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| One of my great-grandfathers |
As you know I have been quite busy with my research into my ancestry. And it makes for fascinating reading so far! I find out so much about some people and so little about others! Here are some of the discoveries I made so far:
I already knew I was descendant from Charles the Great, but now I found out there is actually some debate on whether he actually existed! Listen to me folks: he did! Because I have to come from somewhere and he is a great person to come from!! So, not based on any science or fact, I vote for his existance.
I found out one paternal ancestor killed a man in France. Now, this was a long time ago and happened in what is now a suburb of Orléans (he was a student there). I say killed a man, but all I know so far is that he was arrested for killing a man, so it might just be a storm in a glass of water that.
I found out one maternal ancestor had two children while unmarried. One passed away when about 3 years old, the other was my great-great-grandfather. On his marriage papers it said that his mother hadn't acknowledged him. I know (from other sources) that he lived with his grandparents.
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| Job Ulbes Faber 1827-1906 |
I found out that the brother to a paternal ancestor thought he was married in 1900 when his 'wife' had actually divorced him 4 years earlier on the grounds of 'left the joint abode in a state of malevolence' and 'he does not reside in this country'. In fact, only 2 years into their marriage, he had sold everything he owned, including the canary in its cage. And 3-4 years into their marriage, he had not only left their joint abode, he had actually left the country. He had emigrated to America with seven of his children (they were not hers).
I found out that one maternal ancestor was killed by a priest over some court case. I still have to find out all the particulars, but apparently the priest lost the court case and was about to lose another due to my ancestor. Not happy about that, he decided to kill him!
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| Menno Simons |
I found out that a lot of my paternal ancestors were baptists, which I found very surprising at first. Until I realised that Menno Simons (the mennonites) was born and raised in Friesland, where nearly all my ancestors come from as well. It would even be a possibility that some of them even knew him personally!!!
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| The breadrunner is on the left |
I found out when my grandfather first went away to work: he was fifteen and a half. I found out the meaning of May 12th. I found out about turn skippers and millers, bread runners and farm hands, labourers and clothmakers. The main job on my paternal side is farming, be it farmer or farm hand, the main job on my maternal side is still to be found out.
There are so many things to find out about, so many things to discover. The stories I have so far only touch the surface and I actually only have one story that is close to be written down into a chapter for a book I hope to make about all this.
So, if I am missing in action, I am off discovering!
This post was partly inspired by this week's prompt from the Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginnie Marie at Lemon Drop Pie!
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOh my word that is definitely the stuff of novels!!! All the very best stories are the true ones....happy hunting... YAM xx
What I want to do (bookwise) is write a book with the stories of my ancestors and having similar stories from other ancestors. For example, I found a beautiful letter from my great-great-great grandmother to her son (my great-great-grandfather). And when I looked through all the letters my parents sent me while I was living abroad, I found one that was quite similar in tone. My father also seems to have more letters and documents and I hope there will be more insights in there!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how you find anything but names, and I would be even hard pressed to find names. What tools are you using?
ReplyDeleteI must bow in the presence of Charles the Great-ness. Sounds like a very interesting journey you have undertaken. Always fun to learn facts such as these!
ReplyDeleteWe did come down somewhat after that though. All the way down to poor labourers. But it certainly makes for interesting reading!
DeleteHow exciting to look into your DNA. Our state is very active in that since we are the Mormon church's home.
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
The province where my dad comes from is also very active in that regard. The rest of the Netherlands is okay too, but is a lot more spread around and since my mother's family is a lot more spread around it takes ages to find the right sites! The tree itself is done (more or less), now it's just a case of finding out more information about some of my ancestors, which takes more time than anything to do with the tree. It keeps me out of trouble though...
DeleteWhat interesting discoveries! I haven't discovered that much about my family, but I do know one of my dad's uncles shot his son, and then shot himself. I've seen where they are buried. It's a very tragic story! My cousin is working on our genealogy, so it will be fun to see what she has discovered!
ReplyDeleteYou have a large variety of ancestors ! As mostly anybody at that time were farmers and worked for the nobles, maybe on your maternal side you will discover that a she was the mistress of a count ??
ReplyDeleteAnd Oswin ? is she a descendant from the Norvegian royals ??
Oh my goodness what wonderful research you are doing...it is time consuming I'm sure. Mom once told an British professor her ancestors were from Scotland and Ireland. He smiled and said, 'my dear you are Southern American' born and raised....true but my ancestors were NOT. LOL
ReplyDeleteHugs madi
That is so interesting. I love all the things you have found out about your ancestors. I can see why you would be missing in action!!!
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