interesting finds in family research

First Ward Special City Tax
Second Ward Special City Tax

Makes you wonder what was going on that made the Fourth Ward have to pay taxes for the First and Second.

Makes you wonder what was going on that made the Fourth Ward have to pay taxes for the First and Second.

I was wondering the same thing.  Lazy First and Second Warders!

On my mom's side of the family, both my grandparents families had at one time been very wealthy. Apparently one of them owned a successful cart/buggy manufacturing/repair business but refused to switch to automobile repair when they were invented because they thought "it would never be successful" haha! Oops. So they went broke.

The other side was wealthy from "old" money but one of the couples spent all the money on themselves and gave nothing to their children so it ended there. I think they have some landmark named after them or something.

My mom has all the geneology and loads of antiques as family heirlooms. We have this shot glass that says "Atlantic City 1895" because one of the wealthy families took regular trips there.

And my english fiance laughs at what we think is "antique".

I've always had a great interest in geneology, so here goes...lol......On my mother's side,  the Benton family, the name apparently goes back to the 1100's. I've seen something that claimed that the Bentons were connected to Robert the Bruce, but I'm not 100% on that. Since 1100 (and possibly before), we've been mainly in England, though some in Scotland and some in Ireland. My grandfather always claimed that we had barons in the family however many hundreds of years back. A few hundred years ago we had someone who was apparently extremely wealthy: he was worth the equivalent of 1 million dollars.....back then. lol So very well off....but when he passed away, he had no heirs, so the money was supposedly absorbed by the crown. We've also been said to be traced back to the picts, but again you can't really back that up with much evidence! lol There was a U.S. senator back in the 1800's, Thomas Hart Benton, who was a wealthy landowner. Jesse Benton, who was Thomas Hart Benton's daughter, married John Fremont, who had a hand in exploring Oregon, and founding Benton County. There are various towns and villages by the name of Benton in some states and from what I understand, in England.  There was also a painter by the name of Thomas Hart Benton. As for my father's side, he was adopted, and was also never a part of my life, so I've no idea as far as that side of things. Now that I am living in England, I plan to do a lot of research in regards to my mom's side of things. So far, looks pretty interesting! lol