Season 9: All Episode Talk

[luna1122]

I can't really imagine not being appalled or dismayed at seeing a relative in jackboots, looking for all the world like a Nazi. He DID look like a jerk, and he might well have seemed on par with a murderer to Bowen, given what his misguided zealotry might have led to.  It would be like seeing your 2x great grandfather wearing a KKK hood.  There is plenty of collective historical  guilt to go around, and seeing that my ancestor had been so on the wrong side of history would definitely stir it up. And it is completely natural to draw parallels to what is going on now in the world.

What's funny to me here is that I have NEVER liked Julie Bowen. I had a visceral dislike to her back on "Ed", when she played Jack's wife on "Lost", etc, and tho I think she's a gifted comedienne--I hate Claire on Modern Family, but acknowledge that Bowen is very funny playing her--I have always just found her, as someone upthread mentioned always 'on', in interviews, always trying too hard to please or entertain, seeming disingenuous, much the way Anne Hathaway comes off to me (and apparently others). So I was fully prepared to be eye rolling my way thru this episode. But...I liked her. Yeah, she seems high strung and actory, and yes, my politics clearly align with hers, so I felt a kinship to her reactions, as they would largely have been my reactions. But I think she was genuinely horrified to find out what Big Charlie had stood for, and genuinely happy to find an activist and abolitionist on the other, and I found it all pretty relatable and touching and interesting.  Clearly most of those on ancestry finding her insufferable have politics that are diametrically opposed to hers, so, yeah, whatever. I give her a pass on seeming overly proud or drawing too many parallels to her own life, based on her ancestors, because it's pretty much what everyone who comes on here does.

[Snarklepuss]

51 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

I can't really imagine not being appalled or dismayed at seeing a relative in jackboots, looking for all the world like a Nazi. He DID look like a jerk, and he might well have seemed on par with a murderer to Bowen, given what his misguided zealotry might have led to.  It would be like seeing your 2x great grandfather wearing a KKK hood.

Seriously?  Below is a photo of a WW1 uniform.  It had absolutely NOTHING to do with Nazis in jackboots.  That uniform predated the Nazis, in fact the Nazis stole the idea from elsewhere.  So in light of historical reference, I respectfully disagree with Charlie's attire being in any way compared with a Nazi uniform.

[luna1122]

Point taken on the jackboots. But Big Charlie wasn't in the military. The APL were private citizens, correct? Big Charlie appears to have been playing dress up, like a soldier, when he hadn't earned it. Maybe everyone in the APL did, but it doesn't make the imagery any less disturbing, to me.

I also just read that in the 20s, the APL recruited members of the KKK for their assistance. It was not an honorable organization to be involved in, and I don't blame Bowen for feeling dismay over Big Charlie at all.

[attica]

I'm sorry to contradict you, Snarklepuss, but those are a cavalry officer's riding boots, not the jackboots we saw on Charlie Frey. Both of my grandfathers served in WW1, and I have photos of them both in uniform. Neither of them wore either riding boots or jackboots, but instead wore standard issue lace-ups that didn't have long enough shafts to cover their calves.

[Snarklepuss]

7 minutes ago, attica said:

I'm sorry to contradict you, Snarklepuss, but those are a cavalry officer's riding boots, not the jackboots we saw on Charlie Frey. Both of my grandfathers served in WW1, and I have photos of them both in uniform. Neither of them wore either riding boots or jackboots, but instead wore standard issue lace-ups that didn't have long enough shafts to cover their calves.

Even the Nazis had different kinds of boots for different purposes, and I only know that from studying history as much as i have, but my point is the uniform and the boots Charlie wore have absolutely NOTHING to do with Naziism as we know it, which didn't even exist then much less have jackboots.  Associating jackboots or any particular type of uniform with any kind of Nazi philosophy prior to Hitler's rise is IMO historically not possible.

[luna1122]

Fascism, then, if not nazism. And whether historically accurate or not, those types of boots have become a metaphor and a symbol for totalitarianism, and usually seen as Nazi related, so bowen's (and my) immediate and knee jerk reaction was to see a Nazi. Ignorant perhaps but, I think, understandable. Or not. 

[attica]

Perhaps 1930s-era Germans looked at photos of Charlie Frey and thought, 'Hmm, that's a good look!' :)

[Snarklepuss]

2 minutes ago, attica said:

Perhaps 1930s-era Germans looked at photos of Charlie Frey and thought, 'Hmm, that's a good look!' :)

Actually you're not far from the truth - although it would be 1920s Hitler - There's a persistent theory out there that Hitler based the Nazi uniform from the New Jersey State Trooper uniform.  Something I am sure that the troopers would not have been happy with.  I don't forget that the Nazis were our arch enemies and no one, not even state troopers would have wanted to be associated with them in any way even unintentionally, but despite that many state trooper uniforms still bear a strong resemblance to the Nazi uniform.  Another reason I don't assume a political philosophy based on attire.

[BusyOctober]

While the APL (learned something new, so thanks TV!) was a civilian group, they most likely dressed in military-esque type clothing to intimidate the public and legitimize whatever authority they had.

[ChicagoCita]

I found it interesting that Big Charlie was himself very close to being a German immigrant, so joining and heading an anti-German pseudo-military organization was a very good way to avoid being its focus, as they pointed out in the program. I had no idea about the APL at all, and that's kind of odd, considering that most people know about the Japanese interment camps that came just 25 years later. In any case, I am grateful for WDYTYA for bringing up this piece of history, which hits very close to home for me, both literally and figuratively.

It was kind of amusing how Julie Bowen went from cooing over his agency's (very cool) advertising art to being shocked and repulsed by him. Incidentally, if you Google APL and Chicago, Big Charlie's name is the first thing that pops up.

I found out that one of my ancestors was indeed a murderer. He was 16 and got into a fight and the other boy died. He was let off the hook -- small town, well-respected father. While I wouldn't call him a jerk, it certainly colors the way I look at him. Tellingly, my grandmother was never told about it... he was her uncle... sometimes I feel guilty about doing genealogy and digging up family skeletons that had been successfully hidden for generations.

Edited March 14, 2017 by ChicagoCita

[howiveaddict]

My Grandmother's father killed a man during a card game and was later shot by police. My grandmother was the youngest of 6 kids.  Growing up, all we knew was that he was killed by a policeman.  We all assumed it was wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't until my aunt researched our geneology that we found out the truth.  Sometimes families sweep the things under the rug.  Also there is supposed to be a family member, on my grandfather's side, who walked away one day and started a new family in a town miles away.

[oucellogal]

Quote

What bothered me is how she put down big Charlie, saying he "looked like a Jerk".  Just WOW.  This is her 2nd Great Grandfather!  You would think he was a murderer or something.  My 2nd great GF was a French immigrant who ran ammunition to the confederates via his shipping business during the Civil War (for which my Yankee GGM left him when she found out) but I would never call him names or act like he was making me feel ashamed!!  It is what it is and it's hard to judge people so far in the future.  Who knows what their motivations were?  Plus people have to be seen in the context of their times.  I also can't carry the blame for what any of my ancestors did.  But we have people who are walking around today bearing the collective guilt for what was done over 100 years ago.  It's ridiculous!

Totally agree. My mom has traced our family history for years, so I know a lot about my ancestors. Some of them owned slaves, some of them worked on the Underground Railroad, and everything in between. Who I am as a person is not defined by anything my distant ancestors did or didn't do.

[Mittengirl]

Has anyone else wondered if there is something we are doing today that will cause our 3x descendants to be ashamed of us?  Being carnivorous?  Using fossil fuels?  Drinking bottled water? 

[JennyMominFL]

On 3/8/2017 at 7:44 PM, camom said:

When I was learning history in school, it seemed like most of it was learning the dates of battles, etc.  It wasn't presented in a way that was interesting or relatable.  I find it much more interesting when I can just learn and not have to memorize facts for a test.

I watched Courteney's episode with a neighbor who could trace her family back to the same people, so it was interesting for her.  Of course, there are probably millions out there who could do the same.

I'm back in school getting a degree in History and Anthropology.  University level history is less about who , where and when  and more about why and how. It's much more interesting

And I'm also related to Wiliam. I'd also be willing to bet that those of you who think you are only related to dirt farmers are wrong.

I'm also pretty good at genealogy and have done some for others, purely because I love it. If anyone wants me to do some digging for free, message me.

[chitowngirl]

I wonder how Charlie's parents, German immigrants, felt about his activities.

[Snarklepuss]

5 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I wonder how Charlie's parents, German immigrants, felt about his activities.

I wonder about his descendants.  It makes me wonder if Julie's inherited guilt is based on her exposure to more recent relatives who may have been proud of their association with Charlie and her behavior on this episode was an effort to mentally distance herself from him and them in her mind (and the public's).

[Cara]

18 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Has anyone else wondered if there is something we are doing today that will cause our 3x descendants to be ashamed of us?  Being carnivorous?  Using fossil fuels?  Drinking bottled water? 

If the worst thing my descendants can find to criticize me for is eating a steak or driving my car I think I'll have lived a pretty good life!

Edited March 15, 2017 by Cara

[mythoughtis]

Wouldn't you have thought we learned enough about the APL and the mistreatment of German-Americans  in WWI that we wouldn't have done the same thing to Japanese-Americans during WWII? 

[Snarklepuss]

3 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

Wouldn't you have thought we learned enough about the APL and the mistreatment of German-Americans  in WWI that we wouldn't have done the same thing to Japanese-Americans during WWII? 

What has always baffled me (and my WWII expert and 89 year old Dad) is that German Americans were not similarly targeted during WWII as they had been in WWI.  My father thinks it's because most German Americans by WWII were American born while there were still a lot of Japanese who were foreign born at the time, hence leading to more suspicion about their primary allegiance.  That's the best he could do to explain it, and he lived through it!  Given that Japan had attempted to take over the US I can understand the American paranoia to some degree, but in light of present day values their internment feels completely wrong.  It also feels wrong knowing that during WWI and WWII German Americans were not also rounded up and put into camps.  Why only the Japanese?  That has always felt like racism to me, even though historically the Japanese as an ethnic group have not been generally seen as the target of institutionalized racism in the US.  It's so hard for us today to wrap our minds around the mentality of a former time.

[luna1122]

5 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

  It's so hard for us today to wrap our minds around the mentality of a former time.

Sadly, it really really is not. Racism is just as alive and festering today as it was back then. I don't think we've learned much of anything as a society from the unlawful and constitutional internment of Japanese or German Americans. We're primed to do it all again.

Quote

Totally agree. My mom has traced our family history for years, so I know a lot about my ancestors. Some of them owned slaves, some of them worked on the Underground Railroad, and everything in between. Who I am as a person is not defined by anything my distant ancestors did or didn't do

I don't believe anyone--including Bowen or any of the celebs on this show--believe they are defined by what their ancestors did, but it would be very hard for most of us to discover we had slave owners or Nazis or KKK-ers or whatever in our past.

[weightyghost]

On 3/13/2017 at 0:30 PM, iMonrey said:

However (and I know I harp on this all the time) this is the second episode in a row where the show has chosen not to spell out the tree or lineage from the ancestor to the descendant.

Except they did in this episode? The first was her mother's father (grandfather? father...the age seems to be father) and they showed the tree when she was reading off her father's email - 'my grandmother was such and such and her father was such and such'. I'd write it out but I literally just hit delete on my PVR when I clicked on this post... 

[Cara]

On 3/14/2017 at 7:56 PM, chitowngirl said:

I wonder how Charlie's parents, German immigrants, felt about his activities.

My guess is they would have been supportive because they would have been anxious to prove without a doubt where their loyalties lay. I would also think that was probably Charlie's motivation as well. I think this is an example of trying to see how people felt at the time and not our hindsight view of things.

On 3/16/2017 at 2:16 AM, Snarklepuss said:

What has always baffled me (and my WWII expert and 89 year old Dad) is that German Americans were not similarly targeted during WWII as they had been in WWI.  My father thinks it's because most German Americans by WWII were American born while there were still a lot of Japanese who were foreign born at the time, hence leading to more suspicion about their primary allegiance.  That's the best he could do to explain it, and he lived through it!  Given that Japan had attempted to take over the US I can understand the American paranoia to some degree, but in light of present day values their internment feels completely wrong.  It also feels wrong knowing that during WWI and WWII German Americans were not also rounded up and put into camps.  Why only the Japanese?  That has always felt like racism to me, even though historically the Japanese as an ethnic group have not been generally seen as the target of institutionalized racism in the US.  It's so hard for us today to wrap our minds around the mentality of a former time.

I think your dad is at least partly correct. I think there were several reasons. Most Germans had pretty much assimilated into the "American melting pot" by the 1940's. Also race certainly was a factor, if not the main one. Germans were white and didn't  stand out the way the Japanese did. Additional, we had been attacked on American soil by Japan. So I think at least when the interment started the threat from Japan probably seemed greater! There is also the factor of sheer numbers. A large percentage  of the US had and has German ancestry. Even General Eisenhower had German ancestors. The majority population  of several  large US cities was of German descent. The Japanese-America population was relatively small, and virtually non- existent apart from west coast.

 I found this interesting about the subject.

https://www.quora.com/Were-the-German-Americans-ostracized-in-US-like-the-Japanese-Americans-during-World-War-II-If-no-why

 

[Granny58]

Jennifer Grey was very nice and had some sensible, thoughtful questions.  Also, did not finish the sentences of those who were sharing what they found.  Gold star Jennifer.  

[Ina123]

I'm a visual learner so I loved that Jennifer Grey took notes, although at first I thought it was silly. The entire episode is on record and she could go over the info by just watching it anytime. Then I remembered that the airing of the episode would be much later and she wanted to tell all this to her family on her return. So, it made sense.

My how times change. She was so proud that he was a Commie.

No, I don't think that was terrible. Just the remarkable change in attitude from McCarthyism (albeit many years after her great grandfather) to now was so profound.

[luna1122]

I liked her. She was a little manic and shot out rapid fire questions when the historians and experts were just trying to already tell her, but that was enthusiasm and interest; I didn't mind it. She also made the parallels that Julie Bowen did about immigrants then and now, which is hard to argue. And from the neck down, in her little floaty dress, and especially in her stripey shirt and jeans, she still looks like Baby. Her rush of emotion upon confirming that her great grandmother had died in childbirth was touching.

[Lovecat]

It was the peasant top that called back to Dirty Dancing for me!  I just had to ask Mr. Google for movie stills, to make sure it wasn't the exact same one (it wasn't...but VERY similar).  Mid-50's looks good on her!

[JennyMominFL]

I know this  is from the  Julie Bowen episode, but I would like to point out that 36% of the American citizens interred during WW2 were German

[iMonrey]

That was interesting. I liked how Grey's story focused on just one person, her mother's father. Or was it her mother's father's father? At any rate, it wasn't too far removed from present day as to be unrelatable. I felt the revelation that his mother had died in childbirth a little anti-climactic. She pretty much knew that must have been the case and it was presented as this monumental revelation.  

[ShelleySue]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I felt the revelation that his mother had died in childbirth a little anti-climactic. She pretty much knew that must have been the case and it was presented as this monumental revelation.  

My grandparents and great-grandparents came to the US well before WWII.  They never talked about "the old country" or the family that they left behind.  I always assumed that family members had been murdered in the Holocaust. Last year we started doing family research and found that two of our paternal grandfather's sisters and their families were in the Warsaw Ghetto and Treblinka.  Even though we knew that on some level, actually seeing their names in writing in the Yad Vashem database was very moving.  I can totally related to how Jennifer Grey felt when her great-grandmother's records were right in front of her.

Once again I'm left wondering about the filming and editing process of this show.  Courtney Cox flew over about 20 generations to get to royalty in England and no mention was made of the generations between.  Jennifer Grey went back to her great-grandmother and that was it.  Does anyone know if Courtney Cox was given more information on the generations leading up royalty or if Jennifer Gray was given information on other branches?  

[Lugal]

3 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Once again I'm left wondering about the filming and editing process of this show.  Courtney Cox flew over about 20 generations to get to royalty in England and no mention was made of the generations between.  Jennifer Grey went back to her great-grandmother and that was it.  Does anyone know if Courtney Cox was given more information on the generations leading up royalty or if Jennifer Gray was given information on other branches?

I don't know for sure, but I think they get everything the researchers find.  The editing and filming is based around finding the best story or stories to tell, for Julie Bowen that involved contrasting the ancestor in the APL against the one who worked the Underground Railroad.  For Jennifer it was just about the story of Izzie, who was admittedly fascinating.  For example in my family, they could trace back to the 1600s through Quaker records, but the more fascinating stories would be in some of the ancestors who fought in the Civil War.

[BookThief]

I really liked Jennifer Grey! I thought she asked really good questions. I knew about "No Irish Need Apply" but didn't think about "No Jews Need Apply" happening, though now it seems obvious in hindsight. And yet another time when it's been observed that those things happening 80+ years ago are still happening now.

10 hours ago, Lovecat said:

It was the peasant top that called back to Dirty Dancing for me!  I just had to ask Mr. Google for movie stills, to make sure it wasn't the exact same one (it wasn't...but VERY similar).  Mid-50's looks good on her!

Was that when they were filming her walking towards the camera? I half thought she was going to bust out that one move she does on the bridge from Dirty Dancing!

I know someone who will be a historian on an upcoming episode! I haven't peppered him with too many questions because I can tell he's getting a little fatigued talking about it. I asked how they found him, though, and he said a producer found him in a footnote. He worked with two different producers for two different episodes but he's not sure if he'll be in both. He told them for the one that he wasn't an expert in whatever subject and they didn't keep calling back but he had talked with them for a while until that point. I'm very excited to see his episode!

[Snarklepuss]

8 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Once again I'm left wondering about the filming and editing process of this show.  Courtney Cox flew over about 20 generations to get to royalty in England and no mention was made of the generations between.  Jennifer Grey went back to her great-grandmother and that was it.  Does anyone know if Courtney Cox was given more information on the generations leading up royalty or if Jennifer Gray was given information on other branches?  

I assumed with Jennifer that it was because doing Jewish genealogical research hits a similar kind of "brick wall" that African Americans hit with slavery.  It's  hard and often impossible to find family history before a certain point, especially for Polish/Russian Jews.  Plus I agree with Lugal that the show concentrates on one or two ancestors who provide the most fascinating story for TV purposes.  I would have a lot of fascinating stories on my Dad's mother's side (English) going back to Revolutionary War heroes and medieval kings and the like, but all the history on his father's (Jewish) side only goes back to the story of my great grandparents' escape from Warsaw in the 1880s to London on an ox cart, the story of which they would never have told anyone if my grandmother hadn't pulled it out of them.  They later settled in Brooklyn at about the same time as Jennifer's grandparents.  They owned their own tailoring company in Manhattan that made military uniforms, which back then were tailor made.  I found it a little strange that Jennifer wasn't so aware of the fact that discrimination prompted Jews to own their own businesses as I have known that with regard to my own family all my life.

I also found it interesting that Jennifer found an affinity with her left leaning grandfather.  It made me think about the fact that all of my Jewish great uncles and my grandfather served in WWI, some of them earning several medals for bravery and the like.  My father went into the military too and made a career out of it.  We have always been independents/centrists politically and fiercely dedicated to upholding the principles of our country.  It was on my father's mother's side too with all the Revolutionary War heroes.  I guess it is possible to see the genesis of some of your views in your family history.  This episode made me look at my own family history in a new light.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[Emily Thrace]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

I assumed with Jennifer that it was because doing Jewish genealogical research hits a similar kind of "brick wall" that African Americans hit with slavery.  It's  hard and often impossible to find family history before a certain point, especially for Polish/Russian Jews.

I wondered if it might not be because of the recent conflict in the Ukraine as well, in this case. Officially there is a cease fire and  everyone is moving towards peace but I can see TLC not wanting to send a film crew and a celebrity over there just yet.  Considering how visual Jennifer was about everything I can't imagine she wouldn't have wanted to go and at least see where they might have lived.  I would think given Izzy's profession as a typesetter they might have been able to find out more if they could have gone to one of the local papers in Yampol.

[sskrill]

I've heard some not so great things about her in the past but she really seems like a nice person.  Her daughter seems pleasant too, and very smart.

I like how engaged she was - she's clearly a good student.  She was prepared to take notes and had obviously been ready to ask all the questions she'd wondered about over the years.

The FB page is filled with anger again over the "my lefty roots" comment.  I can't understand why people would be suprised that a NY Jew who is also an actress would be liberal - I'd be shocked if she wasn't.  I also can't understand why they think her grandfathers political leanings should be ignored - its part of her family history.  If they found some serious right leaning family members for someone else I can't imagine being so angry I'd threaten to boycott the show.

[BusyOctober]

5 hours ago, sskrill said:

The FB page is filled with anger again over the "my lefty roots" comment.  I can't understand why people would be suprised that a NY Jew who is also an actress would be liberal - I'd be shocked if she wasn't.  I also can't understand why they think her grandfathers political leanings should be ignored - its part of her family history.  If they found some serious right leaning family members for someone else I can't imagine being so angry I'd threaten to boycott the show.

FB is full of whiners and complainers these days.  Left or Right, someone somewhere is offended/outraged/boycotting/petition forwarding over something.  It can be a commentary on a complex issue like politics or an opinion about an insignificant TV sit-com; there are at least 10 people ready to tap away at their keyboards to tell you why you're wrong, or a fascist, or a bad parent, or a slut, or uneducated because of your post. I stay away from FB now.  At least on the forums I follow here, the crowd is more respectful of each other!

[Lovecat]

6 hours ago, sskrill said:

The FB page is filled with anger again over the "my lefty roots" comment.  I can't understand why people would be suprised that a NY Jew who is also an actress would be liberal - I'd be shocked if she wasn't. 

NY Jew who is also an actress...and the daughter of a gay man.  I mean, it's the lefty home run, right there!  Sometimes it amazes me what people waste their righteous energy on.

[meep.meep]

The Jennifer Grey episode missed the boat by a mile to me.  She talked about meeting her grandfather who always seemed like he was very sad.  In the show they described his socialist politics and that his business was listed as one that would give good service to socialists and communists.  So we know that he lived through WWII and into the 60's.  What happened to him under McCarthy?

I also found it odd that in a show talking on and on about not knowing her great grandmother's name, the name of her grandmother was never mentioned on the show.

And the scene with the historian where she's weeping and wailing about "why didn't they communicate more?" and scribbling things randomly in a notebook filled with random scribbles while the historian gives her the side eye and you can tell he's thinking "gee lady, this is your family, why don't you tell me why they didn't communicate more."  Priceless.

My family of dirt farmers has members that weren't communicated about, but they turned out to be people like my grandfather's floozy cousin who ran a speakeasy and didn't get married but had lots of "boyfriends" while the rest of the family were teetotalers and ran the church.

[ShelleySue]

12 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I assumed with Jennifer that it was because doing Jewish genealogical research hits a similar kind of "brick wall" that African Americans hit with slavery.  It's  hard and often impossible to find family history before a certain point, especially for Polish/Russian Jews. 

I have my husband's family on my family tree.  I have now worked one of his branches past Charlemagne.  The furthest I can get on any of my ancestors in the mid-1800's in what is now the Ukraine and Lithuania.

I remember reading that two stories this season would be about Jewish ancestors.  Does anyone know who the second one will be?

Has anyone timed the show -- I don't mean the filler part, but the actual content?  It seems much shorter this season.

[Lovecat]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

I remember reading that two stories this season would be about Jewish ancestors.  Does anyone know who the second one will be?.

Probably Jessica Biel. Wikipedia tells me she has Hungarian Jews in her ancestry.

[mythoughtis]

 I enjoyed the Jennifer Grey episode- with a few exceptions: 

 

She didnt know her Grandfather hardly at all, and didn't mention his wife's name.  She hadn't ever asked her Mom about even her Great grandmothers name - but cries almost inconsolably when she finds out how she died?    

I did enjoy her taking notes- she was very interested and asked great questions. 

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

Her mother didn't know ggrandmothers name. Her mystery was grandfather.

[mythoughtis]

She found out her Mother didn't know the name as part of the preparation for this show.  She didn't know that fact because  she had never asked her mother to tell her the name. 

[camom]

I'm not surprised that Jennifer's grandfather didn't talk about his mother.  He was only 6 when she died, so he would have very few memories.  My mother's father died when she was 4, so her memories were very sketchy and mostly what others told her.  I did, however, know who he was because I'd go with mom to put flowers on her parents' graves.  Lucky for me, mom was into genealogy.

[RockShrimp]

Jesus Christ, Noah's episode was the bummerest of bummers. Bad things happened. and then more bad things happened. and then they died.

the end.

Quote

I have my husband's family on my family tree.  I have now worked one of his branches past Charlemagne.  The furthest I can get on any of my ancestors in the mid-1800's in what is now the Ukraine and Lithuania.

Doesn't help when your ancestors were smartasses who gave different answers on the census for birthplace depending on which countries existed at the time (I've seen Poland, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia and my Grandma says it was a suburb of Budapest. whee.) 

Edited March 27, 2017 by RockShrimp

[Lizzing]

Since I live in Baton Rouge (literally less than 1.5 miles from the State Archives on the show), I was pleasantly surprised to see it back on this show (and not another show about all our serial killers).  I agree, it wasn't a happy story, but I really wanted to know how the GGGGrandfather came to live in Baton Rouge in 1860 from New York, especially since his wife was from Georgia.  I could see the ancestor living in New Orleans, but BR seemed an odd choice since he was a clerk of some kind, which seems like a job that could be done anywhere and probably paid better in a larger town.  I was glad to see Noah take a fairly adult approach to the fact his ancestor fought for the wrong side in the Civil War and he didn't belabor some kind of  forced connection (artistry, valor, whatever) to him.  Finding a similar strong brow line as his maternal side is a perfectly reasonable connection to see.

[sskrill]

"Blew out his brains" in a newspaper article.  My how times have changed.

I'd like to know why NY to Baton Rouge as well.

Edited March 27, 2017 by sskrill

[Granny58]

On 3/21/2017 at 1:08 PM, ShelleySue said:

I have my husband's family on my family tree.  I have now worked one of his branches past Charlemagne.

WOW!  Excellent work.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

I like that they spent so much time focusing on one couple. I had no idea that civil war veterans widows could live out their final impoverished day in a veteran's home.  But, what a place to live out your final days. I called death both times as it went to commercial.  How sad that John felt he had to commit suicide and it was a more respectful way to go than not making the payment. I guess suicide wasn't so "taboo" back then. 

I've been banned from watching this on Sunday nights. I DVR it and watch it around 11, but, hubby goes to bed then. He gets mad when I turn on interesting shows because he feels compelled to watch. 

[Ina123]

8 hours ago, Lizzing said:

... I was glad to see Noah take a fairly adult approach to the fact his ancestor fought for the wrong side in the Civil War and he didn't belabor some kind of  forced connection (artistry, valor, whatever) to him.  ...

We may consider it the "wrong" side today but not the wrong side to his ancestor. I think Noah's expression of his feelings was a great way to look at it. He didn't see a need to feel embarrassed like so many other people making this discovery. Geeze, the guy was in the Deep South. It should be the expectation.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

He seemed like he'd be more embarrassed if his relative had bought his way out of the war.