Related to any famous shooters or founding fathers?

[Joe in fla]

Not exactly shooter's but plenty of gun related ancestors.

I'm related to the Rigdon of Leech & Rigdon, manufacturers of handguns for the CSA.

My step father was direct descendant of Oliver Hazard Perry who earned the title "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in a decisive naval victory against the British at the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. The US Navy now has a class of frigates named after him. OHP was also the older brother of Commodore Matthew C. Perry who compelled the opening of Japan to the West at gunpoint in 1854. My step-father's father was also the commander of the USS Panay when it was attacked by the Japanese air force on the Yangtze River in China in 1937. This incident later became the inspiration for the movie 'The Sand Pebbles'.

I'm also related to Colin Kelly who was one of the first Americans to die in WW II. He was a B-17 pilot and he stayed at the controls of his aircraft so that his crew could bail out after it had been shot down after bombing a Japanese cruiser on Dec 10, 1941. He was nominated for the Congressional Metal of Honor but they only awarded him a DSC.

 

[rfwobbly]

I'm a direct decedent of both Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton, 2 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina. My mother's family is from old Charleston and was mixed up in South Carolina politics for a long time. Luckily, none of it wore off on me.

I'm told that family members were given the Great Seal of South Carolina to hide it from William Tecumseh Sher... Sher... (still can't say that name!) and his thieving band of northern aggressors. Unfortunately for the Palmetto State, no one ever told the family it was safe to bring it back out. True to our word we're still sittin' on it. Keepin' it safe from Yankees.

Dad came from Birmingham, AL and was related to the Blacks, one of which was Justice Hugo Black of the US Supreme Court. As for shooters I can only relate that another one of dad's kin shot his wife's lover at point blank range with a shotgun in the middle of a downtown Alabama street in the early 1900's. He successfully evaded the law by removing himself post haste to Colorado and getting into the mining business.

 

[gunnutery]

My mother has long told me that we're somehow distant (perhaps very distant...not sure) relatives of Daniel Boone.

 

[ObsidianOne]

One of my ancestors was Governer Jonathan Belcher, one of the governers of the early colonies.

http://www.belcherfoundation.org/governor_jonathan_belcher.htm

 

[GCBurner]

My paternal grandmother was from the Clark family of Virginia, which produced Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark and his younger brother William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Not a direct descendant of either one, though.

 

[2WheelsGood]

My Great Uncle was in the Purple Gang. Does that count?

 

[Castr8r]

I had a direct paternal ancestor with two of his sons fight with Washington and spend the winter at Valley Forge. Another lost his life at the Battle of King's Mountain, believed to be from "over the mountain". Maternal side had a Paul Revere rider, and my G'pa fought in WW I.
Side note: Mom's side of the family was quite proud of their ancestors and had it professionally written up in a book of biographies published in the late 1800's. Mom didn't think it was as funny as I did when I discovered that her/our eariest proveable ancestor was a king of a fiefdom in England that "crusaded" into France. A good lookin' French wench took his eye, and he took her for a roll in the hay - literally - and started that branch of our family. His name was "Bruce, the Bastard..."

 

[HOOfan_1]

Thomas Jefferson...supposedly Pocahontas as well.

 

[funkeecowboy]

My family is related to Davy Crockett, his sister's family is traceble all the way to the current generation. My greatgrandmother was a Crockett.

When I was in elementary school I told people I was related to Zorro!

 

[utbrowningman]

Family history says I am related to CSA President Jefferson Davis and Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence. I'd like to get into some geneology to see if I and prove or disprove this claim.

 

[CZsp01]

You guys are fortunate, all my family history has been all lost in wars. I'm Korean

 

[Blackrock]

Camilus Sydney (CS)Fly was the famous photographer of early Tombstne Arizona - photographed the OK Corral and Earps and Clantons after the shootout. Was a Sherrif of Cochise County for a term and a close friend of Col. John Slaughter.

He also photographed Geronimos surrender. Not a real serious shooter but a major player in early Cochise County.