Your family history

[Volve]

It's actually rather interesting that we all seem to know where our ancestors were in WWI and II. That much I remember offhand, so here goes.

My father's grandfather came to America before the outbreak of WWI, and truly had an admirable form of patriotism. He enlisted with the army before the US officially declared war, and was among the first to be shipped off to France. He fought at a number of the larger battles of the war... Mont St. Michel comes to mind, and I know there was one other - remind me some time and I'll upload some pics of his army mess kit his friend engraved for him using a pocket knife - they have a bunch of the battles carved in there. He was shot and injured during a battle (actually, a sniper almost killed him while he was eating lunch - he happened to open his mouth to take a bite of food just as the bullet hit him - instead of blowing his brains out, it just destroyed many of his teeth and part of his jaw). He was awarded the purple heart, became incredibly religious after all of his treatments failed to keep the infections away, but they healed faster than even normal once one of the nuns at the hospital began praying a special prayer for him every day. He came back to the US, got married, and settled down.

I don't know much about my other ancestors, as his was always the most interesting story, but both of my grandfathers were morse code operators in WWII. My father's dad was part of a destroyer escort in the Pacific theater, and my mother's dad was a radioman in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Europe.

More to follow when I stop getting interrupted by work... <sigh>

~kov.

I can read this long tread some other time. I have to go to work soon. I think it's interesting how you talk about special prayers. That's the way my ancestors spok in the 1800 someting. It sounds preculiar to me.

On my grandmother on my mothers owned ships. Mainly for transport and whaling I think. They are still well known over her. My grandfather come from a farmers community in Telemark. It's a very secluded community where everyone knows eatch other. They count family like 8 or 9 generations back in time.

Some in my family think they can count relatives back to Harald Hårfagre around 800 after year 0. His name would be translated to something like Harald the faire hairy. Apparently he preposed to a woman, and she said she would marry him if he united the hole country of Norway. He then decided to let all his hair grow untill he had done so. He got his woman in the end.

Some think you are not a good norwegian if can't count your ancesters back to him. I think it is a bit too much:Smug:

 

[Sarah C]

Cool thread indeed... And good question

On my mom's side, some guy in the family got research made. Appears they changed the writing of the name to make it more "actual French" than the one they had (Brouazin) which really sounded regional. They come from Western France btw, the region called Bretagne/Brittany, a cool place.
So according to the research, which traced their history up to the 13th century, they were first servants to the nobles, then peasants, and the family ran a windmill for a veeeeeeery long time. The windmill revealed actually very useful during WWII, when my great grandfather and his sons were hiding American and English parachutists in the grain containers.
This side of the family was on the Resistant shore during WWII, they were also bakers, and my grandmother delivered 5 pounds breads 30 kilometers away, on her bicycle, with messages inside that the german army guys never found.
When everything came in ratios, my greatgranddad always refused to give more bread than was allowed on the tickets to the people offering to pay extra with gold and money. My grandmom told me that when she asked him why he wasn't taking the money, that they could become rich, he replied that not only they never knew how things would turn later, that richer people had no right to eat better than the others, and that, most of all, all throughout her life, she could stand and watch them in the eyes.
He seems to have been a nice and wise and fair man, but someone denounced him, and he was sent to a concentration camp in Germany. They wanted to send his wife with him, but because of the 12 younger brothers and sisters to be taken care of, the older son switched with her, and they never came back.

On that side of the family, they were all from the same region, so i guess i'm half that (celtic origin btw, would explain why i never get cold), and the other side is a bit more complicated.

On my dad's side, the family was half from that same region (his dad), and part from a mix between Paris / Transylvannia / Poland / Eastern Europe stuff... My grandmother is the elder of the 3 daughters of a quite wealthy jew family. She was born in the "jewish district" in Paris, and her dad had been naturalized years before, he came from Hungarian Transylvania, or something.
During the war, her mom decided that none in the family was going to wear the yellow star, she got really angry and they all obeyed That's partly what saved them. When it got really dangerous, they went to hide in some castle in the countryside, that's where she met my granddad.

They got married right after the war, there's an old film of it somewhere, my grand dad wasn't jew, so she gave up on her religion, her family tradition and job-to-be.
I think that without the war, i'd be living in one of the richest and trendiest places in Paris, and would have a shitload of money. Or that i'd be a baker in a really small village somewhere

 

[Volve]

Where should I start?
I don't know much about my fathers family. He's a farmer and son of a farmer.
My mother as I said earlier comes from a shipping family on her mothers side. They where well of. My grandmother grow up in a little cottage in a shipping town i Norway. I think her parents got bankrupt. They ... my great grandfather had inhereted some money from his father. His mother made him ... when your of a certain age the authorites regard you as old enough to take care of yourself ... well my great grandfather was made the opposite by his own mother. We don't know why. They actually kept a letter from the parliament i Oslo signed by many of its representatives and the government. It said that he could no longer take responsibilite for his own life. He married a woman 12 years older than himself, and she was a humble servant. In the family they have said that he had been mentally il, and in an institution. We have done a lot of investigation into this, but have not been able to find support for it.

My mother is really thinking that his mother didn't think he was capable of taking over the firm, and made sure he did not inherrit anything from her, but she could not get hold of the money he got from his father, who was already dead I think. My great grandfather used all the money during the depression. This we have been able to confirm.

My grandfather came from a farmers family in Tinn in Telemark. Maybe I am related to Lina?
As I said earlier they count relation very far back, and has made it a project to be able to find all relatives as far back as possible. I don't know to many stories about this family except for the names.

The shipping part of the family has had more opportunities to travel and has had more power in the capital. We have kept many pictures as far back as 1800 hundreds. Didn't Kodak first make a kamera about the end of 1800? We have a picture of a very old woman, and she died just a few years after Kodak made their first kameras.