Question of the Week: Do you have ancestors who were considered lucky?

Question

Do you have ancestors who were considered lucky? Answer below or on Facebook.

Answer 1

My 8th gg Antoine Pepin was an original French settler in Canada and, like many of the French of the time, used a nickname. The French call them Dit names and they can remain for life and become your family name. His did. He called himself lucky or in French Lachance.

Most Lachance in this hemisphere are the result of this man calling himself lucky.

There is also a beer named for him, the "Antoine Pepin Dit Lachance".

Comments

My stepchilldren have Dit names.....now I know!

Answer 2

Of course,  My parents...They had me!

Joking aside, I came from a family that had money in the bank, a roof over their head and food every day.  That's puts me and several generations of my family in the top 1% of lucky people that ever existed in the world.

But I think you want a story.  Many of my ancestors were in the horse racing business.  One of them owned a gelding named Kelso who raced in the 1960's.  He was undistinguished by pedigree meaning that his parents were nothing to get too excited about.  Yet he ended up winning horse of the year 5 times and earned almost $2 million before retiring.  For 2 decades at least, he was the all time leading money winner.  That's pretty lucky.  But it takes money to make money.  Here's his link to Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelso_(horse)

Comments

And Kelso was lucky to have her.

Answer 3

Yes, I consider my second great grandfather Evangel Luveous Morris a lucky man. He along with his two brothers, Ralph and Newton enlisted in the Union Army in the 17th Kentucky Volunteers in Oct 1861. In Feb 1862 they were in the Battle of Fort Donelson, and Luveous and Ralph both received head wounds. Unfortunately Ralph died, but my second great grandfather was hospitalized and was lucky and allowed to return home for the rest of the war. Unfortunately his brother Newton, who remained in the Civil War was killed in Aug 1862. Luveous and his elderly parents, two younger brothers, and six children moved to Kansas and on to Oklahoma Territory. They all were part of the 1893 opening of land for homesteaders. They luckily all got land, and Luveous lived to see Oklahoma become a state in 1907.  

 

Comments

Alexis, you talked about Fort Donelson. Was this in Tennessee? I am related to the Donelson family and Andrew Jackson married an aunt Rachel Donelson. I wondered if your relative fought with mine!

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Yes, Sandy, and the battle was near the Tennessee Kentucky boarder, and Tennessee and Kentucky troops were together—they very likely knew each other. I understand this is the battle that made U.S. Grant famous. That is very interesting about your family, and it sounds like you have fabulous ancestors. I have always found my Morris family interesting, because their father actually fought for the Confederacy, but they joined together to leave Kentucky. Thank you for your great comment.

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thank you for the reply-I'm pretty new to doing the family research and my tree is tediously interesting. I need to do so much more research on history as you brought to light so much about this battle. I'm always amazed how alive history is when you start adding people from today into the memory process. I appreciate the communication very much!

My mother's mother side of the tree bring the phrase "from sea to shinning sea" to a reality because for three generations they fought from VA to CA and  Hayes Texas is named after a relative in between the seas. my humor! Thanks so much for all your help. It encourages me to read things about history I would have never read before.

Answer 4

Well, I'm here, self-evident, -- I figure given the odds on infant and child mortality up through the 1960's? 1970's? and the proliferation of vaccine, the fact they all from way back when survived long enough to bring forth the next generation has to have a lot of luck in there -- anyone who has profiled generation after generation soon finds out about infant and child mortality -- 

Answer 5

Possibly have a few ancestors that were lucky, but only one that comes to mind is GGfather Iver Hoiseth . He and his family were one of many folks leaving Norway in 1870, on a journey that first required getting to a port in England, to board a ship to America. They were among the 402 passengers that made that trip from Norway to Leith Scotland, on a ship large enough to hold only 120 passengers. That they didn't sink is pretty lucky. 

Answer 6

My great-grandfather, William Henry Clarke (Clarke-13931) sent for his sister Laura's children who were then in County Cork, Ireland to reside with him, his wife and already eight children in Fremantle, Western Australia, when Laura Fletcher (Clarke-13947) was shot in the stomach and died by the hands of a lady lodger at Fletcher's Hotel on Friday 25 October 1907.  The children were lucky to have had their Uncle care for them after such a tragic event. He will always be remembered as being such a kind, warm-hearted and loving family man.  His memory has given us all the feeling of being considered very lucky indeed.

Answer 7

Yes - my 9th g-grandmother, Penelope Van Princes Kent Stout. Her husband was murdered and she was left for dead by attackers when their ship landed from the Netherlands in New Jersey in the early 17th century, I believe. Another Native American found her hiding in a hollow tree, clinging to life, nursed her back to health and took her to where the English lived. She married Mr. Stout, had many children, and lived to the ripe old age of 110!!

Answer 8

My 6th Great Grandmother Sarah (Allen) Hélène (1692 - 1764)survived the “Deerfield Massacre” February 29, 1704. The story of survival against all odds! If it wasn’t for her strength and courage many of her descendants wouldn’t be here today. So I’m Lucky to have her as an ancestor!

Answer 9

Just came back up from the engine room..........my wife told me I had horsehoes up my a.......I told her she had both anchors out.   Sorting out my family tree ,at 3 A.M. I figured out  I was my own grampa  .........then the headphones I was listening to played the same song........Can I qualify?   Jack