If you go back far enough in your genealogy, chances are there are a few interesting stories that are worthy of being shared with family members, friends – or even Twitter. Yesterday, we were hit with the motherlode of ancestral anecdotes on the Bird App, thanks to Jamie Schler. In a viral tweet, the writer asked her fellow Twitter users to share their odd and cool tidbits of genealogical lore. And boy did the people deliver. The tales span centuries, from the Revolutionary War all the way to the misguided war in Vietnam. While they vary in tone (sad, funny, haunting), the stories share a common thread: being cool as hell. We’ve put a few of our favorite of the Twitter tales in this gallery, but you can take in a lot more fascinating tweets in the thread.