"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough."
~ MARK TWAIN
Unapologetically unedited - as always.
Okay, there's something I have to confess. It's something I have always wanted from my ancestors. No, not like some buried treasure (though that would certainly be helpful) or like discovering that Great Grandpa was a spy for the Allies in France and single-handedly fought off a gang of Nazis planting a bomb in the Eiffel Tower. While those things would be great, what I've really been looking for is something else. You see, I've wanted to find an ancestor that could bind me to the past in a unique way - one that was both lineage society worthy, and, well, one that might have given a fictional grandfather saving the Eiffel Tower from the Nazis a run for his money.
Now I gotta admit something else too, and it's that I could easily become a lineage society junkie. What can I say? Muddling through the proofs to get oneself to an evidentiary kinship with someone of historical note or importance is not only like solving a genealogical crossword puzzle, but it's also (in a word) quite fun. I like the idea of being able to "proof out" to a Jamestown ancestor or even to say someone from the Society of Descendants of Lady Godiva. As usual, though, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to get back to that one thing I keep hoping I will find among my ancestors.
It's the one thing I simply do not have. And believe me, I give up.
It's like trying to figure out a cure for Havana Syndrome. (lol)
You see, what I have wanted the most out of a plethora of possible lineage societies has been "a way" to join the Society of the Cincinnati. No, that's not done applying via the descendants of some 1920 jazz club in Southern Ohio. Founded in 1783, it's like the coolest boys club in town. It's a somewhat singular hereditary society that requires descent from an officer in the Continental Army of the United States.
Do you think I could find just one dude who did just that in the hundreds of ancestors I have looked at or examined over the years?
Not.
Nope, not me. I have a "Gateway Ancestor" back to the bastards of European royalty and Magna Carta Barons. I qualify to at least apply to the Royal Bastards (Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain) but the proofs are a freakin' horrendous nightmare, and well, in the end not that exciting. I have managed to "proof out" (at least) five Mayflower lines of descent and even signed my poor mother (and coerced my sister) into signing up for five D.A.R. patriots - just so I could gather the proofs needed to practice the craft of joining hereditary societies - and with so many possibilities for additional patriots on both sides of the tree, the sky's the limit. Yeah, that's all great, and bully for me, but I don't have the one thing I want.
There's no way I can prove a descent from an officer in the Continental Army.
My lines are filled with (Egads!) Loyalists. You know, those "God Save The King" folks. No problem there. How many would you like? And then there's the whole Quaker issue. I mean, how can one family tree have so many stinkin' Quakers on both sides? I know that they were and are generally wonderful peaceful people and all that, but truly not always the most exciting lot. (I mean no Quaker is rushing off to save the Eiffel Tower from Nazi bombs, right?) So in light of this, and in light no possibility of my never being able to even apply to that most unique and august Society of the Cincinnati, I've decided I have to punt.
I have to come up with my own ancestral super-hero. Who knows, maybe even start my own lineage society of sorts? (Yeah, not)
So I dove in not really knowing what I would find. I wanted someone unique and it didn't really matter from what branch of the tree. My qualifications were only that they were brave as Hell, and yes, that they were also not terribly boring, or in the end, full of themselves. And low and behold I did find someone. (Can you believe it too, I found them while looking for any candidate who might served in the continental forces.)
His name is Gaddis. Tom Gaddis. (Or as I call him, Grandpa Tom...)
And you know what he did? He fought in The Whiskey Rebellion.
I gotta say, I like the sound of that.
Tell me now, doesn't Descendants of Soldiers of the Whiskey Rebellion have a nice ring to it?
Okay, back to our hero at hand. Colonel THOMAS GADDIS is my seven-time great-grandfather and ancestor of my bio great-grandfather JAMES MELSON JONES. Grandpa Tom was born in Virginia in 1742 and died in Clinton County, Ohio in 1834.
Okay, let's get the genealogy stuff out of the way first:
BUT, if you'll let me boast a little bit, I gotta tell you that Grandpa Tom does have his own Wikipedia page. It's full of all the cool stuff he did like fighting "the Injuns" (please excuse my politically incentive comment - or not) and even challenging George Washington to make sure we didn't have to pay excessive tax on necessary things like whiskey. (Necessary???) I know it's not the Encyclopedia Britannica, but, hey, a Wikipedia page is better than most folks' ancestors get, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gaddis
You should check it out.
(Looks like Tom's house may need a serious renovation.)
Grandpa Tom even had a fort named after him - Fort Gaddis. A major figure in the Whiskey Rebellion and his very own fort? AND a place where Daniel Boone even hung out once? I mean, is that cool or what?
Okay, Okay, I will shut up about Grandpa Tom. I get a little concerned that if Grandpa Tom were alive today and given his efforts against President Washington and the Whiskey he'd probably be a dang "Trumper" which is certainly disappointing. Nevertheless, I gotta give Grandpa Tom credit for keeping those taxes low and saving folks from whatever they were running from back in the day.
Let me just close by saying that Grandpa Tom is still in the news once in a while even today:
ABSOLUTELY NONE of this though does me any good for joining The Society of the Cincinnati which obviously sucks if you're me. I mean you'd think I could come up with one lousy officer in the Continental Army in the hoards of ancestors I have looked through to qualify - but such is not the case. In the meantime, I will just have to be happy with the likes of folks like "Grandpa Tom."
AND - At least the drinks are good!?
RIP "Grandpa Tom"
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