kaykwilts

Ok....my husband's paternal great grandfather, was a full-blood Italian, and a boot maker. He left his home in Tyler one day in the early 1900's, got on the train to meet up with a man to deliver a pair of boots he had made....and was never seen nor heard from again. No one can find a trace of him....spooky!!

And for me.....while not really an "ancestor" but can I brag about my Dad for a minute? He invented the Handball Glove, and was inducted into the Handball Hall of Fame in 1986...and that's my only "claim to fame!!"

grammatjr

My grandmother is the only human ever to contract Swine Earisyphillus (SP??). She turned purple (as purple as the girl in Willy Wonka).

She worked in a pharmacutcial labratory, giving the disease of the week to rats. One day, someone distracted her as she was giving the injection of this pig disease, and accidently shot herself.

So, off to the hospital they go. The veternarians were called, and she told them the treatment procedures they had tried, and together they got her back to normal - no longer purple! Too bad, my grandkids would have loved to see that.

She also worked on cancer treatment drugs. I have a pic of her in the lab, all those beaker tubes, holding a clipboard, in her lab coat. I love that pic.

And though I never saw her at work, it typifies to me what kind of woman she was, as she had to raise her 3 girls all alone when her husband died when Mom was just a year old. It was during WW1 and there really wasn't much for a single lady to do.

JusticeClan

My father's grandfather is suppose to be the first lawyer in the state of Missouri. I have a picture of him in his civil war uniform. Very special to me.

grammatjr

My husband had people always ask him the same type of thing, saying they had seen him in places he hadn't been etc.

Well, when his Dad died, we had the preacher mention the kids from the first family, who had been taken away from the parents, we knew their first names, and aproximate ages, but that was about it. We didn't know where they were, or what happened to them.

At the reception after the funeral, the preacher came up with a guy and said "I think you are going to want to meet this man". Turns out it was the half brother from the first marriage! He lived in a small town not too far away, and had seen the unusual first name, and came to the funeral curious to see if it was his father. When he heard his and his sister's names - he knew it was. He had not planned to introduce himself, but after hearing his name, he knew his father had not forgotten him.

He said that all his life, people had told him they saw him - when they didn't and seeing them side by side - it was easy to understand why.

The sister lived cross country, but was able to come visit once before she died. She and my hubby called each other, or wrote emails quite a bit.

grammatjr

My grandfather (the one who died and left my grandmother to turn purple) invented the two way spark plug which was purchased by Champion. It revolutionized how the spark plus worked.

His father invented tiltable operating tables.

jaciqltznok

hasn't this been THE most interesting thread??

and look how many of us might be related!

Tons of great reads...spread the word so we read some more!!

jaciqltznok

Maybe you DO have a sister and just don't know it....

Joan Dickson

A man on my Father's side was knighted by Maxillian of Bavaria for his religous works in the 1600s. There is a
website with this info.

fmhall2

My 6 great uncle was Daniel Boone. I am a direct descendent from his sister, Mary, who married William Bryan. It was at their wedding that Daniel met Rebecca who later became his wife. That was on my mother's side. On my father's side I am a great niece of the famous Oscar Mayer from Chicago. In fact I knew him when I was a kid. My aunt said we go back to Bloody Mary, Queen of Scots, but I have no proof of that.

Nanaquilts44

I have a great, great... uncle that fought at the Alamo and his name is on the wall there.