Question of the Week: What's a favorite love story that you've found in your research?

Question

Valentine's Day is coming up! 

What's a favorite love story that you've found in your research? 

Share below!

Comments

My Great Grandfather, Frank Kalina, fought in the Spanish American War in the Philippines. He fell in love with a beautiful Philippina hiding in the mountain caves with her family. They married, and she died in childbirth there, trying to deliver a large baby boy whose father was over 6 feet tall. He returned to the United States with his infant son, met and married my Great Grandmother, Anna Meissert, a widow with an infant daughter, my grandmother, Dorothy. Her husband, an engineer, had died of malaria in Central America. Together, they had a baby girl, Selma, who we all called Aunt Sally. Out of grief, came love and a beautiful blended family—Frank Jr., Dorothy Louise and Selma.

Answer 1

Not sure what the ratio of truth to lore is in this. I am one of many to count myself as a descendant of George Hempleman and Margaret/ Margarette/ Marguerite Duffy of Germany.

From an old post at genealogy.com

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/duffy/1038/

"George & Margarette landed at Richmond, VA as indentured servants for 4 years to pay for their passage. George was sold to a cotton planter in one of the Carolinas, and Margarette to a tobacco planter near Richmond, VA. They re-met at the Old St. John's Church in Richmond where they were married."

From another source:

http://www.pencilstubs.com/magazine/MagPage.asp?NID=4720

"I came upon the Baron von Hempleman name finally along with a romantic story that one day I will attempt to relate here. For George and Adam Hempleman, brothers of the Baron, sailed to America before the Revolutionary War, along with Marguerite Duffy. Marguerite was a commoner and Baron von Hempleman apparently was indisposed to permit his son, George, to wed her. Thus, the brothers gave up their titles and lands and came as indentured servants to America. The three were separated upon arrival as each traveled to their place of service. The brothers would both fight for America’s Independence and not see one another again until late in life."

Answer 2

[[Anderson-19656|Edward Anderson]] born into a simple Yorkshire farming family went to sea. However he fell in love with a girl from his home town and courted her when he was between voyages. Both families thought it was a good match. Then, the day before he was due to sail again, they stayed out all night. The scandal caused a furore but Edward duly sailed leaving Catherine to face the music. When he got home again he found that Catherine had died. He recorded the story in a long narrative poem recalling how he would sit by her grave and weep. After that he neglected his family to such an extent that they did not know whether he was alive or dead. Years later, he became a Methodist, and was restored to his family, marrying late in life. Interestingly his much younger brother married Catherine's niece. We always visit their graves when we are in Yorkshire and think of them.

Comments

Somehow a really good love story has to have some tragedy associated with it.

Answer 3

A brother of my grandfather had seen this girl and thought it would be someone for my grandfather. so they sent him to deliver a cow to the house of her widowed uncle were she lived  and took care of the houshold and the children. My grandfather was a bit afraid of the big farming animals.

The moment he arrived with the cow my grandmother just left the farmhouse with a can of coffee/milk.(the stories differ here) When she saw him she dropped the can. It was love on first sight.

Answer 4

There is a ghost story associated with some of my ancestors, George Beckwith and his wife Frances Harvey. The story goes that George Beckwith sailed to England on business, and died there; in his absence, and without news of his death, his wife took ill and died; after her death a ghostly figure was seen standing under an elm tree near the shore and watching the horizon in expectation (and following the return of the ship bearing George Beckwith's body back to Maryland, there were reports of a man and woman standing under the elm). The whole story is here (text is from the book "Classic American Ghost Stories").

Answer 5

Betrothal poems written in 1842 at Moriah, Essex New York by 2nd great grandparents: Abigail Andrea Colburn; answered by Newell Bowman Adams. (Written in pencil on 8 x12 lined paper, found folded together into a 2" square to fit into a small purse that Abigail might have carried in a pocket of her dress.) Newell died at only 48 in Moriah. Abigail lived almost 20 more years, having migrated with her 3 adult sons to Nebraska;

Answer 6

Oliver Silverstone 1686-1746 and Mary champion de Crespigny 1688-1746: Mary was disowned by her father Gabriel Champion de Crespigny because she fell in love with and married a lowly groom.

Answer 7

I have no idea if its true or not - but its a great story! My 2XGrandparents on my mother's side were from Ireland - that much is true! According to family lore, one was Catholic, the other Protestant, and they couldn't marry in Ireland, so, GGGrandfather, James Hubbard, went to England and got established there, then sent for GGGrandmother, Catherine, and they married in Essex. They lived there the rest of their lives. True or not, its a good story.

More modern times, and not discovered, I've known all about it for a long time - and it is true! When I was 17, in 1965, I met a handsome teenager at East End Teen dance in Brandon, Manitoba. We "went steady" as teenagers did back then, until I left home at 18 to become a Wren in the Royal Canadian Navy. For the next 17 years we both went our own ways, In 1982 I was back in my home town, with a 2 year old son, and ran into this, now handsome man. In 1984, he and I were married. My dear husband, Gordon Archie Hockley died Feb 9, 2009. His step son, Harley and I miss him dearly.

Comments

Linda, did you mean you married in 1984? Or am I totally confused?

---

1984 - I seem to be having finger problems this morning!!! I'll fix it - thanks for bringing that to my attention!!!

Answer 8

According to my grandmother, my great-grand uncle Henry Thiefels loved to tell a good story to his nieces and nephews. One of his stories was about this girl he knew in high school who he courted for a while in the early 1910s. She was just smitten with him, but after a lot of prayer and thought, Uncle Henry finally realized that he was being called to the priesthood rather than marriage and after a tearful goodbye, joined a seminary hundreds of miles away. His former sweetheart was so broken up that she soon became sick and, as my uncle would conclude the story, "died of a broken heart." Apparently the way he told the story moved many of the children to tears.

Usually at the conclusion of the story, though, Henry's sister Marie (my great-grandmother), fed up with her brother's wild storytelling, would dryly add, "She died of pneumonia."

Answer 9

Hans (John) Josef Weber and Elisabetha (Liesl) Bona Kessler, my maternal grandparents, is a wonderful love story. John came to the U.S. in 1915 after leaving Liesl behind in Switzerland with a promise to send her a ticket as soon as he could afford it. Over the next six years he suffered many trials and tribulations as he tried to establish himself here. At long last Liesl wrote to him telling him she didn't care what his situation was and to send her a ticket!

Her story of immigration and arrival was also one of suffering and challenges. When she arrived at the train station, a porter tried to help her with her luggage. Not speaking any English, she thought she was being robbed and struggled briefly to push the porter away.

Fortunately, John was right there and stepped forward and said, "Thank you sir, I will help the young lady."

He turned to Liesl and said, "Hello, my brown-eyed girl. How are you?"

She turned to him with tears in her eyes and said, "I'm hungry!"

They were married three days later in a wonderful ceremony donated by all of John's friends and co-workers.

There is so much more to this story, but it's so special to our family and was a lifetime love they shared.

Answer 10

My mother '''[[Laurin-13|Lois Elaine Laurin]]''' (orginally from New Hampshire) went to Union College in Kentucky where she met my father '''[[Cook-7767|Floyd H. Cook]]''' (originally from Connecticut). However my father wasn't the first love she had in college. 

I found my mother's college scrapbook and she had saved many items and had written many notes in it, here are some:

"John Wharton - First date: Oct. 1 (movie), started going steady Oct 7, Broke up: Nov 28"

"Dance Christmas Ball in Chelsea with John Allen, Dec 23"

"My placecard at John Allen's family's Christmas dinner, Dec. 24"

Then on another page: "Feb 18 - Girl's Open House and Sweetheart Dance sponsored by French + German Clubs. Date 'Floyd Cook' Had a ball!"

"Representing all the home games which I went to with Floyd Cook from Conn."

"Flower 'Cookie' picked for me" and next to that "Excellent! Date: 'Cookie'"

"Messing around at Foley's with 'Cookie' after 'The Satyr Kiss'"

Peformance of "Hamlet" - "Date 'Cookie' Superb Acting!"

"Dance after which Cookie asked me to go steady on steps of Classroom Building"

And I found this card:

Answer 11

During the Revolutionary War (1779) my ggggreat grandmother Hadessa (Esther) Crawford was captured by indians and taken from her home in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania to wherever the tribe was located.  At the same time her father was being held as a prisoner of the British in New York.  Hadessa somehow escaped from the indians and ran to a community of settlers.  She was rescued by William Wirt Whitsett who was serving with Colonel William Crawford as an indian scout.  Hadessa married William Whitsett in 1780 and they had 13 children.  The last child was their only son, my gggreat grandfather.  Only 3 girls made it to adulthood.  When Hadessa died, she instructed her family to bury her in an unmarked grave in the dead of the night so the indians could never find her again.

Answer 12

My maternal grandfather graduated from UPR in 1916 and came to the States from Puerto Rico the same year.After working various jobs for over a year he sent for his wife-to-be. She left San Juan on Sept 5th 1917 and arrived in NY on the 10th of Sept. I have the passenger list of the SS Coamo showing Isabel Cruz and her brother Jose. They were met at the dock by my soon to be grandfather, Joe Bosch and headed directly to City Hall! I have their marriage license dated Sept 10th 1917.

On 29 June 1918, 9 months and 19 days later their first child was born and named Woodrow Antonio Bosch, after President Woodrow Wilson who signed the bill that made all the people of Puerto Rico American citizens in 1917.

Answer 13

My grandfather, Gerald Taylor, and my grandmother, Marie Katherine Ramge, were teenage sweethearts. I didn't discover their early connection until my research found that Marie Katherine Ramge went to Blume High School and lived in Wapakoneta. She’s in the Home Economics Class in 1922; Ruby Elizabeth Taylor is Class President. Ruby is Gerald’s cousin, daughter of his uncle, William Perry Taylor.
Grandpa's pocket diary details his romance with Marie; he wrote letters to her, and waited anxiously for return mail. He mentioned phone calls and visits to see her; they were about sixteen years old.
Because Grandpa seemingly "accidentally" got 17-year-old Olive Violet pregnant with my Dad in late 1929 - his romance with Marie was in hot water. Marie married someone else. BUT... in 1934, both divorced their spouses, and married each other on January 5, 1935. They were married until they died in 1978, within six months of each other.

Answer 14

The one I like the most was about a great great aunt who eloped at the age of 15. Learning of this, her father went to the husband’s house and dragged his youngest daughter back home, threatening to have the marriage annulled. The girl was steadfast to her beloved and her father eventually relented, allowing the couple to reunite. They lived a long life together and  raised a large family.

Another story concerns an ancestor who supposedly bought his bride to be at auction in early Baltimore. She is said to have been an Irish “princess” (of course) who was kidnapped off the coast of her homeland. He rescued her at the auction and she fell in love with him. They married in the Catholic Church and raised a large and prolific family, spreading to all points of our country. This story has probably been embellished considerably over the years, but it is fun to think about.