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This is the family history that I know of, it is only one side of my family, but my fathers mother is a Matheson so I consider it quite close to home.

The Clan Matheson or MacMhathon ("Sons of the Bear") share the same ancestry as the Clan McKenzie which has a more well known history.

Some older, more interesting facts:

Kermac MacMaghan fought with the Earl of Ross against the Norsemen in 1262. Later, the Clan split into two: the main stem of Lachalsh and those who went north and became the Mathesons of Shinness in Sutherland. At their peak, the Mathesons could put 2000 men into the field of battle. About 1450 the Earl of Ross gave Lochalsh to his son, who in turn gave half to the Camerons. In 1616, the Shinnes Mathesons appointed a chief, and were backed my the powerful Gordons in order to weaken their neighbours, the MacKays.

The Lochalsh Chiefship passed in time to the Mathesons of Bennetsfield, where it still rests.

Decents of the Mathesons (dates not in order):

1216 - 1292 King Henry III of England
1198 - Wake Family King of Scotland
1290 - Robert Bruce
1287 - Earl of Dunbar thru McKenzies
1406 - James I King of Scotland
1453 - Robert Duke of Albany Son of King Robert II
1568 - Earls of Athol thru MacKenzie of Kintail
1370 - King Robert the Bruce thru Earls of Sutherland
1085 Descents from the McKays
1450 Descents from Frasers (Lord Lovett)...12th Lord Lovet beheaded at Tower Hill 9.4.1746

This is the main interesting facts I have found. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Nadine! You're related to The Bruce!?!

*takes a bow* True, on my fathers mothers side of the family.

My paternal great-great-grandfather was a Scotsman of the Clan Ross who fought in WWI, and my great-great-grandmother was black. My great-grandmother was black with East Indian and Syrian Jew. My maternal great-great-grandfather was Chinese, and my great-great-grandmother was black with Amerindian mixed in.

Sometimes I feel lucky having a relative that's a geneologist! I am of German, Irish, Polish and French blood.
I know that my mom's mom's side of the family came over from Ireland really early, talking aboit 1700s I think and basically lived in the Philadelphia area until my grandparents moved to where they are now. All I know about my mom's father's side of the family this that they came from Poland, don't know when, and that there was some family issues. My father's side of the family I know more about because one my relatives, as I said before, is a geneologist. My german great-grandfather came over from Germany in the 1800s and was a farmer (I was so excited when I found pictures of him!!!) they set their farm up on what is known as Font Hill in Dolyestown, PA then later sold the farm to Henry Mercer who built his "castle" there. Then my grandfather was a bucher but unfortunatly died when my dad was nine. Then there's a relative that worked for Mercer's wife as a maid or something, I think she was my great aunt. I'm not sure with my father's mother's side but they came from France. Our association with the weathy Mercers landed us with a tapestry which I hope to inherit. *crosses fingers*

My family came for Germany. My family fought in ww1 (German side), ww2 (German and U.S side), Korean war, Vietnam, and some other wars. The most well know German in are family was a Lieutenant General in the Wehrmacht. Here is some of his history.

Cholm is a small town on the Loat River, and one of the few areas of firm terrain in a region with more than its fair share of swampland. By January 1942 the area was under severe pressure from the Soviet counter-offensive; the area held by the Wehrmacht was gradually compressed into a perimeter barely a mile across, and by January 21 the town was completely surrounded. Inside this redoubt were a number of disparate units including elements of two infantry regiments, a battalion from a Luftwaffe field regiment, a police reserve battalion, transport units, and even some navy personnel from river craft, plus Scherer’s headquarters: in all, around 5,500 men.

This Kampfgruppe Scherer at first possessed no anti-tank guns; and artillery bombardments destroyed most of the houses, leaving the Germans without shelter in the bitter cold. The lack of cover was also important in that Russian snipers took a regular toll of German soldiers. Fortunately for Scherer, there was no flexibility to the Soviet tactics; the Germans were able to predict accurately where and when each new assault would be made, allowing them to concentrate their meagre resources in that particular sector. Crucially, they were also able to radio for supporting artillery fire from outside the pocket.

As the siege wore on, overwhelming pressure of numbers allowed the Soviets to capture and maintain a foothold in the town’s eastern outskirts. Ambushes were laid, and as the Soviet troops advanced through the narrow streets, in which their supporting tanks were unable to manoeuvre, they were scythed down or forced to withdraw in disarray.

Finally, on May 5, 1942, supported by a massive artillery barrage and Stuka dive bombers, a relief force broke through to the garrison, which by then numbered only 1,200 men still fit for action. For 107 days Scherer’s men had held off all enemy attempts to seize the town, although the Red Army had launched almost 2,000 individual assaults on the town.

I'd like to say right off the bat that I know quite a bit about my family ties for the most part, but I don't remember all of it off the top of my head so I'll just give you the more interesting aspects of my family history.

I am descended way down from the very famous Scottish warrior, Brave heart or William Wallace. It's on my dad's mom's side. Apparently, and this is the best way I can put it, he slept with one of my ancestors and a few months later, she had a kid. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a few other people out there who are possibly related to him.

My mom's side I know a lot more about. Her (and my) ancestors lived in Scotland. Then England took over the country for a while and told her family that they couldn't wear their kilts, or play their bagpipes. SO they moved to Ireland. Soon they had to leave there too and immigrated to Canada in Halifax. Then my Grandfather Grandparents walked from Halifax to Ontario.

For those of you who don't know, Halifax is on the other side of the country. And since my ancestors had very little money and had a long way to walk, they carried their most valuable items on their backs.