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In reply to the discussion: Tell us some famous event an ancestor of yours was involved in? My grandfather found [View all]Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)Was my gr-gr-gr grandfather:
In 1850 Congressman James A. Seddon of Virginia declared in Congress that the Mississippi troops commanded by Jefferson Davis saved the day at Buena Vista. Bissell, who had been in the heaviest fighting at Buena Vista, countered as an eyewitness, saying that Congressman Seddon's remarks were not true, and denounced Southerners for glorifying themselves and belittling Northerners. Later, two of Senator Davis's friends told Bissell that he insulted the Mississippi Rifles and Colonel Davis, and they requested that Bissell duel Davis. Bissell accepted Davis's challenge and stipulated that the weapons would be army muskets loaded with ball and buckshot. President Zachary Taylor soon learned about the duel and threatened Senator Davis with arrest. A peaceful settlement was quickly reached.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Bissell
There are others, but this one cracked me up! My gggGrampa almost dueled Jefferson Davis! I come from a very long line of politicians and political activists on both sides of my family.
Edit to be fair to my Irish heritage: One of my ancestors (a gr+ uncle) was one of the founders of the IRA and the first (? disputed) to die in a British prison. They threatened his brother, my gr+ grandfather that if he didn't leave the country he would suffer the same fate. He was married and had 5 children (he ended up with 8 surviving...11 total), so he packed up and moved to America. When he got here, he bought up a bunch of swamp land and sold it to the British sight-unseen for a huge profit. He used the money to build the first school in his county, of which his wife was the only teacher.
I'm also a cousin to Silas Bissell, one of the first Weathermen. I have two IL State Senators, two IL Sup. Ct. Judges, one US Sup. Ct. Judge and a Gov. of LA in my family. There are others that I'm not proud of that I'll not mention.