Shocking Stories About Your Golden Era Relatives

[Zombie_61]

...At this point, a friend of the future husband came to the husband to be with a grave face and in a serious tone told him how he had just learned some disturbing news about his future wife. With great feigned distress, this friend told the future husband that he had learned that his future wife had been married already. The husband to be said, "oh, yea, I know that, she told me all about early on." Apparently, this friend could horridly contain his disappointment...

A similar thing happened to me not long before my wife and I got married. My wife and I went to the same high school and knew a lot of the same people, but for whatever reason didn't meet until after we'd gotten out of school. She liked to have fun and dated quite a bit, but when the guys she dated found out she wouldn't "put out" they'd dump her and move on the the next potential conquest. Of course, their male egos wouldn't allow them to admit to their friends that they hadn't "scored", so she gained quite the reputation in high school, which led to more dates, which led to more disappointed guys.

Fast forward a couple of years, and she and I are engaged. A good friend of mine tells me that he needs to talk to me, and he tells me of the reputation my wife had in high school which he learned of from his cousin, who was one of those disappointed guys my wife had dated briefly. I explained what my wife had told me and he accepted it, explaining that he was only "looking out for my best interests" and never intended to cause trouble between she and I. He later told me that he'd asked his cousin about it, and that his cousin admitted to lying about having sex with her in high school in order to preserve his reputation. lol

 

[Shangas]

My dear sweet aunt killed their milk cow ( not on purpose) one morning before school. Old cow would wait til you was finished milking then she'd kick the bucket over. One of the side kicks that you gotta watch for. This morning my aunt was a little slow getting the bucket out. Well it got kicked over and it kinda made her mad. So she picked up a piece of old 2 x 4 laying on the ground and slapped her up side the head. Ol' bossy went down for the count. Hit her just right! My aunt was about 13 at the time.

Grand dad just went for the house and started sharpening butcher knives. He really never got upset over much.

I hope you'll forgive me, but that's absolutely hilarious!!

"Papa I killed Ol' Betsy!"
"Alright sugar-honey...I'll go get the cleavers..."

 

[sheeplady]

So these aren't my relatives, but a neighbor I grew up with.

My neighbor and his best friend (also male) had high school sweethearts. After high school, they married each other's sweethearts, staying good friends. Both couples got married the same year and stayed married for 20 years, with each couple having children. The same year, both couples got divorced and then remarried their high school sweethearts within the same year. They remained very good friends and in their respective second marriages until their deaths.

I am not sure to this day if this was some sort of polygamous arrangement (the couples didn't live close to one another; and there weren't any "rumors" growing up). I like to think it's an example of forgiveness and extreme friendship.

 

[Zombie_61]

Uncle Tony (Mom's brother) was rather wealthy. He was sharply dressed whenever I saw him, leased a new Ford Thunderbird every two years (he liked the Thunderbird [huh]), and his "back yard" was a fairway somewhere along the exclusive Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club course in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He would always tell me, "Don't work for your money, make your money work for you," but never elaborated on how to do that. As I got older I realized he was talking about investing, of course, and one day Mom let slip that he got the money he used to make his first "big" investment by somehow draining the savings account that my parents had set up for my older brother. Mom said Uncle Tony "made a killing" from that investment and that he never had to work another day in his life after that, but that he never replaced the money he had stolen from my brother and parents.

Uncle Richard (Dad's brother) was a real character; I could write paragraphs on him alone. He was a Marine in World War II, the Korean War, and was either a Marine or a mercenary during the Vietnam War (either one is just as likely as the other). To say Uncle Richard was 5'7" tall would be generous, but he was a stocky bull of a man and was more than capable of handling himself in a physical altercation. Anyway, one day he entered a small, out-of-the-way bar in Vietnam, and while he was there he couldn't help but notice a young troop who was, in a loud voice that got louder the more he drank, describing to his fellow troops in crude and vivid detail the various sexual activities he'd had with his wife; I'll call this young troop "Flash" from here forward. At some point Uncle Richard realizes Flash is talking about his niece--my sister. Now, Uncle Richard was no prude, and he certainly wasn't the shy type, but he didn't take kindly to Flash talking about his niece in that way and decided to "teach the young man some manners". Uncle Richard somehow convinced Flash to accompany him outside, and when they got there a rather loud and heated discussion ensued. Just about the time Uncle Richard decided he'd had enough of Flash, a young Captain came along and began yelling at both of them for making such a scene, telling them it was unacceptable for American personnel to behave in such a manner, and so on. This heated discussion quickly escalated, and Uncle Richard and Flash soon found themselves disposing of the young Captain's now-lifeless body in a nearby river. Having forgotten about their own disagreement at this point, Uncle Richard and Flash went back into the bar and got drunk together.

Yep, that's my family.

 

[p51]

I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect that my Grandfather shot a man off his front porch in the early 30s. The dead man was either taking a leak off the porch or was exposing himself to the house. Grandpa, a WW1 vet, apparently wasn't having any of it. The family moved to Oklahoma for a few years, right before my Dad was born, and I'd always wondered why. I think now that it was one of those deals where the local sheriff tells someone he likes or respects to go lay low for a while, in that pre-FBI era. My brother said that a now-passed on Uncle told him some of this in the 90s, and I just got some of the info recently. I've been told NOT to ask my Dad about it.
According to all the surviving members of the family, my Grandfather was a very well respected man locally but apparently he wasn't a man you wanted to cross. As a teen, my dad told me he saw Grandpa punch a man with lightning reflexes, knocking the other man out. The other man had called my Grandfather a SOB for some reason, which most of you know was a much bigger insult in the late 30s than it is now.
I never got to meet the man as he passed away a few years before I was born. I'm told that he was a very funny and loving father but that he also had a temper and people who knew him knew exactly which buttons not to press.

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is a long way from being a Golden Era relative, but I discovered this past weekend that my great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, a woman by the name of Mary Townes Estey, was one of the twenty-four people executed for so-called "witchcraft" in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. This would do much to explain my lifelong distaste for Puritans.

She was also the woman who gave the strongest and sternest rebuke to the magistrates who convicted her. I hope I inherited a bit of that as well.

 

[Fading Fast]

...She was also the woman who gave the strongest and sternest rebuke to the magistrates who convicted her. I hope I inherited a bit of that as well.

IMHO you most certainly did. You will stand and argue for your beliefs with passion and intelligence with the absolute best of them. Great historical connect.

 

[HudsonHawk]

This is a long way from being a Golden Era relative, but I discovered this past weekend that my great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, a woman by the name of Mary Townes Estey, was one of the twenty-four people executed for so-called "witchcraft" in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. This would do much to explain my lifelong distaste for Puritans.

She was also the woman who gave the strongest and sternest rebuke to the magistrates who convicted her. I hope I inherited a bit of that as well.

Please let me know if/when you ever go on trial for witchcraft. I really do not want to miss that.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^

 

[LizzieMaine]

Please let me know if/when you ever go on trial for witchcraft. I really do not want to miss that.

There'd be an awful lot of toads running around the courtroom if that day ever came.

 

[MissJilliss2Thrill]

Amazing stories, I´ve been lost in reading from the moment I started. Took me almost 2 hours!
Sheeplady´s mentioned double-couple married friends really touched my heart. You wonder if it was a life of joy and harmony or the lifelong endurance of the threat of catastrophe..

These stories are truly moving. Thank you all for sharing.

 

[Bamaboots]

Fascinating stories here, all. Just wanted to make a comment and share a story.

First, in regards to some of the stories about wife beating or spousal abuse: AL did not adopt a Domestic Violence law until some time in the 90's. The importance of those laws is that an officer can make an arrest without a warrant. Prior to their adoption, the only arrests that an officer could make on misdemeanor offenses that he did not witness were shoplifting and DUI. If the offense reached felonious proportions an arrest could be made on probable cause but not on misdemeanor crimes with the exception of the aforementioned two.

Prior to the adoption of those laws, the only recourse the officer had in misdemeanor cases was to try and separate the parties and advise the victim on obtaining an arrest warrant. More often than not, both parties would not separate and subsequent calls to the location would occur.

After getting through my "green years" I found out that if I could get the offending party outside, away from the victim, my fellow officers and I could "speak" to the offender in such a way that would ensure no more calls would come, at least during our shift. Also during these years we had a local ordinance known as
The Provocatiion law. This was essentially what we referred to as POP or the Pi$$ing off the Police law. It worked quite well but was later struck down as unconstitutional. Rightly so. Thank goodness for the change in laws regarding DV. If they had come earlier they would have saved my mom and us some grief.

Skeletons in the closet: during the Korean War, before my birth, my dad was in the Air Force stationed in Japan for nearly two years. He never spoke of this time much, at least not to me as we were never close.
He died about three years ago and a couple months later I got a phone call from the stepmonster. During the call she explained that she was going through my dads belongings and discovered a letter, post marked a couple years before his death, from Japan. The letter written by a woman, who shall remain nameless went on to say that she and her two grown sons were planning a trip to the States and she wanted her sons to meet their father. The stepmonster asked if I knew anything about this or if I had ever heard my dad mention this woman's name. I had not and went on to say that my dad had a number of friends (drinking buddies) that were big on pulling practical jokes and I blew it off saying it was probably one of them that set it up. The stepmonster accepted this, though somewhat reluctantly.

Time goes on and I never gave it another thought until some months later my mother and stepfather returned from their annual snowbird trip to Florida. I was relaying this story to my mother and how I thought it was funny, probably a practical joke. Without cracking a smile, my mother said that during her marriage to my dad she had intercepted number of letters from this same woman in Japan with similar details. She went on to say she confronted my dad with them several times but always got the same response, "it's bull***t." Hmmmmm. Wonder if I have siblings in other countries?

 

[Fading Fast]

Bamaboots - Very interesting and informative post. I'm sorry for the things you allude that you went through. And to your last point, I wouldn't bet against you having siblings in other countries.

 

[tonyb]

My father died when I was four months old. My "dad" is actually my and my two older brothers' (one of whom is now deceased) stepdad, and my younger sister's "real" father. (Presumably, anyway.)

So, my dad is now at death's door. Any day now, by the looks of it. I know of two children he fathered outside of his marriage to my mother, so my sister has a couple (at least) younger half-siblings. I wouldn't be shocked to learn there are more.

My mother has stayed with him for nearly 60 years now, although they had a few separations along the way. He knocked her around, repeatedly (the memories remain vivid), and me and the other kids as well, although I got the worst of it. He was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps before he came into my life. He has had multiple bankruptcies. The accounts of his f***ups could fill a bookshelf. Seriously, it's a minor miracle that we survived our childhoods under his reckless care (although he did nearly kill one of us, back in 1967).

He's not all bad, but he is surely mostly bad. He usually makes a favorable first impression. He is superficially personable, a good-time Charlie type. I have come to learn that such is common among abusive people -- they make friends readily, and put themselves in the middle of things. They'll show you a good time, initially, but rely on them at your own peril.

If there is anything sympathetic in him it would be that he has lived all these years with a terrible self-image. He always wished to be a big shot, which I long ago came to recognize as a cover for his fundamental sense of personal inadequacy. He knocked people around because he could, as he was a bear of a fellow in his younger days. It was his ace in the hole, so to speak, when he sensed that an adversary was getting the best of him. It was of little apparent matter to him that the adversary might be a woman or a child.

"Golden Era" relative? Well, he was born early in the Depression, so I suppose that counts.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Your stepfather and my father could have been buddies. Mine was the same type of eternal adolescent -- living to screw around, drink, loaf, and never hold a job for more than a couple of months. The smartest thing my mother ever did was to kick his worthless backside out the door in 1967. He also slept his way around Morocco when he was in the service, and no doubt I have many little nearsighted half-brothers and sisters sitting around North Africa to this day. He did, however, luck into a mess of money when the airport needed to expand and he'd married a woman who happened to own a little chunk of land they needed to make up a parcel. I hope he chokes on it.

He grew up in The Era, but it didn't do him a whole lot of good. I haven't seen him since 1990, and if I ever do see him again, it'll be to punch him in the face.

 

[tonyb]

Unlike your dear old dad, mine has a history of steady "occupation." I call it that rather than "employment" because while he has always been working at one thing or another, he has never been one for holding onto a job for any length of time. He's a lousy businessperson, though. Hence those multiple bankruptcies. Yes, he's a hothead, and he resents even the most well-intended advice if it conflicts in any way with his preferred view of the world and his place in it. But he's not an idler.

 

[MikePotts]

My mum went to see Hitler speak at one of the Nuremburg rallies, travelled there from the North of England with one of her nursing chums. I guess she was a fan...right up until he started bombing her !

 

[tonyb]

... I guess she was a fan...right up until he started bombing her !

If that doesn't turn one around, it's hard to imagine what would.

 

[ChiTownScion]

My dad was three years old when his mother died in the 1920's. His father was unable to take care of the seven kids, so those who couldn't be farmed out to relatives or were too young to fend for themselves were dropped off at an orphanage. Since it was a Catholic orphanage, Dad had to be baptized beforehand. He was left at the orphanage in the middle of the night.

From all I have heard about that paternal grandfather, he was a rotten father and a drunk. He'd promise my dad that he'd visit for his birthday, then never show. Hell of a way for a kid to grow up- and it was the depths of the Depression. Along the way, grandfather acquired two wives. The second of those (Wife #3, if you're keeping count) came with a few kids of her own and thus came to pass the "blended family." #3 had her faults, but she provided some semblance of normalcy after those orphanage years. When my dad entered high school he enrolled in Junior ROTC. The drill and military discipline served him well in those pre-war years (1938- 1942) and gave him a taste for things to come. He graduated high school a semester early, and immediately went into the Army. Went to war a gung ho fire breather, and came back a war weary vet who was sickened by what he'd witnessed in North Africa, France, Belgium and Germany.

My friend Carol Tyler has written a fine graphic novel trilogy, You'll Never Know, about the post traumatic life that her father and his family had to live through. The Greatest Generation often didn't open up about their experiences, but a lot of us who were their kids knew their nightmares all too well. On balance, though, my Dad was still one of the good guys. He worked hard, held two full time jobs, and we never wanted for any of life's necessities. I didn't think that he was much of a husband to my mom at the time, but after observing the pathologies of my mother's immediate family for six decades, I see things now in a more balanced light. My parents divorced after 29 years: my dad stuck it out in a loveless marriage until we kids were grown, so I give him credit in that regard.

Dad was in his eightieth year when he died as result of injuries from an on the job accident. He used to boast that he'd held a job steadily from the time he was seven years old, and I don't think that he could have planned a better end. Collecting two pensions from two union jobs, and still working to the end.

 

[tonyb]

...

Dad was in his eightieth year when he died as result of injuries from an on the job accident. He used to boast that he'd held a job steadily from the time he was seven years old, and I don't think that he could have planned a better end. Collecting two pensions from two union jobs, and still working to the end.

Wow. Was this injury suffered shortly before his death? Or did the effects of an old one finally catch up with him?

Please forgive my morbid curiosity. Such matters are of interest to me in some part because of my close acquaintance with a couple of people who succumbed to injuries suffered many years previously.