Joshism
Captain
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Location
- Jupiter, FL
Although I have a brother-in-law, father, maternal grandfather, and great-uncle who are/were veterans, in doing my genealogy I've been surprised how few of my direct ancestors were veterans. In particular, I have have zero direct ancestors who served in the American Civil War on either side, although I have found some non-direct relatives (cousins and Nth-great-uncles). It's particularly surprising as every single branch of my ancestry has been in the USA since the 1700s and none of them were living far from the war (ex: Oregon). On the contrary, every single one of them was in a border state or nearly so - mostly in southern KY or eastern WV. One was a doctor; the rest were farmers. A few were in their 40s without any sons that had yet reached adulthood. At least one was in a difficult family situation, another possibly belonged to a pacifist church, and one was apparently incapacitated. It doesn't make me any less interested in the war; I just find it to be a curiosity.