Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I had a genealogical paper accepted for publication.

It has now appeared in print.

[leswp1]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

It has now appeared in print.

Congrats!

[MissThundercat]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I reached out to my Aunt Pam and Uncle Sam on my Mom's side to ask some questions:

1. Am I the only queer in the family, present or past?

2. Am I the only grad student in the family, past or present?

I'll be surprised to get an answer, knowing we don't talk... the last time I saw them was my Mom's funeral in 2010.

[ticapnews]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

So it turns out I have some interesting family history. One of my first ancestors in the American colonies became fatherless as a kid. His dad worked on fishing boats and went to sea in 1655 never to be seen again. A judge ordered that a local would take over the family land (what? a woman own land? Crazy talk.) for his own profit. He was hard on the boy and his mother (as if losing the father and then losing their land wasn't enough) and the boy held a grudge. And held it. And held it. In 1692 his daughters came down sick, and one died. Did I mention this was in Salem, MA? He accused the wife of his tormentor of making his children ill. By the end of summer the woman, and two others, had confessed and were executed for practicing witchcraft.

[leswp1]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

So it turns out I have some interesting family history. One of my first ancestors in the American colonies became fatherless as a kid. His dad worked on fishing boats and went to sea in 1655 never to be seen again. A judge ordered that a local would take over the family land (what? a woman own land? Crazy talk.) for his own profit. He was hard on the boy and his mother (as if losing the father and then losing their land wasn't enough) and the boy held a grudge. And held it. And held it. In 1692 his daughters came down sick, and one died. Did I mention this was in Salem, MA? He accused the wife of his tormentor of making his children ill. By the end of summer the woman, and two others, had confessed and were executed for practicing witchcraft.

We only have the church shunning people for making babies out of wedlock

[owslachief]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I think I see how this works.

Apparently, my great grandfather murdered my great grandmother because she learned of his liking little boys a little too much. Related to a less dubious generation, it's not been officially determined whether the brother of my 7-greats grandfather was Joseph Warren or the man himself.

[leswp1]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I think I see how this works.

Apparently, my great grandfather murdered my great grandmother because she learned of his liking little boys a little too much. Related to a less dubious generation, it's not been officially determined whether the brother of my 7-greats grandfather was Joseph Warren or the man himself.

I am starting to believe my adulterous twig on the tree was pedestrian

[MissThundercat]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I'm frustrated. The people who would know if I'm the only queer in the family are either dead or not talking to me, because I'm a queer.

[MissThundercat]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

Talked to my brother, surprise, surprise:

I am the only trans person on the Cowles side of things. There is one other lesbian cousin, I believe.

I'm not the only one who's gone beyond a Bachelor's for education. My cousin has her Masters.

[leswp1]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

Talked to my brother, surprise, surprise:

I am the only trans person on the Cowles side of things. There is one other lesbian cousin, I believe.

I'm not the only one who's gone beyond a Bachelor's for education. My cousin has her Masters.

I have done genealogy for 30+ yrs and I can say I would be shocked if you could find direct evidence or even people committing to tell you there were trans or queer people. Stuff like that was rarely if ever directly referenced until quite recently. Most of the time it was not discussed at all unless there was a family breach then it was. There may be veiled references and thos have a certain lingo. More likely to find out if you asked if people lived with friends for a long time.

Example- my mother's family in Scotland had an Uncle who was probably gay. My mother had no inkling of this. Neither did my Uncle. I had corresponded with a Cousin who did a huge amount of research and never mentioned anything about something 'different'. When I visited a different Cousin she made a reference to him being arrested for something that happened in the men's room. Said with a little, barely discernible chuckle to get the meaning across. Nothing was said out loud. I am making the assumption. We talked about this guy a few times and there was never another reference to it.

Another example- my Auntie and her partner were together for 50 yrs. We were close. Nothing was ever said and I don't think the younger generation had a clue. We just thought they were to people who had no relatives left so bonded to share expenses and that was how they presented it. . The older generation never discussed it. I think they avoided discussion or thinking of it. Nothing was overt until my Auntie's obit when the other one came out in an oblique way. Further digging found a few Aunts who had lived with friends and some speculation that one of the aunts had split with her husband because of her best friend (probable partner) although this was said only in the last yr and we had been talking about these relatives for decades.

In many cultures in the past (and in some places current) controversial things about people were not the things you passed on. It was not good form to do so and if it was not considered to be good then they didn't like to pass on something that might not reflect well, in their opinion

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

MT, your last few posts reminded me of something.

The person who I believe is the only openly LGBTQ person in my very extended family died last week. I always liked him. He always gave us a fruit basket every Christmas, which I looked forward to. I'm 99% sure he was my first exposure to the fact that we aren't in a binary world. I remember that my parents did a good job helping me understand, even at a young age, that it was perfectly acceptable. This was before larger mainstream events that helped move the needle forward.

That must have been a really difficult discussion to have with us kids 25-30 years ago at such a young age. I guess I really didn't appreciate that until now.

[leswp1]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

MT, your last few posts reminded me of something.

The person who I believe is the only openly LGBTQ person in my very extended family died last week. I always liked him. He always gave us a fruit basket every Christmas, which I looked forward to. I'm 99% sure he was my first exposure to the fact that we aren't in a binary world. I remember that my parents did a good job helping me understand, even at a young age, that it was perfectly acceptable. This was before larger mainstream events that helped move the needle forward.

That must have been a really difficult discussion to have with us kids 25-30 years ago at such a young age. I guess I really didn't appreciate that until now.

That is cool they were good about it. sorry for his passing

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

I just found out over the weekend that the widow of Ben-Ami Kadish is a third cousin, twice removed. He wasn't Jonathan Pollard, but ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Ami_Kadish

[Slap Shot]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

Tracked down my great-grandparents last names: Peterson, Schmaltz, Maedl, Olsson, Overmire, Stavig and Andersen.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Geneology Thread: Where did we come from?

Tracked down my great-grandparents last names: Peterson, Schmaltz, Maedl, Olsson, Overmire, Stavig and Andersen.

Only seven?

Oh, you forgot "Shot".

FWIW, mine are Bär, Grünebaum, Maier, Hofheimer, Gunzenhäuser, Heßdörfer, Cahn, and Schmidt.
The additional ones for my great-great-grandparents: Klein, Rosenbaum, Liebhold, Rosengart, Nordheimer, Neu, Berlin, and Hirschmann.

Interestingly, the wife of Ben-Ami Kadish was née Liepold. That was the same family as mine called Liebhold. A problem with German-Jewish names is that not that long ago, Jews wrote High German in the Hebrew alphabet, and when they learned the German alphabet, names of branches in different places could turn out to be different.