12string Posted January 30 Share #1 Posted January 30 Visiting with my aunt, she brought out some family documents from late 1800's-early 1900's, and filled in a few more gaps. My grandfather wasn't born here, he was am immigrant. And, while I knew his last name had been changed, but not officially, turns out whole name was changed unofficially after his father was killed - possibly due to his efforts to murder thousands of people for the Kaiser. My grandfather never knew about this until he tried to apply for a marriage license and needed paperwork. Turns out the US government knew who he was before he did, which is why they didn't allow him to leave the country during WWI And some other less notable stuff. 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeman564™ Posted January 30 Share #2 Posted January 30 dang, interesting after all these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted January 30 Share #3 Posted January 30 Amazing. It is cool to learn of our family past, even if some of the details are not what we would want to hear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted January 30 Share #4 Posted January 30 Interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted January 30 Author Share #5 Posted January 30 56 minutes ago, jsharr said: Amazing. It is cool to learn of our family past, even if some of the details are not what we would want to hear. This is why I prefer that you simply tell your SOs that one of your invisible bike friends is just an ax murderer. I had seen the commendations from the Kaiser a few years back, and heard what they were for. The intrigue about hiding my grandfather from people who were seeking revenge, and him not knowing about it was a new twist. There was other stories about wealthy landowners whose gambling debt settlement changed the development of a local town. Still waiting for a story about the immense fortune that has been held in trust for descendants. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted January 30 Share #6 Posted January 30 When my dad passed and my brother was cleaning out my dad’s house he found letters from my grandfathers family thanking him for the financial support during really hard times in England. I had never heard of the struggles people had in England. My grandfather passed when I was in grade school. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted January 30 Share #7 Posted January 30 1 hour ago, 12string said: Visiting with my aunt, she brought out some family documents from late 1800's-early 1900's, and filled in a few more gaps. My grandfather wasn't born here, he was am immigrant. And, while I knew his last name had been changed, but not officially, turns out whole name was changed unofficially after his father was killed - possibly due to his efforts to murder thousands of people for the Kaiser. My grandfather never knew about this until he tried to apply for a marriage license and needed paperwork. Turns out the US government knew who he was before he did, which is why they didn't allow him to leave the country during WWI And some other less notable stuff. My father was a bit like that. His name was different from mine and after arrival in the US he took the nave of his uncle. There is no record of it being official, but he was allowed to join the merchant marine and qualify as an officer during WWII despite German heritage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 30 Share #8 Posted January 30 7 hours ago, jsharr said: Amazing. It is cool to learn of our family past, even if some of the details are not what we would want to hear. Dearie told his 2 children the stories of his family. There are some sensitive parts which even here I got a negative reaction when dearie was a baby during WWII...innocent to all the stuff. It's how we tell the family history stories in a compelling way to interest younger generations so the collective memory of achievement and some tragedy is passed along...and reasonably accurate. As well as something to learn from, if not just entertained. Until last year, I didn't know my paternal grandfather had 2 wives...simultaneously. Wife 2 was later on when my mother was a young teen. Yes, learning this history for lst time 64 yrs. later. Or my father handwrote a love story in Chinese --180 pgs. long. A sister has the original. We can't get it wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airehead Posted January 31 Share #9 Posted January 31 6 hours ago, 12string said: Visiting with my aunt, she brought out some family documents from late 1800's-early 1900's, and filled in a few more gaps. My grandfather wasn't born here, he was am immigrant. And, while I knew his last name had been changed, but not officially, turns out whole name was changed unofficially after his father was killed - possibly due to his efforts to murder thousands of people for the Kaiser. My grandfather never knew about this until he tried to apply for a marriage license and needed paperwork. Turns out the US government knew who he was before he did, which is why they didn't allow him to leave the country during WWI And some other less notable stuff. Family stories are important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted January 31 Share #10 Posted January 31 Interesting stuff! My mother's next-older sister, my Aunt Martha, used to tell me all the skeleton in the closet stuff. We'd be at the family plot at the cemetery and she'd say, "Let me introduce you to your relatives." Then she'd point at each tombstone and say, "This one was married to that one but was sleeping with this one, who was a friend of your Aunt Nora's before she got pregnant with Eddie and had to get married." She enjoyed shocking me: "Uncle Stan used to go to the whorehouses in Scranton, PA when they were legal there," etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 31 Share #11 Posted January 31 16 hours ago, MickinMD said: Interesting stuff! My mother's next-older sister, my Aunt Martha, used to tell me all the skeleton in the closet stuff. We'd be at the family plot at the cemetery and she'd say, "Let me introduce you to your relatives." Then she'd point at each tombstone and say, "This one was married to that one but was sleeping with this one, who was a friend of your Aunt Nora's before she got pregnant with Eddie and had to get married." She enjoyed shocking me: "Uncle Stan used to go to the whorehouses in Scranton, PA when they were legal there," etc. I shouldn't giggle a bit since back then, when the incidents /discoveries of indiscretion/infidelity would cause some emotional upsets,etc. And of course, still do now when recent stuff happens. We probably have taken alot of family (history) stories for granted and just don't even bother telling anyone. Or forget. Even just living through covid, was a bit mind-boggling looking back and things that happened locally during lockdown, as well as what we knew globally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted January 31 Share #12 Posted January 31 My mom started writing a diary of her life when she was in her 60’s and said she didn’t want anyone to see it until she died. My sister who was power of attorney took the journal and won’t share its contents. Kinda F’d up as our mom wanted the info shared. But at this point I don’t know if it will really matter… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 31 Share #13 Posted January 31 28 minutes ago, ChrisL said: My mom started writing a diary of her life when she was in her 60’s and said she didn’t want anyone to see it until she died. My sister who was power of attorney took the journal and won’t share its contents. Kinda F’d up as our mom wanted the info shared. But at this point I don’t know if it will really matter… Obviously this journal grab happened awhile ago. Unless sister has kids herself (to share), it might be a test to ask casually later this yr. Why not have you borrow it and scan some content pages? A sister has my father's love story (written in fountain pen ink). Just hope it stays in the family. I think she scanned about 10 pages so far. Not any of us can read Chinese. It is Dad's beautiful handwriting.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted January 31 Share #14 Posted January 31 21 minutes ago, shootingstar said: Obviously this journal grab happened awhile ago. Unless sister has kids herself (to share), it might be a test to ask casually later this yr. Why not have you borrow it and scan some content pages? A sister has my father's love story (written in fountain pen ink). Just hope it stays in the family. I think she scanned about 10 pages so far. Not any of us can read Chinese. It is Dad's beautiful handwriting.. Nah no kids. This sister feels she’s the family historian and is entitled to all pictures & historical artifacts. Like when our brother passed he gave me a couple of his watches for me & middle brother as well as his fly rods. She demanded I give them to her for family historical reference. I told her to fuck off, she’s not curating a museum and he wanted the items to be used, not sit in a box for 30 years & then get thrown away…. She’s still bent about that. An interesting aside, brother that passed and middle brother had very similar Seiko dive watches. Same model and same age, one had a black face the other orange. Anyway when I gave brother #2 the watch he said OMG my watch like this stopped working the day Ron died!?!? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted January 31 Author Share #15 Posted January 31 1 hour ago, ChrisL said: My mom started writing a diary of her life when she was in her 60’s and said she didn’t want anyone to see it until she died. My sister who was power of attorney took the journal and won’t share its contents. Kinda F’d up as our mom wanted the info shared. But at this point I don’t know if it will really matter… My aunt did tell us that she doesn't want any of the documents going to her kids, they should go to one of her nieces or nephews. She didn't really say why. Or who. She needs to decide soon, and tell people 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 31 Share #16 Posted January 31 2 hours ago, 12string said: My aunt did tell us that she doesn't want any of the documents going to her kids, they should go to one of her nieces or nephews. She didn't really say why. Or who. She needs to decide soon, and tell people Perhaps personality of her kids just isn't suited to be caretaker for family's key documents. Some people don't give a poop about their family roots...even if it's very interesting/instructive for future generations. I actually think your aunt's documents might be worth donating to a public sector archive after consulting with the head archivist ..if it's not your local one, at the state level. The back story is quite interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 31 Share #17 Posted January 31 3 hours ago, ChrisL said: Nah no kids. This sister feels she’s the family historian and is entitled to all pictures & historical artifacts. Like when our brother passed he gave me a couple of his watches for me & middle brother as well as his fly rods. She demanded I give them to her for family historical reference. I told her to fuck off, she’s not curating a museum and he wanted the items to be used, not sit in a box for 30 years & then get thrown away…. She’s still bent about that. An interesting aside, brother that passed and middle brother had very similar Seiko dive watches. Same model and same age, one had a black face the other orange. Anyway when I gave brother #2 the watch he said OMG my watch like this stopped working the day Ron died!?!? Being an informal family historian (which dearie was since he had the family tree going far back as 1700's, his grandfather's pocket watch back to 1800's, etc.), does mean one hopes the person will represent the basic facts of the family history accurately and tell the best/most meaningful stories to others. "Others" meaning other family members as priority. I don't think the same person has to keep all but at the very least have a digital good scan of written documents..because it is evidence for those "stories". A copies of the digital scan given to more than 1 family member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted January 31 Author Share #18 Posted January 31 We are planning to bring a good photography setup and get pictures of it all, taking notes. She said she recorded a lot of the history on tapes years ago but doesn't remember who did the recordings or has them now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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