....

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Claude Whitacre

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Kay King

Hey guys - do you realize if you get the spam post deleted and DON'T comment...the thread returns to oblivion where it belongs?

"They" target old threads because they believe they will get a link and the spam will go unnoticed. Delete the post and the thread returns to 2009 - post in it and it stays in 2017.

Have to ask - why QUOTE the spam - that just keeps it visible.....

Your intelligent question angers me.

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socialentry 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

Your intelligent question angers me.

You must be livid with rabies whenever tagiscom posts.
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Kay King

7 years ago

spam and fudge - well, that stopped any thoughts of what to have for dinner.

Sticking with strawberries....

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***

Dear April: I don't want any trouble from you.

January was long, February was iffy, March was a freaking dumpster fire.

So sit down, be quiet, and don't touch anything.

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Claude Whitacre

7 years ago

I can't remember anyone ever telling me something like this.....

But I have no idea where my family came from or what nationality I am. I'm white, and I don't look Italian...other than that, I have no idea. And I've never been interested to find out.

My cousin asked me if I knew what nationality I was...and I said something like "No idea. My ancestors have nothing to do with me. If my great grandfather was a murderer, I don't care. If he was a genius, I don't care. My family history doesn't affect my self image."

I also look at it this way. I'm 50% of what made up my Dad...and 50% of what made up my Mom. But every generation back the number of people that genetically contributed to me doubles. Five generations back, I'm 1/64th of any one of the people in that generation..in my family.

I know that sounds pretty clinical, but it's how I think.

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Dan Riffle

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

I can't remember anyone ever telling me something like this.....

But I have no idea where my family came from or what nationality I am. I'm white, and I don't look Italian...other than that, I have no idea. And I've never been interested to find out.

My cousin asked me if I knew what nationality I was...and I said something like "No idea. My ancestors have nothing to do with me. If my great grandfather was a murderer, I don't care. If he was a genius, I don't care. My family history doesn't affect my self image."

I also look at it this way. I'm 50% of what made up my Dad...and 50% of what made up my Mom. But every generation back the number of people that genetically contributed to me doubles. Five generations back, I'm 1/64th of any one of the people in that generation..in my family.

I know that sounds pretty clinical, but it's how I think.

I'm fairly confident your ancestors feel the same way.

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Claude Whitacre 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan Riffle

I'm fairly confident your ancestors feel the same way.

My ancestors don't feel anything.
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- tagiscom 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre
  
  My ancestors don't feel anything.
  
  I see the resemblance.
  
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- Kurt 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre
  
  My ancestors don't feel anything.
  
  But your descendent calls you Uncle Mom.
  
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OptedIn 7 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

But I have no idea where my family came from

I don't think you're going to do much research on your family tree until you chase all of those chimps out of it.

You're welcome.
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- Dan Riffle 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by OptedIn
  
  I don't think you're going to do much research on your family tree until you chase all of those chimps out of it.
  
  You're welcome.
  
  Frank
  
  The first thing you have to understand is Claude's family tree is actually a stick.
  
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  Raising a child is akin to knowing you're getting fired in 18 years and having to train your replacement without actively sabotaging them.
  
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  yukon Banned 7 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Dan Riffle
  
  The first thing you have to understand is Claude's family tree is actually a stick.
  
  A fudgsicle stick?
  
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tagiscom

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

Thanks a lot Buddy! Now I'm hungry for both Spam and fudge.

Spam, Fudge and hot jam donuts,....now l have done it!

Originally Posted by hardraysnight

highly recommend a fam and spudge cocktail

really is the breakfast food of champions

While they are still alive.

Originally Posted by socialentry

You must be livid with rabies whenever tagiscom posts.

I do try!

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