|
Family Legends Every family has them. Somehow, somewhere back in the tree, there's a noble or royal branch, a President or Prime Minister, a business tycoon or notorious outlaw. The link may exist or it may not. If it exists, it may be difficult or impossible to prove. It may be something as tenuous as (with apologies to Mel Brooks) your great-granfather's brother's nephew's uncle's cousin's best friend's former room mate. Such legends are one of the spices of Genealogy. For my own family, these legends all seem to come from my father's side of the tree, at least so far. We're descended from Eric the Red. We're related to someone my father refers to as "the Robin Hood of Denmark", though he's never given me a name that I can recall. The famous actor Ib Schønberg was first cousin to my grandfather (famous in Denmark, at least, and northern Europe as well). But there's another kind of family legend. The every day sort of legend that family stories become when all of the original characters have long ago passed on. My great-grandmother, Irene FRANCIS, is supposed to have been the oldest girl of nineteen children (several brothers were older). Only eight of these survived to adulthood, and one of them only just. So far, I've managed to confirm thirteen (all of the records aren't yet public domain), but if the total of nineteen is true, Irene's mother Alice would have been either pregnant or breastfeeding - or both - from shortly after her wedding until her husband died when she was 45. The legend goes on to tell me that there was an informal competetion with a cousin of Alice's to see who could have the most babies. I wonder who "won". During World War II, an uncle serving overseas met the love of his life, but was already married. He came home to his wife and settled down to a normal life, complete with several children. A great uncle who ran around on his wife and may have had additional children beyond his marriage. The older sons in one family are rumoured to have culminated some arguments by throwing kitchen knives at each other. A great-great aunt who could only come back to town to visit because "they" would run her off if she tried to stay. My great-grandmother is said to have worked in a chocolate factory in England before emmigrating. These are just some examples - I expect to add some in detail as I discover the details and interview more relatives. Some I'll never prove and some I will, or will disprove. All of them I'll document and pass on.
I actually like this kind of legend more than the "famous relative" kind. Whether true or not, whether provable or not, they add to my family story as much as or more than any king, duke, or prime minister might just because these were real, "ordinary" people. My family. Everyone loves family tidbits or stories, even if they're years or decades after the fact, I hope to find many more talking with older relatives. Even more, I hope that there will be some family legends about me some day.
|
||||
|
Schonberg Line Hansen Line Payne Line Fisher Line Generated Pages Family Stories Family Legends Photos Brick Walls |
||||