Who's up for "Your Family Claim-to-Fame-Celeb Time" ?? Here's mine -
Since I was a child, family legend handed down the story/rumor that my Dad's Grandfather was at one time the shortest detective on the Detroit Police force.
I figured it was a family joke. Sorting through old photos my Mother kept, I found the likely evidence that there was truth to the legend. This is probably a Detroit newspaper photo reprint of a parade the force participated in.
The arrow points to the man, the cop, the Great-Grandfather-PHNC!
What's yours?
I figured it was a family joke. Sorting through old photos my Mother kept, I found the likely evidence that there was truth to the legend. This is probably a Detroit newspaper photo reprint of a parade the force participated in.
The arrow points to the man, the cop, the Great-Grandfather-PHNC!
What's yours?
60 Replies
H
Hokester
4y
After many tests with Ancestry and 23 and Me nobody in the family has turned up any Native American DNA. I in fact am 100% Western European so unless the princess had an affair when she was in England, I don't think I am related to her.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
V
VTUD
4y
only had an 8th grade education(born in 1911). However,he was a smart man and had a natural ability to draw. When I was a kid,he would draw cartoons for me that looked like they were right out of the newspaper. In the 1930s,he was offered a job by Walt Disney to be a movie cartoonist/animator. He turned the job down because he did not want to move from NC to California. If he had accepted the job,he would have probably worked on some of the most famous animated movies in history.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
They wrote a book about it. Didn't even know about him until the character Dr. Ambler came up
Highly recommend the book
Highly recommend the book
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
Detective's generation. Ironically, growing up in Detroit, my Dad developed a dislike for Canadians for what reason I have no clue. And the paperwork that ran out? The last notes were in Toronto. LOL.
[Post edited by PhotoHokieNC at 05/06/2022 1:50PM]
[Post edited by PhotoHokieNC at 05/06/2022 1:50PM]
(In response to this post by ColoVT82)
4y
civil war soldier. Obviously hard to prove, especially on the conferderate side, but here's the story. I have his pension application that provides most of this, including his age.
In TN he was "hey you" drafted by a TN confederate militia unit at 13 years old. A few weeks later he left and found his way to the 1st TN Cav, where he enlisted. He was captured soon after and given his age and I guess the fact that they didn't know he was a deserter from the confederates, he was sent home rather to a prison camp.
He went back not long after and joined back up with the 1st TN Cav, where he was once again captured (not very good at the soldiering thing I guess) and sent to Belle Isle prison camp (on the James River just outside of Richmond). Interestingly, our family first settled in Prince George County VA in th 1630's, so not far from the original family homestead. He contracted TB while there and was released as part of a prisoner exchange after about 18 months. He went home on a medical discharge.
As a farmer, TB made things hard so he taught himself to read and eventually passed the bar and became an attorney.
In TN he was "hey you" drafted by a TN confederate militia unit at 13 years old. A few weeks later he left and found his way to the 1st TN Cav, where he enlisted. He was captured soon after and given his age and I guess the fact that they didn't know he was a deserter from the confederates, he was sent home rather to a prison camp.
He went back not long after and joined back up with the 1st TN Cav, where he was once again captured (not very good at the soldiering thing I guess) and sent to Belle Isle prison camp (on the James River just outside of Richmond). Interestingly, our family first settled in Prince George County VA in th 1630's, so not far from the original family homestead. He contracted TB while there and was released as part of a prisoner exchange after about 18 months. He went home on a medical discharge.
As a farmer, TB made things hard so he taught himself to read and eventually passed the bar and became an attorney.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame
Unfortunately it has not won us any game show quizes
[Post edited by Burruss Writer at 05/06/2022 12:17PM]
[Post edited by Burruss Writer at 05/06/2022 12:17PM]
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
I know some direct Lewis descendants
(In response to this post by Burruss Writer)
Family is primarily from the Orange/Spottslyvania area
Puts it right close to Albemarle County where he was born. Fairly certain the lineage is on the Meriwether side.
(In response to this post by HokieDan95)
4y
(In response to this post by HokieDan95)
4y
My family has a proud tradition of being the person behind the curtain.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
The Big Lebowski, Born in Vinton, Va and graduated from Fork Union Military Academy. Pic attached.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
Had no idea he was born in Vinton.
(In response to this post by HokieNLot11)
4y
community called Huddleston in Bedford County. A wonderful place IMHO.
(In response to this post by RoswellGAHokie)
4y
...my paternal grandmother's family descended from Richard Warren, one of the Mayflower passengers. Somehow that also makes us distantly related to Franklin Roosevelt, as I believe the Roosevelt family also descended from Richard Warren. More closely related are my grandmother's great uncles (I think?), one of whom was the first president of Mary Washington University, and the other who was collector of internal revenue and postmaster in Richmond under multiple presidents. I just googled his name and actually found photos of him and his gravestone in Hollywood Cemetery here in Richmond. Sometimes the internet is pretty wild.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
...author of the Mayflower Compact.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
E
EDGEMAN
4y
Link:
Click for the Wiki
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
[Post edited by PhotoHokieNC at 05/06/2022 12:33PM]
(In response to this post by EDGEMAN)
E
EDGEMAN
4y
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
from my neck of the woods (or at least they used to) claims a Lee connection, so who knows?
[Post edited by HokieDan95 at 05/06/2022 11:59AM]
[Post edited by HokieDan95 at 05/06/2022 11:59AM]
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
(In response to this post by HokieDan95)
That’ll get you in trouble these days.
(In response to this post by HokieDan95)
4y
I went to elementary and high school with Michele Smith - 2 time US Olympian gold medalist and holder of many high school and NCAA records. She now commentates for NCAA softball games on ESPN and will likely catch some Hokies games this postseason.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
H
Hurley09
4y
be able to handle being the second best baller in the Hurley clan.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
John Paul Jones, father of the U.S. Navy, was my uncle 7-8x removed
I think there's a flag from one of his ships displayed in the Reagan building in downtown DC, where I used to work
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
[Post edited by HokieDan95 at 05/06/2022 11:54AM]
(In response to this post by HokieMacDaddy)
4y
:)
[Post edited by vt90 at 05/06/2022 2:26PM]
[Post edited by vt90 at 05/06/2022 2:26PM]
(In response to this post by HokieDan95)
4y
was a member of the mafia.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
This is kind of a stretch...but it's what I got
My grandmother on my mom's side passed away when my mother was only 16 years old. That left my mom and her older sister and brother to fend for themselves on the mean streets of Pittsburgh. All three children had to take jobs...and my mom got a clerical position in an attorneys office. She used to sing while doing work...and one of the attorney's notice that mom had a helluva singing voice. Even though she was just 16...this dude got her gigs singing in Pittsburgh nightclubs!
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
in the 1950s. She interviewed Rocky Marciano's wife for the "women's page" in her home and met Rocky, who was Brockton's most famous citizen at the time (and probably ever).
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
Just saying
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
^^^Humblest of brags^^^
(In response to this post by turkeywinghokie)
4y
On an infamous note, many in my family believe the man who shot Stonewall Jackson was an ancestor of mine. There is no actual proof, though.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
Had a great uncle beat the rap on federal moonshining charges.
Have a great-grandfather in the TCU Hall of Fame for football and baseball.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
team back in the day in Wilmington, N.C...Sonny Jurgensen.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
[Post edited by Stork at 05/06/2022 11:24AM]
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
4y
My aunt (father's sister) is into genealogy big time. Even before all of the DNA testing was available she spent countless hours in the library tracing her family heritage. In her research she was able to confirm that we are distant cousins (but still related) to both Abraham Lincoln and Cindy Crawford (both from Illinois as it were).
The more interesting one is that my uncle (father's brother) used to bully and beat up a kid frequently at Hibbing High School in Minnesota. He didn't like the kid and teased him because he was in the 'glee club'. Obviously my uncle was a bit of an a-hole in those days. Anyway, the kid he used to bully was named Robert Zimmerman who later changed his name to Bob Dylan. Robert got the last laugh.
The more interesting one is that my uncle (father's brother) used to bully and beat up a kid frequently at Hibbing High School in Minnesota. He didn't like the kid and teased him because he was in the 'glee club'. Obviously my uncle was a bit of an a-hole in those days. Anyway, the kid he used to bully was named Robert Zimmerman who later changed his name to Bob Dylan. Robert got the last laugh.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
My distant relative was a quack, radio mogul and almost governor of Kansas
2nd cousin 2x removed
Link:
Clickmehard
(In response to this post by vt90)
4y
my dad and his cousin bullied Willard Scott.
[Post edited by Guy LeDouche at 05/06/2022 11:39AM]
[Post edited by Guy LeDouche at 05/06/2022 11:39AM]
Link:
Preston
(In response to this post by vt90)
N
No Clue
4y
(In response to this post by Guy LeDouche)
4y
(In response to this post by Guy LeDouche)
4y
Glee Club is a group of kids that sing and generally sing pretty well. No way they would have let Ole Robby Zimms in the club...dude can't carry a tune in a 55 gallon trash can.
(In response to this post by vt90)
4y
and though he was two years older than Robert they were in a couple of yearbooks together and one of them showed Zimmerman in the glee club. This one shows Latin and Social Studies club. Agree, the dude can't sing to save his life but he could write some songs!
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
4y
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)