31 Days of Halloween day 5 |
My great great great great great great grandmother from my dad's side, Christianna , born in 1760, was a woman of Italian descent who was a mid-wife, horsewoman, and herbalist who founded a Christian church in Ohio with her husband Jesse. She lived to be 100 and was friends with other settlers and Native Americans. She charged $3 for midwife services which doesn't sound like much but adjusted for inflation was a healthy rate for such services back then. She is one of the more interesting ancestors I've found out about through one of my sisters, who does geneology. Another interesting relative was my maternal grandfather who took care of horses and even had a radio show at one point. I've got some distant distant relatives who were pirates on my mom's side and also on my mom's side we are several cousins removed from Elvis, Abraham Lincoln and we are also distantly related to you guessed it-Kevin Bacon. Also my maternal grandma's 6th cousin was explorer Robert Peary, who was one of the first to reach the North Pole. That same grandma I had known as Lucille for most of my life really had a different first name, I was told a few years ago. Her real name was Georgia. Why she went by Lucille, I do not know. I think it was her middle name. She had a tumultuous life as it was revealed later my grandpa, who died of a heart attack at the age of 49, actually had two families. Not sure exactly when she found this out. Also her firstborn son died in infancy, and she was orphaned at a young age. Yet almost every year she sent us grandkids birthday cards with $1 or $5 in it. And knit all of us girls ponchos one time. I'm sure most people can find interesting or noteworthy people in their geneology depending on how much they search. My sister says she has seen grandma Christianna's ghost one time but I have never seen her ghost myself. Still, it is comforting to think that our ancestors are maybe watching over us. |