# OMFG. I found my grandfather in the 1930 census. IN PRISON. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 1, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474 "2010-06-01T08:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/41 "2010-06-02T08:06:42Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > One of my ancestors was sentenced to death for stealing a handkerchief in 1830’s England at the age of 14. His sentence was subsequently commuted, and he served time in the prison hulks at Chatham Yard, a fleet of obsolete ships permanently anchored and used as prisons. His conviction is recorded at the Old Bailey, and the records are online. My mother has a letter that he sent his father from prison. From my little research I did on those anchored prison ships a couple of years back, your ancestor was a tough mofo to survive it. The conditions on those things were disgusting. **Sigmagirl** , he was sentenced to 15 years, but he must’ve gotten early parole or appealed or something because he was out by 1934. I really want to know the details of this case; does anyone have access to the relevant edition of the Southern Reporter and willing to summarize it here? **Scarlett67** , the surname is probably a corruption of McFadden from way back. It’s also found in colonial records spelled McPhater. Here’s a description of the conditions at Oakley State Farm and Hospital, as detailed in the 1919 _Proceedings of the Annual Congress of the American Prison Association_: > [@](#): > > At the Oakley Hospital, near the Oakley Farm, the doctor’s office and clinic was dirty and without any equipment; the tuberculosis hospital was in charge of a tuberculosis patient without any able-bodied nurses. The patients were fed in a dirty dining-room from a dirty kitchen… > The Oakley Camp for White Prisoners was the only creditable department. The buildings were poor and inadequete, but well-kept, and the prisoners were under excellent supervision. The sergeant erected a wooden building for a kitchen and dining room, which was sanitary and very well-kept. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/42 "2010-06-02T09:40:59Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No shit! > > Though really, I think every family has at least one person in the family history that is not quite right in some way or another, even if it is as innocuous as believing in a flat or hollow earth, or only wearing pink, or eating the same weekly menu every week of the last 20 years of their lives or something relatively harmless like that. You’re shitting me! The earth isn’t flat? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/43 "2010-06-02T10:14:16Z")
My personal favorite is still when my dad was taking a trip to Ireland, and scheduled a tour of ruined castles. So, he decided to look 'em up, see why they were ruined. One of them, apparently, a cousin-who-stayed-behind ruined. See, he was drunk and lit it on fire. With his mother-in-law inside. Sums up family history pretty nicely, all things considered. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/44 "2010-06-02T10:28:04Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My great-great (or maybe just great) grandfather was a murderer. He killed his sister-in-law, apparently over a cow. He must have really liked that cow. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/45 "2010-06-02T12:15:04Z")
This is my ancestor [Pee Jim](http://joepayne.org/claiborne/PeeJem/peegem.htm) My grandparents also ran illegal whiskey out of Claiborne County and spent a few years in prison and once shot a federal agent. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/46 "2010-06-02T14:24:55Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > “[Hung](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hang)” is also correct. Unless things have changed recently objects are “hung” but more typically a _person_ is “hanged” (as is supported in your cite). Eg/ “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care”. But the “murder was hanged by the nooseman in the town square.” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/47 "2010-06-02T14:45:56Z")
No, no. I’m entirely sure Sampiro’s ancestors have been well hung. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/48 "2010-06-02T16:13:59Z")
Game is hung, people are hanged (although you’ll find plenty of examples of it in contemporary journalism). ‘Injuncted’ is another one that annoys me. Ain’t no such verb. An injunction enjoins you to or from a course of action. The events sparking the Salem witch trials actually took place in Salem Village - now Danvers, MA - a fact which Salem, MA naturally wishes to gloss over. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/49 "2011-02-17T21:22:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My maiden name has a common spelling variant. The people with the T in the name are descendants of the victim. The people without a T are descendants of the murderer. > > It’s me, it’s me, it’s Julie without a T. My mom’s maiden name is a varient with a D instead of a T. > [@Sampiro](#): > > I think that Old Demdike’s dying curse is why men in my family are hung til this very day. (You have to be really precise when using black magic- exact wording is everything.) Is that a penis joke? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/50 "2011-02-17T21:57:25Z")
My great-great grandfather, from Germany, enlisted in a New York unit called the Fifth German Rifles in the Civil War. He was captured in the regiment’s first skirmish with the enemy, on outpost duty near Annandale Virginia just outside of Washington DC when Confederate cavalry rode through the lines and took 8 prisoners. He spent 6 months in POW camp, caught tuberculosis, and was invalided out when he was released in a prisoner exchange. A few years ago I read some of the official correspondence on the skirmish. One of the officers in the next regiment over complained about the Germans because when the Confederates rode through their lines none of them even fired a shot. He also remarked that he though there had been a “rather free use of spirits” among the German troops. So it turns out my great-grand father was probably captured because he was too drunk to get out of the way of the rebel cavalry.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/51 "2011-02-17T22:10:32Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Though really, I think every family has at least one person in the family history that is not quite right in some way or another My family is full of 'em. My siblings and I have varying degrees of OCD, learning disabilities, etc. Paternal grandmother was a con-artist of sorts who referred to her kids by nickname. Mom was the product of a ne’er-do-well and a woman who was subsequently institutionalized; Mom was raised by an aunt, who was also taking care of her 90-year-old grandfather. Mom was rather difficult to find on the 1930 census due to being listed under her middle & first names rather than her last & first. IIRC, her relation to the head of household is ambiguous on the census as well. > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The 1940 census isn’t available yet, is it? Not until 2015, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/52 "2011-02-17T22:20:54Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > I know we’ve got two murderers in our family. And they were both ladies :eek: Did they shoot with their pinkies sticking out, or something? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/53 "2011-02-17T22:32:06Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it’s time to ban box supper socials. What about parties, par-tays, shindigs, gatherings, and hootenannies? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/54 "2011-02-17T22:37:10Z")
Well I don’t think it is as bad, but some will, but we discovered my Great Uncle was a Black and Tan. And more recently we are pretty certain some of the more distant cousins who live in the North have links to some less than savory loyalist “social clubs.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/55 "2011-02-17T23:55:35Z")
I was just nosing around on [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) and found out that my paternal grandmother’s father married his deceased wife’s sister after the first wife died! That was weird…“Mabel Weierick…Mabel Weierick…wait…PEARL Weierick?!” Mabel died in 1930, and the first child great-grandad had by Pearl was born in 1934. So apparently there was at least _some_ suitable period of mourning. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/56 "2011-02-18T00:10:41Z")
Zombie-Wombie Thread. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/57 "2011-02-18T00:14:22Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Zombie-Wombie Thread. Well, considering the sheer number of dead people referenced in it… ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/58 "2011-02-18T00:24:11Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Interesting. Obviously, antebellum laws would have varied between states, even in the South - but was killing a slave widely considered murder at the time? It would have depended on whether it was your slave or somebody else’s, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/59 "2011-02-18T00:36:48Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Louis came from a family with a tragic history. His aunt, his father’s sister, killed five of her children by shooting them in the barn, burned down the house with the sixth child inside, and then drowned herself in the Mississippi river. Wow, that is horrific. Is that a famous case? Also, not to hijack, but did most people here find out about their relatives through an online site specifically for researching your family tree? Oh no. Zombies! ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474/60 "2011-02-18T00:41:52Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > If I’m not mistaken, the hospital side of Oakley (no relation :D) was a mental hospital. It was. My grandfather was there for a time - I never knew him, he died long before I was born, and Daddy ended up in the Baptist Orphanage, where the man I know as my grandfather adopted him when he was 12. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-i-found-my-grandfather-in-the-1930-census-in-prison/541474.md?page=4)