Interesting things in your family's history

[Pix]

I don't know much about my dad's Scottish side (I'm a Cochran), wish I did. But at least I know a lot about my mother's side.

I'm not clear on the exact reasons but Swedish settlers left Sweden and/or other parts of the United States because they were just a "little too wanted" by the law. They settled in East Texas where they had a bad rep (I saw a history book in a very tiny library in that county that has a very detailed history of the town and its genealogy, very enlightening!) and some just wouldn't settle down. One great (or great great) uncle of my granny was even a bank robber, and got killed (along with friends) by one posse from I think Oklahoma while running from another posse in a western state where they'd just robbed another bank (Granny said they felt they'd be safe as long as they didn't rob any banks in Texas).

Either because of their rep or because of their inclination the settlers tended to marry into each other's family more than with the rest of the town, especially at first. It seems it was the Great Depression that the Swedes were fully accepted (most to all having been born there by then and trying to be more respectable), though those were trying times. Granny told me of how many in their family were used and ripped off, or had to face bandits of their own as they tried taking earnings home. Kids were considered free labor and also ate last instead of first which is why kids learned (taught from one generation to the next) how to forage (I can as well, and I know how to make polk salad and given how toxic it is it's good I made it right when I was 13!).

Oh yes, my family (decades before I was born) helped hide Bonnie & Clyde as well. The interesting thing is the pair are considered heroes by many East Texans (especially for their habit of burning deeds or whatever at the bank that saved some people from having their lands or other property repossessed), including by my family, and Granny once took me to a Bonnie & Clyde festival where even COPS praised them (the pair were notorious cop killers as well as bank robbers). Of course the vast majority of these people were elderly and it seemed many of them at least saw them as a child (Granny wasn't even alive then but she shared what she heard from relatives who hid the pair and their car in their barn and asked for nothing but the pair left a sack of money in thanks). They were seen as Robin Hood outlaws who stood up against a corrupt government and banking system (one old man said Clyde had stood up to bullies ever since he was a little boy), kind of like OWS zealots that fought violence with violence, and after the cops killed them the cops dragged the shot up car for people to see and the locals saw it as a message about what they'd do to anyone else who thought they could step out of line rather than the cops and government going, "look, you're safe now." Talking about Bonnie and Clyde was when Granny told me, "Sometimes, justice is on the other side of the law." I was absolutely SHOCKED when I left and found elsewhere that Bonnie & Clyde were considered ruthless sociopaths by the rest of the world that never met them.

And then there's Granny. I need a break and she needs her own post, so I'll come back to this later.

[Zet]

All I know is that I've got strong roots in Netherlands on my fathers side and also in Flanders in Belgium on my mothers. But more then so... I do not know :o But we have loads of old heirlooms and old pictures of relatives.

[archubbycub]

I did a little digging into my dad's Mother's side of the family a few years ago. Turns out I have an ancestor who is listed with the Daughter's of the American Revolution as a war hero for giving food and supplies to the Colonial Troops. On a more somber, creepier side, one of my ancestors from the late 1800's is noted for murdering his wife and four young children while they slept then hanging himself in the barn. The only survivor was their oldest son who had been at the local church that night for a "taffy pulling" and came home to discover the gruesome scene.

[Pix]

Granny inherited the family's wild streak, though she was frequently disciplined for it (she's amazed at how the schools freaked out over me when she was much worse, though still better than many, and adults were simply annoyed with her rather than wanting to have her committed or put into a special program). Interesting story, IMO, on how she got to California but I need to shorten this so I'll skip that and other details. Once in California she hung with beatniks, nature children and others and she had children. She was supposed to get married twice but guys who promised bailed on her. She got work at many jobs (from waitressing to babysitting other kids along with her own) but it was hard being a single mom even with the fickle aid she got from her friends (which was sometimes very generous but at other times very sparse). When "hippie" became a household word she was sympathetic to them and gave runaways shelter even when she could barely help herself. She said she dared think the world was entering a new age that was going to return back to nature in many ways and technology would be something to be used, not depended on. She also thought LSD and getting back to nature would at least reform religion (that she saw as corrupted by hypocrites and pharisees) and perhaps even replace it with a new religion (just as Christianity replaced many contemporary religions in the beginning). But it got harder as society lashed back, cops gave her a hard time, new people on the scene were stealing from her so that she stopped giving them a place to sleep unless she knew them or someone vouched for them, and she had multiple kids, all who had expenses as they were all growing. Frazzled she accepted a guy's offer to move to a rural commune where she was told everyone worked together for the common good of all.

She did find help with her children with other mothers who raised their children communally but the men basically were doing drugs and writing their manifestos or whatever and expecting the women to take care of them. She said it felt as if many of the men were just bigger versions of children. What was particularly infuriating is that the men made decisions among themselves (women were allowed to voice concerns but they didn't really get to vote or count in the consensus) so they were the children with the power over their mothers. They were hypocrites in many infuriating ways.

Because they could use more food and suffered varmints, and because of vicious rapes of some of the women by outsiders, Granny got 2 guns, one for varmint hunting and a handgun for self-defense against rapists. She said about half the women silently supported her but nearly all the men had a fit, saying that to get a gun was to create bad vibes in which you'd use it and also feared that if the women defended themselves then friends of the rapists (be it bikers, rednecks, or what have you) would retaliate with a force they couldn't endure (so just spread 'em and hope for the best). And they also didn't want food from "murdered meat" as that put bad karma into their system. Granny just told 'em to go do their pot and acid and leave the adult decisions to the women who were the only adults who had to deal with the real world which got her even more support from the women (even if they didn't like her guns they appreciated her telling them off like that) as well as angering the men. So the men (again, without the women) voted away her guns but she dared 'em to try to enforce that and "I'll show you what your pacifism gets you." She got away with it for awhile but then both her guns disappeared and almost right after it turned out one of the new men was a child molester who molested multiple girls, including my mom (she'd have to have been younger than 10) and Granny was doubly furious because she believed her guns were stolen as they feared what she'd do when she found out her daughter had been molested by a pervert. The women were really ticked but the men had another woman-free meeting and decided to put the child molester on a "special diet" that would make him want adult women instead of little girls. The mothers demanded the guy be given the boot but the men voted them down again and the guy got to stay.

Utterly disgusted, Granny got her kids and drove them back to the family farm in Texas where she moved back in with her 'rents (the farm is really big with a lot of homes). Being a single mom and having been with the hippies the town considered her a slut (perhaps one reason why she was fast to defend me when the town tried to paint me as a slut many years later) and while men came sniffing around her none would marry her, and she raised her kids with the help of family who only grudgingly did so and later just told men to stay away. She went to church and became a strong Christian for awhile but after a time she saw the hypocrisy (and sexism) was just as thick among the Bible thumpers as among the hippies of the commune she left and again rejected church (though she remained a Christian and sometimes even felt she got messages and comfort from Jesus, God, and the angels).

And her kids were a handful as well (though one son is very conservative today and I don't think has forgiven me for bad mouthing FOX News and talking his son into treating it like a drinking game, though he got off light IMO as when I was 4 he killed my favorite cow and fed me her meat to teach me cows were livestock and not pets, an experience that haunted me for years and made me contemplate death) but they all stayed in town. The one exception was my mom who (after eloping with my dad in a fit of teenage rebellion, I think they were 17, not sure) who went to Houston to become a model at a minor agency (and she took great pride in her Swedish heritage though most of my family don't care about that now). Mom has stories that IMO are both interesting (like how an entire crew would make her up and she sometimes wasn't even allowed to move much and then they put on a dab of whatever was being advertised and claiming that was all you needed to look like my mom) and terrible (holy crap were models treated like crap, and they could be vicious to each other as well in the competition enter into the profession), but she had to quit after she got pregnant with me and she was never allowed back into modeling after.

Mom didn't want me at first (she wanted to get back into modelling) so I spent almost 5 years growing up with Granny until Mom (who'd given up being a model again by then) had a fight with Granny and in her anger declared her unfit to raise a child and took me back just to spite her. Even so I got to spend nearly every summer with Granny and during the worse of the divorce from dad I also spent several months with Granny again until Mom needed me to get child support. And ever since I can recall I always felt closer to Granny and that we had more of a connection than I ever did with Mom.

And Mom stayed in Houston hating the town & Granny for many years though a few years ago she finally moved back and has a small trailer in sight of Granny's home (and we both shared peach brandy and some pot brownies in the summer of 2011, just before the wildfires broke out that made national headlines, and I'd taken the pot brownies over so she'd share her AC with me in the intense Texas heat as Granny only had cheap electric fans which was also about the same time I ticked off my uncle defaming FOX News).

Btw, Granny was the one who named me "Pix" when I was a small child (short for "pixie") and she called me that again back in the summer of 2011 which is why I thought to use that name when I joined GS shortly after returning home to my partner and kids (and finding she'd found a place for us to move to and thus lost connection with many offline friends so I started coming here instead). mile:

[Rainbowmum]

Witches that lived in caves in Scotland
My sister the family historian actually believes she has found the cave.

[fenris]

We have many different storys in our family.....

by example...

my uncle... shot in the age of 16

my granny... she bought 10 cigarettes for 125 000 000 000.00 but had not enough money for a bread

my grandpa... who killed himself by hanging..with my uncle in his hand

my mom.... who fled several times over the same border

my grandpa, who was struck by lightning and went home but died as he reached into a power line, because he could not afford glasses

and many more......

[monk]

Witches that lived in caves in Scotland
My sister the family historian actually believes she has found the cave.

Tell her to leave it alone - MidgetGem's living there now! :biggrin:

[zeon]

Hello,
What have i learnt about my family history.... Well ill start with my mothers side... My great great great uncle served queen victoria in her era and there is a place apparently in some royal lordy place which is reserved for the LONG family.. Long not being my christian name i aint intitled to it so i dont mind.. I discovered that my great granddad who died when i was 4 was born black but had two white parents.. I learnt that as a baby i almost ended up along with my mother and father moving to australia but they divorced so it never went ahead..

Now onto my dads side of the family... What little i know (due to him being ying and yang as a dad) I was born with a surname which doesnt match my bloodline but took 22 years to find out. l was informed that because my dad was a result of a one night stand and cruelly beaten by my nan (whos lost her marbles and dribbles in a home without any relatives visiting) i am 1/4 welsh.

Apart from that not a l;ot else...

[Jay]

Can't recalled much.

I do remember interviewing my late grandpa via telephone when I was in a secondary or high school. I had to do a report on family history.

My grandpa was a teenager/young adult when the Japan invaded my country. Well, the soldiers beheaded a lot of people that he knew. One time his friends and he ran away from soldiers. He survived the chase because he fell into a hole.

Other history ...

My dad comes from a very poor large family. My dad and his family used to live in a small shack with no water and electricity. They had to take shower and wash clothes at a nearby river. Fire was their 'electricity'.

In contrast, my mom comes from a very good income large family. Her family lived in a single storey house.

Both families lived in the same village. They live not far away from each other.

Anyway my dad studied very hard to change and to help his family. He was the first kid in the village to enroll into a very prestige boarding school. My dad graduated and was offered a job by the government.

My mom and dad eventually got married. My mom's parents were nice people. They were not into status whatsoever. Beside my mom's dad was proud to have my dad as his son in law.

For the first few months after wedding, my mom and dad stayed in my dad's family shack. My mom wasn't used to living in a shack and in poor condition. She had a culture shock. She had to wash clothes and take bath at the nearby river. She didn't complain whatsoever.

My dad then got promoted as a trade commissioner. My mom and dad were transferred to overseas. My sister and brother were born in country A. After that, my dad was asked to transfer to country B. My younger brother and I were born in Country B.

My parents' story particularly my dad reminds my siblings and I to be grateful all the time. I always remember what my dad says, "Always try to save at least 20% of your monthly salary in a bank for your future. A small amount is better than nothing at all."

Another finance advice that he gave was, "Only use credit card when you really have to. Cash comes first. If you can't afford something, don't act like you can afford it and buy it. If you want it so bad, save your money monthly and then buy it."

My dad spent a very huge amount of money to pay his sister's surgeries. But he didn't tell her. Her sister thought it was another brother who paid her surgeries. My dad said it's not necessary to tell her. What matters is her sister is alive and healthy. She still doesn't know it was my dad who paid her surgery bills.

I always keep in mind that my parents' money is my parents' money. It doesn't belong to me. Thus I need to work hard to earn my own income and to be successful.

My parents raised my siblings and I very well. My brothers, sister and I are now able to stand on our feet by ourselves.

For me, the best way to return their favor is by becoming a good son and human who can give back without asking for anything in return to the society.

I think I've drifted away from the original topic.

[mrk2010]

Hello,
What have i learnt about my family history.... Well ill start with my mothers side... My great great great uncle served queen victoria in her era and there is a place apparently in some royal lordy place which is reserved for the LONG family.. Long not being my christian name i aint intitled to it so i dont mind.. I discovered that my great granddad who died when i was 4 was born black but had two white parents.. I learnt that as a baby i almost ended up along with my mother and father moving to australia but they divorced so it never went ahead..

Now onto my dads side of the family... What little i know (due to him being ying and yang as a dad) I was born with a surname which doesnt match my bloodline but took 22 years to find out. l was informed that because my dad was a result of a one night stand and cruelly beaten by my nan (whos lost her marbles and dribbles in a home without any relatives visiting) i am 1/4 welsh.

Apart from that not a l;ot else...

The story about your grandad always makes me giggle and before you say it no you don't have dirty white skin :p plus there is only one of you on Facebook :p