Hi. I have been looking all over for some information that could possibly help my family get some answers. My great grandfather was very secretive about his family's history. His father had a tattoo of a series of numbers on the bottom of one of his feet.
Does anybody have an idea as to why a man born in the mid 1800s would have such a tattoo? They wound up in West Virginia and settled there, but before that they were in Canada. We don't have any information prior to Canada, but it doesn't seem like they were originally from there.
This may not be the best place to ask this question, so feel free to remove!
Numbers are often associated with identification, whether as a prisoner, a slave or even an orphan, but that wouldn’t be likely in the bottom of the foot.
Was he in the military? Some soldiers used to tattoo ID on themselves, maybe he didn’t want it somewhere that world normally show? Could be a regimental number?
Sailors have a long history of tattoos and I know some were on the bottoms of their feet, though idk about numbers.
Or, something totally personal he needed to remember but didn’t want ppl to know. Did he belong to any groups like the Masons or Odd Fellows?
You may wish to try r/Ancestry. People over there are quite knowledgeable about tracing families and may be able to give you some more information on which cultures tattooed feet in the timeframe you're looking at.
Follow up question: any more concrete date details? Decades? Do you know where in Canada?