Is it really you???????

The adventures that "Jiggs" had during World War II were usually on the battlefield.
However, during one of his assignments of duty, "Jiggs" was stationed in Virginia. This assignment as drill instructor was to train new recruits and teach them the skills and discipline that they would need in battle.
During this time in the states, he saw someone who looked familiar. To his utter astonishment, "Jiggs" realized that it was his own brother!
Edward Eugene "Jiggs" Weston, his older sister, Mary Pauline Weston, and his younger brother, Ralph Frederick "Tiny" Weston, had spent much of their childhood in an orphanage. And, because of the mistreatment, neglect, and poverty, they had all grown up much too quickly.
Mary Pauline was married at a very young age and the boys had found employment wherever they could as teenagers. The brothers traveled around to find what jobs they could....and, as time passed, they had lost touch.
"Jiggs" and "Tiny" had no idea that the other one was in the navy!
To commemorate their reunion and the joy of finding each other safe, they had their picture taken together. My dad always condsidered that day to be one of the happiest of his life.

Family Heritage

As with all families, we have a rich heritage bequeathed by our ancestors.
It has been an interesting journey to delve into our family's history and attempt to discover our roots.
To discover the countries that our ancestors originated from, I used the twelve surnames of Jiggs and Christine's great grandparents. They are: Weston; Skeen; Schaffer; Shore (Schor); Wiley (Wylie); Jackson; Shadowens (Chaudoin); Osborn; Aldred (Alteried); Lackey (Leckey); Stoddard; Chamberlain; Chapman; Richardson; Lackey (distant relative of first Lackey); and, Stringer. As you can see, some spellings of the names were changed when our family immigrated to the United States. The names on the roster was often written just as it was pronounced.
Using these names as our basis of analysis, our family is 38% English; 25% Scottish; 20% German; 15% Irish; 1% French; and 1% Cherokee.
The only real surprise to me in my research is that Tandy "Little Deer" Jackson, Sr, is a full blooded Cherokee!
We do know that "Little Deer" (pronounced Ah-ha-wee U-sdi-ee in Cherokee) was born in 1775 in Quallah Town, Cherokee Nation East, North Carolina. Because he married Elizabeth Smith, a white woman, on 12 April 1804 in Rutherford County, North Carolina, we do have records of his marriage licence and marriage bond.
"Little Deer" and Elizabeth settled in Tennessee and raised 7 children. However, when her husband drowned in the Sequatchie River in April of 1827, Elizabeth returned to live in the Cherokee Nation East.
Although our Cherokee ancestors managed to join the white mans world, most of "Little Deer" 's family did not. They were part of the march in the tragic "Trail of Tears" as the Cherokee Nation was forced to relocate.
There is still a lot to discover about our family heritage...the search continues!