People of historical significance in your family trees

[CMacC]

Being a lifelong history buff with an interest in genealogy I've had the opportunity to look into my family tree holding out hope that some relation might have been involved with either the Royal Navy or the United States Navy as I had ancestors on both sides of the American War of Independence. While I didn't find any evidence of naval service for any nation, I did find some interesting things. The people on my mother's side for the most part were Patriots with a few exceptions while most on my Father's side were Loyalists, also with a few exceptions. The most noteworthy person from history, at least from a shared Anglo/American perspective turned out to be Joseph Brant, who was a military/political leader of the Mohawk tribe during and after the AWI who were allied with the British. This relation was through my mother's side. In a small country/small world-type twist of fate, I am also related on my father's side to a British Army officer who was either the liaison to Joseph Brant or otherwise attached directly to Joseph Brant's military campaigns during the war. The man's name escapes me at the moment, but the odds of having two ancestors who were closely related at one time to one another end up having descendants marry two hundred years later seems pretty crazy.
That being said, has anyone else done some family research and found ties to famous naval figures? Feel free to share.

-Mack

[Diamondback]

Naval no, but around the ACW era different branches of my family include an Ohio political machine and the outlaw gang that was responsible for a slice of Whitley County, Indiana getting its Hell's Half Acre name.

Come to think of it, other than the strata of society they moved in the two groups were very similar in behavior... LOL

[Hjl]

The only one I can think of off of the top of my head is my wife's grandfather, General Jo Lawrie. He was a general in the 82nd airborne during ww2 and was known by the nickname Jumping Jo as he was the only General to jump with his men during the war. He later went on to command the 82nd from 1965-67.

[CMacC]

My father has done the bulk of the research and his research borrows pretty heavily from the research his father had done. What information he's been able to collect goes back into three-digit years where things start to get sketchy since most people could neither read or right and you begin seeing bloodlines that include people of questionable believability. For example, through one branch we are the several "great" grand nieces and nephews of Charlemagne. More believable at least because the family of someone that important could read/write for themselves or get someone else who could to record these things for them. To me it lends credibility to how true it ma be since, if you're going to fabricate your heritage into the family of the first Holy Roman Emperor, why not claim a direct line. At the same time, through my Scottish roots by way of Viking interbreeding, we have both Odin and Thor in one branch. I'm not saying it's impossible, however it's extremely hard to believe. If it is though I might consider engaging a lawyer to get my rightful piece of the Avengers/Thor movies money. No-one asked permission to use my relatives names and or likenesses.

[Bligh]

The only Ancestor of any significance in our family tree was discovered quite by chance by my son who was researching ours whilst doing his Masters degree. Having got us back to about 1740 he hit the brick wall, although the whole family had not moved more than nine miles through intermarriage in all that time. Up to this point that made chasing up church records much easier. He had given up, when one day he was in the University library researching for his degree and came across a book by an eminent genealogist about the inhabitants of the village where his search had petered out.
He then E-mailed the chap, and got a reply although by this time he was retired. After some more E-mails it turned out that the chap had been working from the other end of things. He had started with a famous member of the village who became Mayor of Nottingham during the Civil War, and was a signatory to the death warrant of King Charles 1st. The trail of one branch of the family, belonging to his brother our cousin, ( documents were not clear on this point) petered out around 1720, when a daughter inherited a farm on the understanding that she took the name of the deceased family. When she married she kept this name, and the trail went cold. Putting the two stories together, the Antiquarian and my son realized that this was the missing link between the two families.
So on the maternal side I am related to one of the guys that killed the King. Quite fitting really, as we have been re-enacting the Civil War as Parliamentarians for 25 years.

Rob.

[csadn]

Does the name "Harriet Beecher Stowe" ring any bells? >:)

[Bligh]

Does the name "Harriet Beecher Stowe" ring any bells? >:)

Only those for Tom the cabin boy.
Bligh.

[Kentop]

On my mother's side, I am related to Admiral Sir George Cockburn, the man who burned down the White House during the war of 1812. His grandfather was my great great however many greats that is my grandfather. Two Cockburn brothers immigrated to the colonies in the 1760s. One fought in the Revolutionary war and was awarded land in Georgia for his service. His name was also George Cockburn. His sons moved to Arkansas and fought on the side of the Confederates. Their sons moved to Texas and changed their names from Cockburn to Cogburn. My grandfather was George Cogburn. He fought as a doughboy in WWI as a machine gunner with the 36th Texas Division and survived being gassed in the trenches during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the last big battle of the war. Lots of stories there. The Admiral's story is pretty well known, He served aboard many ships represented in SOG during his career, including the flagship HMS Victory when it was in the Mediterranean in the 1790's.

[Bligh]

Now that is indeed some Family Tree to be proud of Ken.
Well done the Cockburns.
Rob.

[Herkybird]

On my late Mothers side, her family were the Scottish Whytes, who were a sub clan of the MacGregors, making me slightly related to a bunch of bandits!
My Dad's side came mostly from county Tyrone in Ireland, after the Potato famine.
No famous warriors though, My Grandad was on a Lewis gun in WW1, and my Uncle was aboard HMS Norfolk from 1943 onwards, my Dad was on HMS Gazelle (Ex BAM-17) - and American minesweeper from 1942.

[Kentop]

There are some shady characters sprinkled throughout the Cockburn branch I'm from starting with why the two brothers "got out of town before nightfall" and immigrated to the US. It had something to do with accidentally killing the king's favorite hunting dog! The Georgia Cockburns were slave owners, and some of the Arkansas bunch apparently were involved in "irregular warfare", meaning they were highwaymen or bushwhackers. When you shake your family tree, all kinds of fruit fall out of it, including rotten fruit.