Main Discussion Area > Around the Campfire
family history
jeffp51:
--- Quote from: bjrogg on April 09, 2020, 05:53:47 am ---Pretty much like Pearl. German Catholic farmers . Came here after the big fire of 1881. There is one of the oldest Polish settlements in America about 10 miles west. I remember my dad telling me my grandma told him not to go out with those polish girls.lol. I was related to almost every girl in my school. Took me 36 years but I found a good German girl from another school closer to the polish settlement.lol. Being German wasn’t one of my priorities.
My cousin went back to the homeland farm a few years ago. He brought some dirt. Gave everyone a little. I ate some and spread the rest on my farm.
Bjrogg
--- End quote ---
I'm curious--what big fire in 1881?
bjrogg:
Jeff there was a large forest Fire here in 1881. It must have been terrible. Many died. I heard stories of people hiding in wells and rivers. Many still died. I also have heard that many went out to Lake Huron. The ash from the fire made a lye solution and many died with their skin pealing off.
After the fire farmers moved in. My great grandfather came over with other families from Germany then.
Bjrogg
JW_Halverson:
I don't wanna throw cold water on everyone, but be sensitive about collecting family history. In college, as part of a genetics course, we had to collect and diagram our family relationships. My father has always been a cold and tight-lipped man, but I went around him and gathered information from external sources.
The stories I got were hair raising, to say the least. I tracked all 38 living and dead family members from his side back to my grandparents and that's exactly where the trail went cold. I submitted my diagram for the class and took my grade.
A year later I was called by a woman that said she believed we are related. I told her I really doubted it, but sure, let's compare notes. She arranged to meet with me later in the summer as she and her husband drove across the country on vacation. She brought computer print outs of the genealogy going back to the ancestor that immigrated from Norway in 1872. My family on my father's side expanded from 38 living and dead to over 400 in America alone.
She was very careful ask me if I was going to handle this well if I got information that was disturbing or painful. She explained there was a lot of pain, anger, and even violence associated. I agreed to not hold her responsible, seeing as neither she or I were part of the drama. In short, our branch of the family tree was "pruned" off. Let's just say that when my father found out I knew about our family history the very poor relation he and I have always had was over.
I am no longer welcomed home for family events, half the family tolerates me at best (most of them have not been exposed to the family history), and the others are openly hostile. It's not any great loss to me, as we were never much of a close family to start with. The generational dysfunction really rides our family hard.
When you start probing family history, be sensitive. Remember that sometimes a lie is the kindest truth.
Pat B:
John, my Dad used to say...never look in closets, you might find skeletons. Made me want to look deeper. ;)
Hawkdancer:
You have to remember many folks were "exiled" for crimes like smuggling, sheep stealing, etc! Not everyone was an stellar citizen, war hero, or whatever!
Hawkdancer
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version