In Mom's family there were a lot of men killed and maimed. One ancestor lost him arm and one of Mom's uncles remembered him working on the farm with just one arm and a stump. My great great grandfather died in a Union prisoner of war camp when his only son was six weeks old - he never saw his child.

I grew up with the genealogy, so many of these stories were about people that I came to know in a sense. That's why when I find a new story for the family history I get excited.

And you're right about the South - lots of times when you go to a new town, the first thing they want to know is who your "people" are so they can place you in the right social level.