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v_digitalwytch
2007-04-27 04:05 pm UTC (link)

Since we're cracking out genealogy stories...

We've got the Prussian Nobility that apparently came over to fight in the Revolution and decided to stick around, then there's the stowaway from Sicily during the 1800s, and scads of 'connecteds' from the Prohibition days ranging from lookouts to bagmen.

Noteds tend to be my great-great grandma who was a cleaning woman for Jane Addam's Hull House who also had Mrs. O'Leary (of the arsonist cow) as a landlady, the other great-great grandma who had some racket going on at the docks and did sidework as an Italian/English translator while she had her hubby stay home doing the cooking and cleaning, my two great-grand aunts who in thier flapper days hung around with Al Capone and on thier farm do have this underground 'facility' where if someone had to lay low for a time, they could-I've seen it, brick pizza ovens in the wall and it's large enough to hide a couple model-t's as well.

We also apparently have an actor who's since turned producer in the family, but until I see this person show up at a family gathering, I'm not putting much stock into the story.

Not helping matters either is when the ancestor who's given us our last name arrived at Ellis Island had pretty bad handwriting and story goes our last name was originally an a, but the swoop was too high and the offical wrote it down as an o which makes for much bickering when attempting anything for research.

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	eilisliana 2007-04-27 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Was the translator grandma with the stay at home hubby, in the 1920s? Because that is just really wild for the time. XD (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

v_digitalwytch
2007-04-27 11:11 pm UTC (link)

Aboutish, if not slightly earlier which really does make it wild for the time.

I first called bull when I was told about her because I had trouble believing it, but enough older members of the family pointed out that whatever buisiness she was up to, it didn't step on the toes of the others rackets there and more focussed on blowing any scams the native English speakers tried to pull on the still learning the language immigrants which brought her quite a bit of respect in the neighborhood.

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	rachel_pi 2007-04-29 01:51 am UTC (link)
	my great-great grandma who was a cleaning woman for Jane Addam's Hull House Yay, famous cleaning people. A relative of mine working in Igor Stravinsky's Paris house. ^^ (Reply to this)(Parent)

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