Ancestry/Genealogy

He was actually my great grand uncle (by marriage) before he became my great grandfather. His first wife was my great grand aunt. After she and her fourth child died in childbirth, he hired a housekeeper/nanny. She eventually married him, but it took 13 years and a load of kids before they finally tied the knot (at the insistence of the state of Virginia).

One of his daughters grew up, married the great nephew of first wife, and they had a son who subsequently became my father.

After the 2nd wife(my great grandmother) died, he married a woman 40 years his junior. That marriage ended up in divorce when he beat and abandoned her, then got involved with "a woman of ill repute", with whom he had a child out of wedlock.

Needless to say, he was quite a character! I love the black sheep-they're the spice in the spaghetti so to speak!