If I had an Animus
You could say I was born an all American boy. All eight of my great grandparents were born in the USA and half of them came from families with deep roots in America. I know the whereabouts of 86 of my ancestors who were alive in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. More than three quarters of them (66 out of 86) were living in the American Colonies, at least 7 of whom were veterans of the Continental Army.
I'd like to tell you more about one of my ancestors, Robert Lemmon. He's my 6th great grandfather following the paternal line (my last name is a variation on Lemmon). Robert was born in Northern Ireland in 1730. He and his brothers John and James emigrated to America in 1750, settling in Baltimore. All three brothers entered the (then British) army during the French and Indian war, serving under General Edward Braddock and Colonel George Washington. They were a part of the Braddock Expedition in 1755 - the failed attempt to capture the French Fort Duquesne (near the present day site of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh).
At the outbreak of the American Revolution the three Lemmon brothers entered the Continental Army as captains in the Maryland and Virginia lines. James was killed in the Battle of Brandywine. Brothers John and Robert survived all the hostilities and were present at the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781.
Robert had six children. The one from which I descend is James Lemmon who was born in 1763 near Hagerstown, Pennsylvania (an area that's now a part of Maryland). By 1780 he was old enough to serve as a messenger boy between his father and George Washington. James would later serve again in the War of 1812. He had 7 children with his first wife and, after she died, had another 9 children with his second wife. James lived until the age of 104, long enough to see the advent of portrait photography.
So if I had an Animus, I would love to see the American Revolution through the eyes of my ancestors and have a chance to meet George Washington. That's one reason I'm stoked about AC3.
Tell us about your favorite ancestor. Whose memories would you relive if you had an Animus? (And don't say George Washington! He didn't have any biological children. The "father of our country" was most likely infertile. 
)
Very, very interesting. I still need to find out about my own ancestors.
Raicho Karakolov
My great grandfather was abandoned as an infant by his real parents. He was left in a plain, found by two farmers. Then, as he grew, he learned to be a shepherd but decided to run away from his foster parents because he wanted to learn, he had a thirst for knowledge.
As he crossed the border into Russia with two friends, they both got shot while he survived unscathed and undetected.
He fled to a Russian city (which we don't really know) and tried to go to school when he was 18, but they told him that he was too old. Hungry, he went to a bakery and bought a huge loaf of bread with all the money he had. Just before he was about to eat it, he had an idea and went to the priest near there. He bribed him with the bread and had a birth certificate forged. He then went to school.
At a later point in his life, Stalin ended up putting Raicho in a concentration camp, apparently because he believed him to be a Bulgarian spy. My great grandmother, Sonia, ballsy that she was sent a letter DIRECTLY to Stalin essentially swearing at him with words that a lady should never have known. Taken aback my by great grandma's courage, he actually ended up releasing Raicho.
Another skip forward in his life and Raicho actually ended up being a rebel leader, a leader of a small resistance force against Hitler's movements within Russia. He and his group would use guerilla tactics to SLOW DOWN Hitler's forces or bother/harass them so that their advance was slower. They would relocate and run away whenever the enemy forces came close to discovering their location. This went on for a while.
At a later point in his life, when he was very old (rumoured 65), the Nazis were under either Stalingrad or Moscow, I don't remember too well (my father told me this story) and he wanted to fight. They told him he was too old. The thing is, Raicho, just like me; is very short and young looking. VERY tiny guy. So he walked to another Volunteer Point and they gave him a gun and three grenades. He ended up killing 22 Nazis or so I've heard.
Because of his false age, mysterious origin and everything, nobody actually knows how old Raicho is, or how old he would've been if he was still alive.
That, is the person I am descended from.
You both have such interesting ancestors!
All four of my grandparents are/were Irish and all of our ancestors for hundreds of years were, I assume, Irish farmers. There is therefore very few records of who any of them were. My mum's family have roots in Monaghan and many of her cousins still live there, while may dad's family are from Cavan but that's about all I know.
My dad's cousin has managed to trace their side of the family back to the 1800s I believe but, other than occupations (which is mostly just farmers), there is very little information as to who these people actually were.
An interesting story/piece of information concerns my surname, 'Deneny'. Before my dad's parents came over from Ireland, it was spelt 'Denneny' but, supposedly due to an administrative error, it was spelt how we now spell it on my grandfather's forms so he was forced to keep it that way. Many of my relatives in Australia and America still spell it with the extra 'n' as there was no such error. What my dad's cousin manage to uncover, however, was that even further back it was actually only spelt with one 'n' so it would appear it got changed at some point and then changed back to it's original form! Some of my family also pronounce it differently, putting emphasis on the second syllable rather than the first as we do.
If I was to live as an ancestor through the Animus I would probably choose my granddad (my mum's dad), although he is still alive (does that make any difference?). He has lots of interesting stories about life in Ireland, especially as they lived very close to the border with Northern Ireland so there was a fair bit of danger and illegal activity going on!
My family wasn't really that exciting. Except my grandfather. He fought in World War II as an American airplane gunner as well as infantry working with British soldiers. His name was Coin...but everyone just called him Bud, since "Coin" was a f*cking odd-ass name. Would be interesting to experience all the stuff he went through. Not much is known about our family history. So I have little to no info about us.
SO DETAILED LIKE THE REST OF YOU GUYS!
Raicho KarakolovHe ended up killing 22 Nazis or so I've heard.
Cool answer. DAZ in the Animus = Nazi hunter. 
All of our ancestors for hundreds of years were, I assume, Irish farmers.
The same is true for all of us. Most of our ancestors were farmers up until the Industrial Revolution. There were still records of births, marriages and deaths, even for those who didn't accomplish much beyond the farm. When doing genealogy research I'm always surprised to find someone who wasn't a farmer.
What my dad's cousin manage to uncover, however, was that even further back it was actually only spelt with one 'n' so it would appear it got changed at some point and then changed back to it's original form!
I have a similar theory about my last name coming full circle. The Lemmons of North Ireland may descend from Clan Lamont of Scotland. In 1646 Clan Campbell massacred hundreds of Lamonts on the Cowal Peninsula. Some Lamont survivors escaped by boat across the channel to Antrim County, Ireland, and changed their names for their own safety. Robert Lemmon and his brothers were from Antrim County. It may just be a coincidence, though. Nothing is known of their ancestors.
If I had an animus, I would be Lucy and experience vicariously as stab, Patrick and DAZ re-lived their ancestors' memories. (Hopefully I could be Lucy without the knife in the gut part.)
Seriously, it's pretty dang cool that you know so much about your family heritage. It's wonderful to have a sense of the past and the idea that you are part of a larger whole.
LUUUUUCYYYYYYY <3
*stealthy sneaks into the conversation*
My ancestor was Genghis Khan. My family kept a journal of all male descendants (because Asian families just roll like that). In it, it describes him as a vicious warrior that wanted control of the masses for the idea of peace. That, and he had a really cool golden sword. Unfortunately, he met his untimely demise due to arrow wounds. One through the eyes, and one through his horse.
You'd think he die with multiple shaft wounds running through his torso, but most things in life end with a fizzle, and not a bang.
*pops out*
*stealthy sneaks into the conversation*
My ancestor was Genghis Khan.
IIRC, in Asia, everyone has Genghis Khan somewhere in their line.
from what i've heard, the man boned almost every woman out there.
Vesferatu wrote:
*stealthy sneaks into the conversation*
My ancestor was Genghis Khan.IIRC, in Asia, everyone has Genghis Khan somewhere in their line.
from what i've heard, the man boned almost every woman out there.
It's hard out there for a pimp..
Hide yo kids, hide yo wife! Genghis Khan is coming to town.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus