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Hi. I have a question that I am quite interested in. Even if it is something personal. I would be interested if you know what country your family is from and when they came to America. Especially related to the migration of the 19th century. So who wants can tell me what his genealogy has revealed.
I have an interesting story on my dad's side. As toddlers my grandparents lived 30 miles apart in Hungary. Around the same time both were brought to places in Pennsylvania, again 30 miles apart. Both lost a parent so the widows brought the kids back to Hungary until a few years later the guns of WW1 sent both families back to the US, only this time they both chose Connecticut, and this time in the same town, where they met at a mixer and the rest was history.
Thanks for the interesting story! What coincidences there are. Your grandparents have made a great journey. Hungary was at that time still k and k monarchy. Do you know why they left Hungary?
Although pre-war Austria Hungary was very large my family said there was no money to be had in their region. So unbeknownst to each other, they came to Pennsylvania to work coal and send the money back to get other family members to join them. After consumption took my grandma's mom and a mine explosion took my grandad's father both families returned to Europe around the same time...the 2nd time both families came back (again unbeknownst to each other...they never met yet) was because of WW1. I don't know if they left during the war (my grandma said she heard the guns at night) or after the Treaty of Trianon which decimated an already bad place.
Both sides of my family are the typical, Irish potato famine story.
I do have one grandmother who immigrated to the U.S. from Nova Scotia (a branch I would like to research some more).
Both of my families Netherlands on dad side and Germany on mom's side. Dad's side was early 1800s and they came over via ship through Green Bay. Don't know the exact details and much of our family history is lost. My mom's side is similar and came over in 1850s. They located on Eastern side of WI. Great grandparents moved about 5 miles from where my dad's family resided. Couple generations later, I made an appearance.
Only thing on my mom's side that we have claim to fame is that my great grandfather had the first movie theatre in America like we know it today (except a lot smaller). The building is still up (1820s built).
Thank you very much for the interesting answers. @DavidGC Do you mean the famine around the year 1845? That was a difficult time. Did your ancestors fight in the Civil War then? @badgers325 Many emigrated from Germany in 1848 because of the political unrest associated with the Revolution. Maybe that was also the reason for your family? The Story with the Movie Theatre is really amazing.
By the way, I saw that there is an Oktoberfest in Wisconsin. That's really funny. Is there a reason why so many Germans live there?
Viele Grüße und Prost
Menzl - I am not sure why. I would say most of WI has a strong German population. Milwaukee and Green Bay cities as well as the west side of the state. It could simply be the political unrest you had and the fact that WI became a state in 1848. There certainly were people here earlier, but I have to imagine once people saw the land in WI without a million rocks like you see in New England area of the USA, that was attractive. The state like I am guessing most others have many areas of populations that came from a lot of different areas in Europe. I will say that there isn't much of an Italian, Irish or Spanish influence in WI. Mostly German, Dutch, French, British, Polish.
Thank you for the information on political unrest. Good to know and helps put things in perspective.
My dad immigrated from the island of Soa Jorge in the Azores which belong to Portugal.
He came as a young boy, was naturalized and fought in WWII in Europe and the Battle of the Bulge.
On my mother's side, they also came from the Azores but earlier as her mother was born here.
Seabee, the Azores are beautiful. I've been to Sao Miquel. Both sets of my wife's grandparents emigrated from the Azores. Large Azorean population here in southeastern MA.Quote:
Originally Posted by SeabeeRon
My ancestors came from Great Britain, Scotland and Germany in the early 1700s. They landed in Maryland and Virginia.
Veery true Lodge Scent! I think Mass and Cali have the largest concentrations of people from the Azores.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lodge Scent
I think they came to work on whaling boats in the late late 1800s, which would make sense in both Jeff's and your communities. I once saw a documentary from the 60s about Portuguese men watching for whales from the shore and alerting others when they saw spouts which would make them take off in dinghies a la Nantucket Sleigh ride. Maybe they took these skills to the new world for more money.Quote:
Originally Posted by SeabeeRon
Thank you for the interesting stories. It is exciting to hear how far their ancestors have traveled. I would not have thought that so many come from the Azores.