Some Family Stories and Legends

This is a collection of stories (unconfirmed oral history).
Some are hearsay, some are vaguely remembered, some are snippets.

The people involved are from the "The Family",
but most of the stories aren't assigned to particular people.

More stories, about particular individuals, can be found in their personal data page(s).


The Spanish Rabbi
The Royal (Habsburg) Connection
Habsburg, Shmabsburg !   King David Rules, OK !
The Hessie Legend
Two Great-Greatgrandmother Colemans !
If you're not a Habsburg, then maybe you're a Huguenot ?
Moving around in Circles ...

The Spanish Rabbi

One of Hanns' ancestors was a/the (?) Head Rabbi in France at the time of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642). He then moved to Spain, to be the Head Rabbi there. He and his family 'disappeared' without trace.

The Royal (Habsburg) Connection

A female of the family (her mother's side ?) was a Lady in Waiting at the spanish court. She had an affair with a courtier there and had a child, born 'on the wrong side of the blanket'. She was sent home (to Hungary ?, Austria ?, it was probably all Habsburg, then) in disgrace.

Does this mean that we are illegitimate Habsburgs ???

Habsburg, Shmabsburg !   King David Rules, OK !

If you think that was something, wait till you hear this !

In the U.S.A. it is the big thing to claim descent from one of the original 99 "Came over on the Mayflower" settlers. If you believe all claims, then there must have been several thousand people on the Mayflower !

But a mere 350 years ?? This is nothing in jewish genealogy ! Among jews it is the big thing to claim descent from one of the famous rabbis or torah scholars. One of the most famous of these was


Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitskhak (1040-1105),

usually known as
Rashi.

The Margolioth family is said to be descended from Rashi.

King David !

If anybody is interested, there is plenty to read on this subject on the Internet:
see: "Can We Prove Descent from King David ?" by David Einsiedler (Search in text for "Margoliot")
and: The Rashi Descent (Search in text for "Margolis")
Both open a seperate window. Close the window, to return here ...

We have a family tree of the Margulies, which starts with a photocopy of the family tree of Samuel Margolioth, dayyan (rabbinical judge) in Posen in 1550. This continues down to Ephraim Zalman Margolioth (1762-1828). It is then continued by hand through Elyakim Getzel Margolis to Moritz Margulies and his childen.

So, if you believe that Samuel Margolioth was descended from Rashi
and if you believe that Rashi was descended from King David, ....

then we have another(!) connection to a royal family,
compared to whom, the Habsburgs were mere "Johnny-Come-Latelys" !

P.S. Could it be, that you also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny ?

P.P.S. I'm afraid I don't know anymore where the picture came from, and who to attribute it to.
Whether Rashi actually did look like that picture is anybodies' guess,
It could just be an artist's impression of what a learned jewish Rabbi would look like !

The Hessie Legend

(from the Hessies)
From 1775 - 1783 America fought her Battle of Independance from the British. King George III was descended from the House of Hannover, and to stock up his army, he used troops from his relatives in Germany. Therefore, many of the so-called British Army were in fact german mercenaries.

One of them, from Hesse, decided not to return to Germany after the war was over, and he settled down in the Hebrides (Outer / Inner ?).

In memory of his homeland, he called his first-born daughter Hessa. She called her first-born daughter Hessa and this became the tradition in the family.

In the course of time, Hessa became Hessie.

At some time, one of the Hessies moved to Ireland.


So far, six generations of Hessies are known ...

Hessie Baxter,	born 18??, in ??
Hessie Stevenson,	born 1861, in Ireland
Hessie (Hettie)       Stevenson,	born 1880, in Ireland
Hessie - Mother-in-Law,	born in Scotland
Hessie - Wife,
Hessie - Daughter,
To Anybody, Anywhere! If you know of any Hessies, who you feel belong to this family, please, please, let me know A.S.A.P. ! Who knows, with a bit (a bit ?? --- a lot !!) of luck, one day I may even find ... "The first Hessie" How did I find the other three generations ?? See here for some of the details ... Searching for Stevensons and Colemans ...

Two Great-Greatgrandmother Colemans !

(from Bob Coleman)
My name is Coleman and I have a Greatgrandmother Coleman, so my daughter, Hessie, has a Great-Greatgrandmother Coleman.

One day, Hessie Mother-in-Law suddenly said,

"That's funny, my Grandmother was called Hessie Coleman and my grandaughter is Hessie Coleman !

So Hessie-Daughter has a Great-Greatgrandmother Coleman on her mother's side of the family, too.

If you're not a Habsburg, then maybe you're a Huguenot ?

So on my side the family, we could be illegitimate Habsburgs, or descended from King David. On my wife's side of the family I have just found a possible Huguenot connection:

31.12.2004:
Just been in contact with a Vacher-Researcher, D., from RootsChat.

I have heard that The Vacher's may be descended from 3 Vacher brothers who fled Switzerland when the non-Catholics were being massacred (are you familiar with the people known as Huguenots that fled to England centuries ago?). One brother settled in the West Country, one near to Southampton, and one settled in London so the story goes. But I feel that the central link in all of this is Dorset

Moving around in Circles ...
(or 'Back to the Roots' ?? )

We have some "circular" movings in our families.

On my wife's side of the family, one branch came from Blandford Forum in Dorset, moved to Lancashire, then Scotland, and then, (my wife), to Berlin, in Germany.

On my father's side of the family, we have this legend/rumour that my G-Grandfather came from Germany.

The son of one of his children moved to Blandford Forum in Dorset and the Grandson (me) of his other child moved to Berlin in Germany !