The flag thread and the re-reading of a letter written by my great-uncle in 1982 got me thinking.
I have always known that my mother arrived in 1923 from Scotland with her parents. My great-grandfather(Albert) came from Sweden in the 1880's. What I had previously missed in my great-uncle's letter surprised me. Albert married a young lady whose parents had come from Russia via Sweden in the 1860's.
When did your line become American? Where did they come from?

I've been into genealogy for about six years now. Ancestors in my tree came to America from, almost exclusively, the general Black Forest region of Europe ranging from Baden-Wurttemberg to northern Switzerland. Most of them made the trip in the mid to late 1800s if I recall correctly. Just about all of them, if not all of them, came straight to Wisconsin--some north-central originally, and others to southeast WI where I'm from and currently at.

On my maternal grandmothers side, the first one to set foot in North America came over on the Mayflower, and on my maternal grandfathers side it was also English and just about 4 years later. On my fathers side, his grandparents on both sides came over from Czechoslovakia in the late 1800s. I guess I’m a first generation mix.

I'm a Euro mutt: Scottish, Irish, and German.

Ancestors went "a vik-ing"! 1/2 a millennium or so later settled into the township of Norway WI (1840's Eilsen). Camping fishing hunting since the 1970's found this website around 2004/5 and met Adam whenhe was visiting family in Milwaukee.

The red hair I had(!) came from maybe some English/Irish and German, but I claim linear decent from raider at Lindisfarne!

butthead

Once you go back more than like 5 generations, you really have too many direct lines to meaningfully trace and claim. 2 grandparents, 4 ggp. 8 gggp, 16 ggggp, 32 gggggp, etc.

But just taking my two grandpas’ direct surname lines.

Germany to Pennsylvania to Ohio, finally to Minnesota in around 1880ish.

Ireland to Virginia to Tennessee, finally to Arkansas in around 1815ish.

I'm going to respond without an answer...

I have no idea. Here is what I do know:

I was adopted at a very young age. My biological parents were young and unable to care for a child. The only request they made was that I was adopted by Lutherans:) They were from the metro area. I am half German and half Norwegian.

And to answer the famous follow-up question; no, I have never been interested in finding and meeting them. No big reason. Just hasn't been on my radar.

I digress,

JW

All of my ancestors are from Germany from the 1800's. All became stuck as farmers in Illinois, and eventually buried in Illinois. Even those relatives that attempted to leave Illinois for long periods of time. The Illinois black hole drew all of them back. My brother lives in Indiana and is 8 years older than me, but the gravitation of Illinois suck will eventually draw him back I am sure. My family's only hope are my two kids whose families live in Phoenix and Seattle. I think they have successfully escaped the gravitational pull of the black hole of Illinois due to the distance.

My wife bought graves for us in Illinois, so I know where I will end up. So, I have that to look forward to. It wasn't my idea, but not worth an argument, I guess.

Tomster

The black hole that is Illinois... I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. Never thought of it that way. I got here cuz my dad wanted to have ten kids and my mom stopped at seven and I was in the middle of the heap so here I am. Apparently in the black hole that is Illinois.

My dads mom & pop both came from County Mayo Ireland. Both born in 1888.
They knew each other in Ireland, but got married after he came to Chicago in 1905 at age 17. He went to work as a plasterer, and she came over to marry him after he was established. Dad was born in 1923, and was a plasterer & Chicago Fireman.
My mother's (still living at 93) 'parents were both born in Barrow In Furnace England, in 1899. They were married there and came to America about 1925. My mother was their first born in America in 1927.
Barrow In Furnace is near the Scotland border. Family suspects they came down from Scotland.
Last Name Thomson (spelled with no "p").
My great uncle always said.... "We know they came from Scotland, because they left off the p to save on the ink"
LOL

My maternal grandfather came from the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, to the hamlet of Berne Minnesota as a young child (1905?). He married my maternal grandmother who was half Irish and half Swiss. He was a cheese maker. They quickly had 13 kids, then my grandfather died when the youngest two kids (twins) were just two years old. My grandmother got a degree in nursing, raised the kids in a meager setting, and had the kindest smile you might ever see.

My fraternal grandmother's family came from Ireland via Toronto. Everyone in that family followed the rules - every single male was an MD and every single female was a teacher for generations. My fraternal grandfather's ancestors were from Bavaria, close to Austria. They married in South Eastern Minnesota where she was a teacher and he was a lumberman.

Its interesting, but none of it truly matters. We are the decisions that we make.

JWilder: "I'm going to respond without an answer...


I have no idea. Here is what I do know:


I was adopted at a very young age. My biological parents were young and unable to care for a child. The only request they made was that I was adopted by Lutherans:) They were from the metro area. I am half German and half Norwegian.


And to answer the famous follow-up question; no, I have never been interested in finding and meeting them. No big reason. Just hasn't been on my radar.


I digress,


JW"

My great-grandfather from Sweden was supposedly orphaned at 2, cared for by relatives for 15(?) years, and worked his way to America on a steamship.

Only a first gen on one side 2nd generation on the other. German on dad's. Hungarian on mom's. Both by boat! Maybe that's why I like being on the water .

In my case, no genealogical studies required: I am from Russia, crossed the ocean in 1992, saw a canoe (outside of movie theater) for the first time in 1996 or 97.

Most of my families came to the colonies from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England.
Most were in Virginia and the Carolinas by the end of the Revolutionary War. One exception was a German emigrant in the 1850's.

I grew up knowing I was 100% German (gradparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before ww1) then I took a DNA test and found out I am 95% Norwegian (60% of that is Viking). Turns out my family came from Norway then settled in Germany then moved to America.

Canoearoo: "I grew up knowing I was 100% German (grandparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before WWI) then I took a DNA test and found out I am 95% Norwegian (60% of that is Viking). Turns out my family came from Norway then settled in Germany then moved to America. "

Cindy, with your crisscrossed heritage, please don't tell us you like lefse rolled up with sauerkraut inside! LOL

Canoearoo: "I grew up knowing I was 100% German (gradparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before ww1)..."

Well that would be me, sorta, with a little "wodka" to wash it down. My maternal grand parents were from Austria and Czechoslovakia, reportedly which eventually became part of the Sudetenland. A good part of their original homeland is now under water as part of a reservoir. The families emigrated before WWI. My paternal grandfather was a German Russian who deserted from the Russian army near the end of WWI. All of them ended up in the Frog Town area of STP. More than that and how either of them ended up here is lost to history.

EddyTurn: "In my case, no genealogical studies required: I am from Russia, crossed the ocean in 1992, saw a canoe (outside of movie theater) for the first time in 1996 or 97. "

Wow! Welcome Cousin. I have long been intrigued by how people end up where they are. Be it a slow migration of small hops or a sudden uprooting and a giant leap.

Sergey, you should get your story down on paper for those to come.

I love hearing the extraordinary tales of ordinary people.

3Ball: "My maternal grandfather came from the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, to the hamlet of Berne Minnesota as a young child (1905?). He married my maternal grandmother who was half Irish and half Swiss. He was a cheese maker. They quickly had 13 kids, then my grandfather died when the youngest two kids (twins) were just two years old. My grandmother got a degree in nursing, raised the kids in a meager setting, and had the kindest smile you might ever see.


My fraternal grandmother's family came from Ireland via Toronto. Everyone in that family followed the rules - every single male was an MD and every single female was a teacher for generations. My fraternal grandfather's ancestors were from Bavaria, close to Austria. They married in South Eastern Minnesota where she was a teacher and he was a lumberman.

Its interesting, but none of it truly matters. We are the decisions that we make."

I totally agree. For better or for worse, I am where I am because of my decisions and actions and the consequences thereof.

But, I absolutely love a good story.

If I told you that my Great-Grandmother was going to take the Titanic from Ireland to the US you might not believe me. The ship was booked and she bought a ticket for the next one sailing to the US. And this is a true story.
Tom

Well, on dad's side, his grandfather came from Italy, applied for citizenship in 1890 in Red Lodge Montana, got it in 1895 in Deadwood, went back to Italy, married a widow, had a son, and the whole bunch came back in about 1899. My dads mom came from a long line of Quakers, some of whom came over with William Penn, others who came over by the early 1700's. Got some Irish who came over in the 1830's, from Northern Ireland, that married into the Quaker line.
On my moms side, two of her great-grandfathers (my grandma was actually conversant in High and Low German) came from Germany, one in the late 1850's as a stowaway from military service, the other in the 1860's from somewhere in Germany. The other side of her family was a pretty mixed bag. The Dutch were her in the early 1600's in New Jersey, though one of them had a farm on Manhatten Island. Supposedly they were the first Europeans to cross the Potomac. A few of the early English in her family were traders with the various tribes in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia. One of the Dutch who was a trader also, lived with a tribe and actually fought against another tribe with his native hosts. All the traders were here by the late 1600's.
All these people's descendants eventually ended up in Iowa, which is where I am from. And there is even a town in Iowa named Van Meter, which was founded by one group of the same early Dutch settlers that I am related. Best thing about Van Meter was the Bob Feller Museum, which, when he was alive, would hold autograph signings. Oh, and the town of New Pfaltz in New York was founded by another ancestor, a Hugenot from France. Yup, I'm a mutt.

Father’s side came from Germany in the mid 1800’s and mother’s side from Ireland in the late 1800’s

Jackfish: "Cindy, with your crisscrossed heritage, please don't tell us you like lefse rolled up with sauerkraut inside! LOL "

LOL nope. But I do like both of those things.

I always thought I was pretty much four different quarters: English (Perry), German (Lutz), Welsh (Northrop) and Dutch (Van Fleet.) The only real history I know is that my Northrop great-grandfather crossed the sea in the mid-19th century to settle in the U. S. And that I am directly related to Oliver Hazard Perry (Battle of Lake Erie, 1813).

One of my great-grandfathers was a Methodist Minister, another was a tin-smith. and another was a farmer.

I did a genetics test a couple years ago and it said I am 41.8% British and Irish (makes me wonder if someone might have been Irish and still departed from Wales to make the crossing), 41.8% French/German, and 3.2% Scandinavian.

Most of my family on both maternal and paternal sides lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio initially, and then ended up in Michigan. I have never had any real interest in genealogy, so I just figure that I am "European" in ancestry. That's close enough.

As far as we know, Spartan1 is English and Scotch.

JWilder: "I'm going to respond without an answer...


I have no idea. Here is what I do know:


I was adopted at a very young age. My biological parents were young and unable to care for a child. The only request they made was that I was adopted by Lutherans:) They were from the metro area. I am half German and half Norwegian.


And to answer the famous follow-up question; no, I have never been interested in finding and meeting them. No big reason. Just hasn't been on my radar.


I digress,


JW"

You seem very comfortable--as we all should be--with who and where you are. Congratulations, sir! Our lineage is far less important than our contributions to society.

TZ

Both my mom and dads family came from Norway (Trondheim) on one side. My moms family first settled in Fergus Falls MN then moved to Biwabik. My mom moved back and forth from Biwabik and Chicago during the depression. Met my dad in HS in Chicago. My Dads family came right to Chicago from Norway. There's also Irish on my mom's side. Her Grandfather was a cop in Biwabik. My dad's side has German/ French as well. I claim Norwegian as my heritage. Petterson is the name

Canoearoo: "I grew up knowing I was 100% German (gradparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before ww1) then I took a DNA test and found out I am 95% Norwegian (60% of that is Viking). Turns out my family came from Norway then settled in Germany then moved to America. "

Genealogy is a funny thing. Am I American because I was born in the US? Am I Swiss/German because those are the modern nations controlling the areas from which the majority of my ancestors came to the US? Am I Alemannic/Bavarian because those are more appropriate ways of identifying who those ancestors were in their own times? Keep playing this game, within the limits of Homo sapiens, and we all end-up as African.

Mostly my great grandparents left Eastern Europe due to pogroms around 1900. Just to pick one case, my grandfather was born in Minsk and brought to the U.S. as a young child. He then fought for the U.S. Army in WWI and was granted citizenship a month after his honorable discharge. So pretty much we are refugees that became Americans. Given the immigration laws at that time, I don't think there was really a refugee status. I don't ever remember my grandfather talking about being Russian.

Of course, it is different when you are leaving a country due to persecution. When the World Cup was in the U.S., we went to one game with the Romanian team and part of my family is from there. I looked at the team and realized that these were not my ancestors but the descendants of the people we fled from. No disrespect to those young men who had nothing to do with that, but "Go Sweden!"

The Mormons have a great genealogy website. It traced my wife’s family to the 1550s, mine 1640. However if you have a Peterson in your family (we both do, not related) they give up and it’s a dead end. It turns out we are the usual upper Midwest Nordic blend. I did the 23 and me genetic test and was very surprised to find I have Sardinian ancestry. That was a big mystery, however thanks to the Mormons I know that one of my ancestors moved from Sardinia to the Black Forest region of Germany in the early 1700s. I was not aware that inner European migration happened in that era.

I’ll add that when my wife and I got married we received some really strange hate mail. Apparently I was polluting the pure Swedish race with my Germanic seed. Little did he know that my wife was also part Scottish. But knowing the Vikings had been very busy in that part of Scotland and the chance of a Viking having a union (cool choice of phrasing) with a Scottish lass were fairly high, what does it matter?

My German ancestry left Germany to avoid being conscripted into another stupid German war. Within years of being here two of them volunteered for Minnesota. Both were injured in battle and received Purple Hearts. I’ll sound really old but my grandmother used to talk about those battles as if she was there.

quark2222: "All of my ancestors are from Germany from the 1800's. All became stuck as farmers in Illinois, and eventually buried in Illinois. Even those relatives that attempted to leave Illinois for long periods of time. The Illinois black hole drew all of them back. My brother lives in Indiana and is 8 years older than me, but the gravitation of Illinois suck will eventually draw him back I am sure. My family's only hope are my two kids whose families live in Phoenix and Seattle. I think they have successfully escaped the gravitational pull of the black hole of Illinois due to the distance.

My wife bought graves for us in Illinois, so I know where I will end up. So, I have that to look forward to. It wasn't my idea, but not worth an argument, I guess.

Tomster"

Who's going to pay your taxes after you're gone? LOL

AmarilloJim: "

quark2222: "All of my ancestors are from Germany from the 1800's. All became stuck as farmers in Illinois, and eventually buried in Illinois. Even those relatives that attempted to leave Illinois for long periods of time. The Illinois black hole drew all of them back. My brother lives in Indiana and is 8 years older than me, but the gravitation of Illinois suck will eventually draw him back I am sure. My family's only hope are my two kids whose families live in Phoenix and Seattle. I think they have successfully escaped the gravitational pull of the black hole of Illinois due to the distance.

My wife bought graves for us in Illinois, so I know where I will end up. So, I have that to look forward to. It wasn't my idea, but not worth an argument, I guess.

Tomster"

Who's going to pay your taxes after you're gone? LOL"

The State will borrow even more money. No need for someone to pick up the lack of tax revenues from me not being around any more. Hard question - Easy answer. Kicking the can down the road works every time in Illinois.

Tomster

Travel back in time to the early 1950’s in Japan during the Korean War. A pretty young Japanese woman visits a US military base to measure for curtains, and she catches the eye of a US Army cavalry officer. There is a courtship, they fall in love, and eventually want to marry. Her father is a very traditional man, the 12th in a long line from a prominent samurai family, and he forbids the marriage. The young woman is strong-willed and knows what she wants. She tells her father exactly what is going to happen. The couple is married, and 14 months later I was born in my grandparent’s house. In 1954, we came to live with my other grandparents in Minnesota.

My dad’s heritage is primarily Scots/English. His mother’s family immigrated from county Ayr, Scotland, in 1882. His paternal family has roots that go back to 1631 in Portsmouth colony, Massachusetts. Two ancestors fought in the American Revolution.

It sounds like most of us are fairly typical mid-westerners heritage wise. But even the most typical family contains great stories.

My wife's grandfather has a birth certificate written in Portuguese. He was born on the ship while his parents were making the trip from Italy. They were off the coast of Brazil at the time.

Family legend has it that our surname was taken on by the first American of our line as a part of his starting anew in America. He took the last name of a friend who was the last of his line with no children. Otherwise, we would just be another Peterse(o)n(?) of Swedish descent. Not that there's anything wrong with that;)

As a kid in the early '70's the local paper ran an obituary for a resident of Platteville WI. She was a survivor of the Titanic disaster.

Haven't been on much and just saw this interesting thread.
I was the first one from my family to be born in this country. My mother and my father had similar journeys. Each came from Lithuania. WWII time, my dad's family fled the country as the Russians were occupying. As a youngster, he once saw some Russian soldiers execute a guy. My aunt, who was a few years older than my dad, saw a mass grave in the nearby woods with maybe 20 people who had been executed. Clearly, sticking around wasn't a great option...might be on a train to Siberia or worse.
One day the family got word that some Russian soldiers were approaching. My grandfather decided that the five of them would not hide in the bomb shelter they had dug out in the yard (that apparently was common, with all the German-Russian back & forth bombing) but would hide in the house, out of view of any windows.
The soldiers came pounding on the door & windows but heard and saw nobody. Luckily they did not break in and moved on. When they'd left and the family went out, they found the inside of the shelter riddled with bullet holes. Yep, good choice.
And so they left Lithuania and into Germany. Lived in some displaced persons camps, living on very little, until one day American soldiers drove into Kempten and the war was over. Now what? Going back to Soviet-occupied Lithuania---no way. America - need a sponsor. Didn't have one. They were worried they'd be stuck without a home.
Going back to the mass grave -- one of those killed was from the US, visiting at the time. My grandmother knew the person's family and the anguish they must have been feeling, not knowing what happened to him. So she wrote a letter informing them of the man's tragic fate - knowing only the name and "Waterbury CT USA".
Somehow they got the letter. Noticed the postmark. Asked if she needed help. Truman increased the number of refugees/immigrants permitted into the US. Now they had a sponsor and permission. They boarded a ship to America. My father would attend High School in CT. He and my aunt and uncle would take various jobs. (Dad was proud when he landed a job on a pig farm!) Eventually my dad would spend 30+ years in the US Army. In Illinois he met my mother, who also was in a family of five with a very similar journey. I was born in an Air Force base hospital in Michigan.

HowardSprague: "Haven't been on much and just saw this interesting thread.
I was the first one from my family to be born in this country. My mother and my father had similar journeys. Each came from Lithuania. WWII time, my dad's family fled the country as the Russians were occupying. As a youngster, he once saw some Russian soldiers execute a guy. My aunt, who was a few years older than my dad, saw a mass grave in the nearby woods with maybe 20 people who had been executed. Clearly, sticking around wasn't a great option...might be on a train to Siberia or worse.
One day the family got word that some Russian soldiers were approaching. My grandfather decided that the five of them would not hide in the bomb shelter they had dug out in the yard (that apparently was common, with all the German-Russian back & forth bombing) but would hide in the house, out of view of any windows.
The soldiers came pounding on the door & windows but heard and saw nobody. Luckily they did not break in and moved on. When they'd left and the family went out, they found the inside of the shelter riddled with bullet holes. Yep, good choice.
And so they left Lithuania and into Germany. Lived in some displaced persons camps, living on very little, until one day American soldiers drove into Kempten and the war was over. Now what? Going back to Soviet-occupied Lithuania---no way. America - need a sponsor. Didn't have one. They were worried they'd be stuck without a home.
Going back to the mass grave -- one of those killed was from the US, visiting at the time. My grandmother knew the person's family and the anguish they must have been feeling, not knowing what happened to him. So she wrote a letter informing them of the man's tragic fate - knowing only the name and "Waterbury CT USA".
Somehow they got the letter. Noticed the postmark. Asked if she needed help. Truman increased the number of refugees/immigrants permitted into the US. Now they had a sponsor and permission. They boarded a ship to America. My father would attend High School in CT. He and my aunt and uncle would take various jobs. (Dad was proud when he landed a job on a pig farm!) Eventually my dad would spend 30+ years in the US Army. In Illinois he met my mother, who also was in a family of five with a very similar journey. I was born in an Air Force base hospital in Michigan."

Wild story....We need to talk...
I dated (for 12 years) and almost married this guys great niece ....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustinas_Voldemaras
She was a sweetheart, but him... ?
So I almost married the niece of a fascist dictator ...lol

mschi772: "

Canoearoo: "I grew up knowing I was 100% German (gradparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before ww1) then I took a DNA test and found out I am 95% Norwegian (60% of that is Viking). Turns out my family came from Norway then settled in Germany then moved to America. "

Genealogy is a funny thing. Am I American because I was born in the US? Am I Swiss/German because those are the modern nations controlling the areas from which the majority of my ancestors came to the US? Am I Alemannic/Bavarian because those are more appropriate ways of identifying who those ancestors were in their own times? Keep playing this game, within the limits of Homo sapiens, and we all end-up as African."

Agreed.

Jackfish: "

Canoearoo: "I grew up knowing I was 100% German (grandparents and great grandparents spoke German and came from Germany before WWI) then I took a DNA test and found out I am 95% Norwegian (60% of that is Viking). Turns out my family came from Norway then settled in Germany then moved to America. "

Cindy, with your crisscrossed heritage, please don't tell us you like lefse rolled up with sauerkraut inside! LOL "

LOL!

My ancestors came over on ships , The Italians came willingly ,the Africans not so much !

My dad's family hails from Scottish/English/German roots (Poynette area). The Scottish/English families came by way of Canada. My mom's mom immigrated from Switzerland in 1910 (Monroe area). My mom's dad was German (Deforest area).

My dads side is easy my grandpas folks came from Italy and my grandmothers folks from Sweden. My moms side... all I know in English Irish Scottish and Danish. I’ve never really looked at the stuff my mom did looking heritage and all.