My great grandfather was from Glasgow, Scotland. I don't really know much more about him. I do know that his family name, Archibald, originated in 1066 though. The Archibald's were from the Clan MacPherson or something like that.
I remember my father's parents very well, they were always around, but we hardly ever saw my mom's parents, so I have very few memories of them. My mom's dad and grandfather were born in Scotland and her mom in Pennsylvania. She was Pennsylvania Dutch (Really German: Lime told me all about it one day). My mom said her mom's family can be traced back to the Mayflower. Don't know if it's true, but that's what she said. I don't have any memory of my mom's mother though.
The thing I remember most about my mom's father was that he had a glass eye. He got a piece of coal in his eye once, so they had to remove it. He would take the eye out to wash wash it and show it too me. I was about five, so that was very cool. He also ate raw onions like apples. Guess where I got my taste for them from.
My dad's father was from Poland and smoked cigars, so he always smelled like cigars. That's what I remember most about him. He would also give us kids $5.00 each when he visited, which then, was a lot of money, but my parents always took it from us. We were very poor, so they needed it to pay the bills or something I suppose.
My dad's mother always smelled like moth balls. Guess she kept them with her clothes. My grandma and my mom used to work together, as both were house wives, doing the cooking and cleaning when they visited. They talked and talked at length. That's how my mom learned she wasn't really Polish, but White Russian. I checked into it and found out that she was really from what today is known as Belarus, Russia. Seems that her father was a mayor of a town and when the 'red Russian' (communists) were taking over Russia, her dad sent her, her 10 brothers and sisters and their nanny to the USA to escape the slater. As far as she knows they were killed as they were aristocrats.
I could go on and on, but I guess that's enough for HNT. Happy HNT y'all!
16 comments:
Great story and great pictures. I can definitely see the family resemblance without a doubt!
I think some day I would like to do a little on my family history. You just never know what you'll find ;o)
I come from Glasgow. A good place to come from. Not necessarily to live.
Personal history posts are great. HHNT.
Wow! In my family and I just sound alike! hhnt!
Well, I suppose if you had a glass eye, it would lessen your chances of onion juice irritation by 50%!
As for the moth balls...oh man Tony, so many of the women in India smell like that..because if they didnt use them, the moths would eat their sarees right up....
HHNT Tony!
Oh my! I can even see the resemblance! Same smile and eyes full of expression. ;)
Fantastic memories as well. Thank you for sharing them... I wish I had more of my own ancestors. I think many of the stories and character descriptions weren't passed along because of that old fashioned sense of conservatism that runs in my family (stopping at my generation... ha!). Oh well...
Love the HNT photos!
Wonderful, my friend!
Cheers & Happy HNT!
Wonderful post! I like hearing a family's history so very much.
Happy HNT!
Now why did you stop? That was an interesting family history. :)
Don't understand how come I already posted a comment... but somewhere else... Anyway... you have a very interesting family... ;-)
Happy HNT!
Isn't always nice when you know your ancestry? I wish i could trace mine back some one of these days.
Happy HNT
wow, that's really interesting. i'm glad i could clear a thing up about your background for you too. :)
thanks for sharing, i love this stuff.
HHNT
Hey go on and on. I find it vastly interesting!
HHNT!
I found a lot of stuff on my family thanks to the internet. I spent many, many hours searching and hit pay dirt when I looked through the old census documents. The Ellis Island web site was very useful too.
Jillie - I really didn't see the resemblance until I cut and pasted the photos together like this.
Rob - Thanks and how in the world did you kind your way to where you live now? That's quite a trek.
S - Maybe in India they need them, but I'm not sure why my grandma did.
Tara - Thanks so much. :-) I think families stopped talking to each other has more to do with not spending as much time together as a family. I know in my case that's true. After my generation we all seemed to just not be as close anymore.
Lecram - Thank
Cosima - Thank you too
Mark Leslie - I stop there mainly because it was after midnight and I was getting tired. I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks.
Searabbit - Your first comment was on my HNT blog, so no, your not loosing it. LOL
oldfashionmomma - You can, if you just spend half your life researching. ;-)
Lime - Yes, thanks again.
Patti Cake - Maybe I will continue some day.
It's a long and winding story.
Damn you were a good looking dude back in the day ... and you still are. Somethings just never change.
Love the history and the pictures.
Wow.. your family really has a way of passing down facial traits..
amazing how that works.. I look nothing like my family..
* sigh *
Happy HNT babe
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