What did your Grandparents Do?

[ultrarunner]

In WWI Grandfather was part of a artillery unit with a horse drawn cannon... it was very hard on the horses... few survived and fallen ones were often eaten...

 

[Alan W.]

On the paternal side Grandfather worked at Allis Chalmers until WWII then he went into the navy and served on the USS Halloran in the pacific. I still have the piece of plane he saved from a kamikaze attack. After the war he worked for Southern Railway in the communications dept. He also farmed and hauled coal and water for the locals.
Grandmother drove a school bus, worked on the farm then Palm Beach clothing. She left Palm Beach to keep me so mom could work. Later she worked at the hospital. She was the only Great Granparent my son knew.

Maternal side Grandfather worked in construction becoming a superintendent because he could read blueprints. He farmed and had a sawmill. Heart problem retired him early. So he gardened big time. He is the one that instilled gardening in me. Grandmother was a homemaker and could tell you every plant and mushroom you could and couldnt eat.

 

[tallyho8]

My grandfather on my father's side was a riverboat gambler and a bookie. This was back in 1890-1903 when riverboat gamblers plied the Mississippi River going from racetracks in one town to another during their seasons and booking at the racetracks. This was before pari-mutuel betting when each bookie would set up his own table at the track and set his own odds and take bets. He died 42 years before I was born. His wife was a homemaker who died in Palm Beach California in 1939, 6 years before I was born.

My grandfather on my mother's side served in the Army at the Panama Canal during its construction where he died in 1914, 31 years before I was born. My grandmother was a homemaker and had a small herd of cattle in the Arkansas Ozarks before she passed in 1953. Her great grandfather was Davy Crockett.

I wish I had been able to hear some of the stories that my ancestors could tell. They would be very interesting. I have some of their letters dating back to the 1870s that are interesting and at Ancestry.com I have learned a little about some of my ancestors going back to the 1200s who were knights, lords, kings and queens but I think if anyone traces their ancestry back 25 generations they will find the same number of famous ancestors.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That is very interesting considering that there is a recent thread on TBN discussing the movie “They Shall Not Grow Old”. It’s a documentary in the voice of the English soldiers in WWI. Fantastic movie. The importance of horses was very prominent in the film.

My Dad, who was born in 1910, told me that during WWI, my Grand dad had a pair of matched Clydesdale mules that were nothing short of magnificent. He said the Army came and commandeered his mules. They did write him a check for $800...a tidy sum in 1917-18.

My grandfather on my father's side was a riverboat gambler and a bookie. This was back in 1890-1903 when riverboat gamblers plied the Mississippi River going from racetracks in one town to another during their seasons and booking at the racetracks. This was before pari-mutuel betting when each bookie would set up his own table at the track and set his own odds and take bets. He died 42 years before I was born. His wife was a homemaker who died in Palm Beach California in 1939, 6 years before I was born.

My grandfather on my mother's side served in the Army at the Panama Canal during its construction where he died in 1914, 31 years before I was born. My grandmother was a homemaker and had a small herd of cattle in the Arkansas Ozarks before she passed in 1953. Her great grandfather was Davy Crockett.

I wish I had been able to hear some of the stories that my ancestors could tell. They would be very interesting. I have some of their letters dating back to the 1870s that are interesting and at Ancestry.com I have learned a little about some of my ancestors going back to the 1200s who were knights, lords, kings and queens but I think if anyone traces their ancestry back 25 generations they will find the same number of famous ancestors.

I had the pleasure of meeting Fess Parker, (TV's Davy Crockett) back in the early 1950's. My best friend and I had won an amateur contest, singing and playing our guitars, and our prize was getting a spot on a local TV show. Fess Parker happened to be a guest that day also.

 

[ultrarunner]

I met Fess Parker is a child... won a contest to be on the Mayor Art kid show and Fess was a guest.

My Dad was friends with his sidekick Mingo from his college days... and he and Fess were chatting in the studio... Ed had told Fess about my Dad... small world... still have the autograph which is one of the few I have in addition to Boxers...

Dad was unassuming and low key... my brothers and I always made a bet on how long it would be before someone recognized him if we were out.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I met Fess Parker is a child... won a contest to be on the Mayor Art kid show and Fess was a guest.

My Dad was friends with his sidekick Mingo from his college days... and he and Fess were chatting in the studio... Ed had told Fess about my Dad... small world... still have the autograph which is one of the few I have in addition to Boxers...

Dad was unassuming and low key... my brothers and I always made a bet on how long it would be before someone recognized him if we were out.

Pardon my ignorance, but are you speaking of your father when you say "recognized him"? If so, was your father famous, and if so, why? I realize that this may have been posted somewhere, but I have a bad habit of skipping some posts and only reading others.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ultrarunner]

Without going into all the details he did have has time in the public spotlight for boxing as US Heavyweight Champion...

We had a garage boxing "Gym" set up that was very popular with the neighborhood kids... and it was well known that a professional fighter using his fists would be the same as using a gun under the law... lets just say he left the discipline to Mom...

A reporter once asked him had he tried any other sports and Dad said Football... replying he preferred Boxing because when you take a hit you can hit back...

One caveat... boxing back then was no where as lucrative as it was to become... also one of Dad's friends was killed in the ring and that was life changing for Dad... though he kept active with boxing throughout his life... really enjoyed youth sports and enjoyed his time officiating at San Quentin Prison... boy was Mom skeptical at first about San Quentin!

 

[dnw64]

My dad's dad was born in 1888. Dad in 1919. Me not until 1961. And my youngest not until 1997. So grandpa fathered a child at 31. Dad at 42, and me at 36. So 109 years for just 3 generations. I know many folks that are grandparents in their 40's. I know someone my age that's a great grandpa. Yikes! :laughing:

We once had someone working for us who became a grandmother at 37.

I'll be 55 next month and no hint of grandchildren from either one of ours.

 

[tcreeley]

My grandfather was raised on a vegetable farm by a - Scotsman turned alderman in Belmont, Mass. My grandfather attended Harvard and became a doctor via Tufts. After a first marriage he married his nurse - my grandmother. When my father was 4, my grandfather died of a sudden illness leaving my grandmother to keep things together and raise two children, and care for her own two parents. My grandmother was the the Acton town nurse. I never met my grandmother. - She grew up 15 miles from where we live today (unexpectedly so). I heard a recording a few years ago of her speaking with my father - and recognized the local accent that I had encountered daily for 26 years as a teacher,

My Prussian mother, born in Toronto was adopted at an orphanage at age three by a scotswoman. My mother's adoptive mother was a professor at Wellesley College - philosophy, and well to do thanks to her father who had bought out the hardware store he had worked in since age 14, when his father had died and he needed to support his own mother and siblings. In time he owned several factories making auto parts - from Columbus, Buffalo, to NYC. My mother's adoptive mother died of a sudden illness in 1932 and my mother was raised by a guardian - a small woman, unmarried and whose father had been the Massachusetts attorney general. Her guardian was all business, with little affection. She was a child psychologist.
My mother and father were divorced when I was four - each marrying 2x more.
- Certainly made for a varied upbringing.

 

[joeyd]

Both of my grandmothers were homemakers. My paternal grandfather (immigrant) was a coal miner, my maternal grandfather (1st gen) held multiple factory jobs, both lived in Pennsylvania.