Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

[lambrew]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

I was waiting to see my Audiologist reading a book on the battle of Gettysburg. She saw me reading the book, and asked my opinion on General Sickles actions at said battle. I gave her my opinion, which is mixed, both good, and bad. Thats when she told me she is his ggg grand niece. Her family remembers him with great pride.

Respectfully....
Sean Collicott

[Wild Rover]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

Dan Patterson is a great guy and he falls out with us several times a year- whatis funny is that he prefers doing blue- really shocks the pants off the the "south is going to rise again" crowd.

Pards,

[westphalia]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

I was walking around the Sharpsburg battlefield with my father in mid-summer, 1997. The temperature was over 100 degrees, so there were only a couple of visitors' cars parked at the center. We had free run of the place.

Dad and I walked the length of the battlefield (fun, but a bad idea in that kind of heat), and ended up standing on Burnside's Bridge, looking toward the ridge where Toombs' Georgians were stationed. I noticed a very elderly man taking pictures of the bridge, and the ridge, and after saying "hello" and engaging him in conversation, found out that he was Robert Toombs' great-great-grandson. He comes back to the battlefield every year. Nice fellow.

[Rob]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

One of the fellows whom I see regularly at events is a direct descendant of General John F. Reynolds, who was killed at Gettysburg.

[MuleyGil]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

BG George "Maryland" Steuart CSA is a distant ancestor of mine.

[BishopLynch]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

After the war, my great grandfather and his brother were listed in an arrest warrant with Frank and Jesse James.

On that note....
While in college in Kansas I was friends with an elderly woman whose grandmother was neighbors with Jesse James at one point.
Oh and another bit.....a VERY elderly lady in St. Mary's Kansas, where I went to college said that Gen Custer had tied his horse to the huge tree in front of the gymnasium when he came through. The tree was huge and has since been blown down in a storm. The college wasnt there yet, but the stop was a Jesuit mission on the Oregon trail.

[Arch Campbell]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

A direct descendant of McClellan (who is a U.S. Army general in his own right) was scheduled to speak to my local roundtable last month, but cancelled and rescheduled at the last moment. It amused me no end to be able to answer the question, "How was General McClellan?" with "Well, he was supposed to be here last night but won't arrive now for six months."

[Southernlady1862]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

This weekend, while doing a living history at Kennesaw Mountain, a spectator started asking a few questions......and while saying "I don't really care much about the civil war"...... he did mention that his Grandpappy had won the congressional medal of honor during it!!! We asked him if he knew how.... " him and some guys stole some train down here"

We explained to him all about the Great Locomotive Chase, how the museum was just a few miles up the road, and how his ancestor is most likely mentioned in the displays. His response ....... "eh, I don't have time for stuff like museums"

[Spinster]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

The great-great something of General Richard Taylor shows up here on a regular basis:

http://www.historicmageefarm.com/history2.html

Delightful and knowledgeable gentleman who cares very much for that historic legacy

[Chihuahua]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

Pards,
A friend of mine in town claims to be a direct descendant of Gen. Ambrose Burnside. He (half-joking) says he's not proud of it, but I still think it's cool.
I've a great, great uncle who rode with Mosby ----- John Randolph Castleman, Co. A, 43rd Va Cav Battalion. Does that count?

Mark Warren
Hairy Nation
Bloomfield, Iowa

[Texasbutternut]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

A few months ago an insurance policy or some mundane matter was being renewed on the phone and the man who authorized the renewal perked up when I mentioned going to a reenactment. After a few minutes of talking he said his name is Custer, his great-great-grandfather was one of George Custer's brothers. There were four brothers, he said, three died in the military and the fourth brother was too sickly to be in the military so he farmed as best he could. That's his ancestor.

Not long after that there was a grave marker dedication for Daniel Crockett at Buna, TX. There are a lot of Crocketts there, I shook hands with a great-great-grandson of Davy Crockett. Daniel Crockett the Confederate soldier was a grandson of Davy's.

..............
Hank Van Slyke
3rd Texas Light Artillery

[cmadler]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

My g-g-grandfather, Asa Oliver Carter (from whom I get my name), was a Sgt in the VA cavalry (don't know the unit offhand). John Singleton Mosby is my 4th cousin, thrice removed (his g-g-g-grandfather, Edward Mosby, is my g-g-g-g-g-g-grandfather). On a related note, but moving to a different war, my g-g-g-g-grandfather, Lt. Wade Mosby, and his father, General Littleberry Mosby, were both considered Revolutionary War heroes in central VA.

Carter Mosby Adler

[Gary of CA]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

I met a Meade who concede that her ancestor won one battle. I guess they weren't all that proud of him. Earlier this month when I was in Alexandria, I met a descendant of Dan Sickles. I didn't know it at the time and only found out when I contacted her boss (he was also at the Carlyle House) who mentioned her last name. This prompted an inquiry and he confirmed it (and said that she was on a better career track than Dan). I also met a descendant of Capt. Worden, the skipper of the USS Monitor.

[JustRob]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

I recently learned that a friend of mine is a Meade descendant. He's currently a Catholic seminarian and finds his ancestor's antics a bit embarassing.

[Old Cremona]

Re: Famous ancestors..whom have you met?

Dan Patterson is a great guy and he falls out with us several times a year- whatis funny is that he prefers doing blue- really shocks the pants off the the "south is going to rise again" crowd.

Isn't that perfect, since his ancestor was a post-war "turn-coat?"