Ancestry and Veteran's Day
So I was up until 4am last night studying my ancestry. I got the 14-day free trial on Ancestry.com, used the Church of Latter Day Saints' familysearch.org (Mormons keep very detailed records), and the Social Security Death Index and U. S. Census reports. I'm really astonished at how much I found, for free. I haven't found much on my mom's side of the family (I need to ask my mom what my grandmother's maiden name is, as well as my great-grandmother's last name), but on my paternal grandmother's side I can trace it back five generations, to Peter and Johanna Albinger, Germans who came to Iowa in the mid-1800s.
It's making my ancestry very real for me. For example, my paternal great-great-grandmother, Evelyn Tribolet Brown, was pregnant with my grandmother when my great-grandfather, Conrad Brown, was killed in an accident at the Arizona Meat Packing Plant (he was crushed between a descending elevator and the floor) in June of 1926. He was 32. It was two days after his birthday. A year and a half later, Evelyn's father, Abraham, died of pneumonia. (The same undertaker attended both.)
I have printouts of Conrad and Abraham's death certificates (Arizona is an open-records state, which means anyone can browse their vital records). I have my grandmother's birth certificate, as well as my great-great-aunt's (Evelyn's sister Caroline's) birth certificate. I have Conrad's draft card from WWI, signed June 5th, 1917 (June was apparently a bad month for Conrad). It tells me, vaguely, what he looked like (medium height, medium weight, brown eyes, brown hair). It must have been difficult for him; he came from Germany as a child in 1900, then fought on the side of the U. S., against Germany, in WWI.
I found out that on Evelyn's side, I'm Swiss. Abraham Tribolet came to Arizona from Switzerland in the late 1800's-early 1900's. I found out my grandfather, who died in 1980 (melanoma at 55; my dad has his ashes), worked for the railroad. It's unbelievable. I'm having trouble going further, though, since Conrad came directly from Germany, and all the German genealogy sites are in (surprise!) German. I don't speak German...but my father does. Hmm...
I just thought it was cool and wanted to share, in case there's anyone else out there who has no idea from whom they're descended. My dad always told me I had an ancestor who was a sausage maker who was killed by an elevator, and now I know his name.
Also, in honor of Veteran's Day:
The General
by Dispatch
There was a decorated general with a heart of gold.
They likened him and all the stories he told
To past battles won and lost in legends of old.
A seasoned veteran in his own time,
On the battlefield he gained respectful fame,
With many medals of bravery and stripes to his name.
He grew a beard as soon as he could to cover the scars on his face
And always urged his men on.
But on the eve of a great battle with the infantry in dreams
The old general tossed in his sleep, and wrestled with its meaning.
He awoke from that night to tell what he had seen
And walked slowly out of his tent.
All the men held tall with their chests in the air,
With courage in their blood and a fire in their stare.
It was a grey morning and they all wondered how they would fare
When the old general told them to go home.
He said:
"I have seen the others
And I have discovered
That this fight is not worth fighting.
And I have seen their mothers,
And I will no other
To follow me where I'm going, so
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Go now, you are forgiven."
But the men stood fast with their guns on their shoulders,
Not knowing what to do with the contradicting orders.
The general said he would do his own duty but he would extend it no further:
The men could go as they pleased.
But not a man moved, their eyes gazed straight ahead
Til one by one they stepped back and not a word was said.
The old general was left with his own words echoing in his head.
He then prepared to fight.
"I have seen the others
And I have discovered
That this fight is not worth fighting.
And I have seen their mothers,
And I will no other
To follow me where I'm going, so
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Go now, you are forgiven."
To Conrad Brown (WWI), Frederick Gustav Oppor (Korea), my father (Vietnam), my great uncle Meade Marshall Nanney (lifelong Marine Corps, buried at Arlington National Cemetery), and all the other veterans, of this era and all the past: thank you for your sacrifices.
It's making my ancestry very real for me. For example, my paternal great-great-grandmother, Evelyn Tribolet Brown, was pregnant with my grandmother when my great-grandfather, Conrad Brown, was killed in an accident at the Arizona Meat Packing Plant (he was crushed between a descending elevator and the floor) in June of 1926. He was 32. It was two days after his birthday. A year and a half later, Evelyn's father, Abraham, died of pneumonia. (The same undertaker attended both.)
I have printouts of Conrad and Abraham's death certificates (Arizona is an open-records state, which means anyone can browse their vital records). I have my grandmother's birth certificate, as well as my great-great-aunt's (Evelyn's sister Caroline's) birth certificate. I have Conrad's draft card from WWI, signed June 5th, 1917 (June was apparently a bad month for Conrad). It tells me, vaguely, what he looked like (medium height, medium weight, brown eyes, brown hair). It must have been difficult for him; he came from Germany as a child in 1900, then fought on the side of the U. S., against Germany, in WWI.
I found out that on Evelyn's side, I'm Swiss. Abraham Tribolet came to Arizona from Switzerland in the late 1800's-early 1900's. I found out my grandfather, who died in 1980 (melanoma at 55; my dad has his ashes), worked for the railroad. It's unbelievable. I'm having trouble going further, though, since Conrad came directly from Germany, and all the German genealogy sites are in (surprise!) German. I don't speak German...but my father does. Hmm...
I just thought it was cool and wanted to share, in case there's anyone else out there who has no idea from whom they're descended. My dad always told me I had an ancestor who was a sausage maker who was killed by an elevator, and now I know his name.
Also, in honor of Veteran's Day:
The General
by Dispatch
There was a decorated general with a heart of gold.
They likened him and all the stories he told
To past battles won and lost in legends of old.
A seasoned veteran in his own time,
On the battlefield he gained respectful fame,
With many medals of bravery and stripes to his name.
He grew a beard as soon as he could to cover the scars on his face
And always urged his men on.
But on the eve of a great battle with the infantry in dreams
The old general tossed in his sleep, and wrestled with its meaning.
He awoke from that night to tell what he had seen
And walked slowly out of his tent.
All the men held tall with their chests in the air,
With courage in their blood and a fire in their stare.
It was a grey morning and they all wondered how they would fare
When the old general told them to go home.
He said:
"I have seen the others
And I have discovered
That this fight is not worth fighting.
And I have seen their mothers,
And I will no other
To follow me where I'm going, so
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Go now, you are forgiven."
But the men stood fast with their guns on their shoulders,
Not knowing what to do with the contradicting orders.
The general said he would do his own duty but he would extend it no further:
The men could go as they pleased.
But not a man moved, their eyes gazed straight ahead
Til one by one they stepped back and not a word was said.
The old general was left with his own words echoing in his head.
He then prepared to fight.
"I have seen the others
And I have discovered
That this fight is not worth fighting.
And I have seen their mothers,
And I will no other
To follow me where I'm going, so
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Take your shower, shine your shoes.
You've got no time to lose.
You are young men, you must be living.
Go now, you are forgiven."
To Conrad Brown (WWI), Frederick Gustav Oppor (Korea), my father (Vietnam), my great uncle Meade Marshall Nanney (lifelong Marine Corps, buried at Arlington National Cemetery), and all the other veterans, of this era and all the past: thank you for your sacrifices.