#i don't see the point in picking fcs when someone can just swoop in with that fc at any time

[phillip-walsh]

CROWNSVILLE TASK  008: FAMILY TREES

For centuries the Walsh family thrived in Ireland, every generation seemed to have more children than the last, it was practically tradition to have a large family. But there was a Walsh who heard rumors of a world far superior to the one they’d come to love and he wanted to see it. To be apart of it. He was determined to make a new life for himself in America, one that he could be proud of. Though before he could leave for the new world, he had promises to keep in what would later be known as Poland. 

It was there that Harold Walsh met the love of his life Mariela Laska and the two were married while still in Europe in 1902. They remained in Europe with her family for longer than anticipated, but it was there that Harold uncovered what it was he wanted to do while in America. With the help of his new brother-in-law, the youngest of the Walsh children started up his own newspaper business. They remained in Poland under Prussian occupancy until 1908 when they decided it was finally time to take their two daughters and board a boat for America.

Things were hard upon their arrival as they were unwanted immigrants at the time like the other Irishmen. The newspaper was floundering and close to complete failure, but then, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and World War 1 broke out. All of Mariela’s family was at the front lines and eventually, Harold’s family joined the fight as well and all the information and letters they received were printed in the paper and the reality of the war helped sell the paper like hotcakes. Like every other mogul at the time, the Walsh family used the war to help skyrocket them to the top, Harold including all of his own war stories in it as well from the years he spent fighting. 

By the time 1918 rolled around and the war was over, the Walsh family had moved into a posh apartment in New York City more than big enough for their family and any others who might come along. And three more did come along, including their firstborn son, Harold Walsh II. 

Though things seemed to work out so beautifully for their family, it didn’t last forever. It felt as if the first World War had just ended but in Europe Hitler was already rising to power. It was 1939 and the eldest of the Walsh children, Mada had moved back to Poland to live their mother’s family after having just been married and starting her own family. Poland was invaded that same year and she was the first of the Walsh children to die in the horrific war. 

Things overseas intensified as the fighting raged on and family’s wealth only grew with every print that hit the streets. Though as their wealth increased their fortune seemed to decrease. The Walsh children went off to war, despite their parent’s pleas, and it was in the War that most of them lost their lives. The girls went to work as army nurses, but the task proved just as fatal as being on the frontlines as both the two youngest Walsh’s perished before the War was over. Mariela Walsh died of a broken heart in 1943 shortly after hearing about the death of her youngest son. 

The war ended and what was left of the Walsh family returned home to New York, but Harold returned home with the women who would later marry, Karina. It was she who helped Harold turn their families newspaper fortune into something more. Something that would help sustain their family for generations to come as they were quick to realize competing with companies like the New York Times simply wouldn’t do.

By 1964 there were six different Chateaus in four different countries and to him ,that felt like quite the success. From there it only grew, quickly too, as people loved feeling like royalty when they stayed at the Chateau, even if it was just for the night. Harold Walsh prided his company on being a luxury, 5-star everything and it was something he taught his children to hold dear. In 1986, Harold Walsh III was named as the next CEO of the company and it was then that Phillip’s grandfather really started to take a backseat knowing he’d taught his children everything he could about the business and how to run it well. 

Though Harold Walsh III was not like any of the other Walsh’s before him. He was cold and cruel in ways they weren’t, even though he’d never known war like them. His mind was sharp and built for business as it was the only thing he’d ever known. His company was the most important thing to him, even more so than starting his family and producing an heir, which was why he didn’t have Phillip until he was thirty-six years old. Harold decided not to name his son Harold IV in part because he didn’t want his legacy surpassed and partly because he didn’t want that weight on his son’s shoulders as it had been on his. 

Present day, Phillip Aldrich Walsh still has a large family, that tradition having been carried on, even though he’s an only child himself. On his dad’s side, he still has two aunts and an uncle living and several cousins varying in ages, but he doesn’t seem them as often as he would like. Unfortunately, most of the family on his grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s side perished in the two wars so he never learned much about them. 

@nate-martin, @elodiehq