immigration: what generation american are you?

[Texas Proud]

Not quite the Mayflower.... but my mother has our line I believe a few years later... for sure in the 1600s... there is something called Colonial Dames or something that she is in and you have to prove (IIRC) the 1600s...

[toofrugalformycat]

My father's father came to the U.S. from Germany, my father's mother was U.S. born to parents who came to the U.S. from Germany or maybe Denmark (wasn't cool to be a German immigrant during WWI so he claimed to be Danish - it's unclear).
My mother's father came to the U.S. from Austria-Hungary, my mother's mother was U.S. born to parents who came to the U.S. from Ukraine in a tribe of Germans.
So I come by my itchy feet honestly.

[ladelfina]

didn't vote cause the two family lines are different: one Mayflower all the way.. the other 3rd gen. Italian and Irish.

[OAG]

I voted Mayflower, but not really sure. German, Scotch and English, but not really sure in which order. Long time ago anyways. Great Grandmother told me, years ago, someone was actually on the Mayflower - she gave me a name but I could not find in on the passenger list for the Mayflower - maybe just a family myth! In any even I will be staying with no intents on leaving - Take that Huckyahbee (intentionally misspelled)!

[ladelfina]

Yeh, them aborigines are way behind on the Total Immigration Awareness front.

[Lazarus]

On my Dads side some were here before the U.S. was a country. I have been unable to trace them further. Most recent immigrant ancestor is 4 generations back.

[Coach]

My Father's Father immigrated from Australia, and his Mother from Germany.

This is an interesting question. I'd like to think that most Americans have an immigrant ancestor within a few generations, since I think immigrants are a large part of what makes America great. No offense intended to those with longer roots -- my Mother was a DAR.

Coach

[ikubak]

On Dad's spanish side, they came over before the mayflower to what is now Louisiana. Not sure when the irish side came over.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Hey boy, tread lightly here. Ha

I'm serious...

Btw, I sniffed through some family records, and it was my g-g-grandfather who was from Scotland, circa 1840.

[Rustic23]

I traced mine back to a pond in east Texas, an amoeba and some green slime!

[Zipper]

My paternal grandfather's grandfather was born on a boat coming from Germany ~ 1840 and the family settled in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario.

My German surname is one of the most common in North America.

My maternal side all came from Scotland in the late 1700's to Southern Ontario.

Mrs. Zipper was born in England.

[FUEGO]

I asked my late grandfather when our family first arrived in America, and he replied "we have always lived here". Note that we aren't native americans. I take that to mean that at least on his side of the family tree, our family's roots stretch back at least 3-4 generations from him since there was no familial recollection of immigration.

On the other hand, I married a recent immigrant, so would that make our daughters "first generation americans"?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zipper My German surname is one of the most common in North America.

Guten Morgen, Herr Schmidt!

Ha

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zipper My paternal grandfather's grandfather was born on a boat coming from Germany ~ 1840 and the family settled in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. My German surname is one of the most common in North America. My maternal side all came from Scotland in the late 1700's to Southern Ontario. Mrs. Zipper was born in England.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zipper Weny, I'm Canadian and spent 1978 in Inverloch on a teacher exchange. At that time the $A was around $C1.38 but is around C$.90, thanks to all the oil we have in Alberta. I have very fond memories of Australia and hope to visit again and see all "me mates" from long ago. You will enjoy this site but the Americans don't see that Canada and Australia still have a very strong middle class. I think you are even more egaliterian than we are. There are a lot of rich Americans but a great many more poor ones.

Pardon me Zipper, I thought you were Canadian.

[Rivrider]

Voted 5th generation. One of my uncles researched family tree a while back. Traced some relatives to the 1730's.

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO I asked my late grandfather when our family first arrived in America, and he replied "we have always lived here". Note that we aren't native americans. I take that to mean that at least on his side of the family tree, our family's roots stretch back at least 3-4 generations from him since there was no familial recollection of immigration. On the other hand, I married a recent immigrant, so would that make our daughters "first generation americans"?

If you immigrate you are first, kids born here are 2nd...yours are some avg between you and the wife!

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cruisinthru I wasn't sure how to answer this.

poll allows multiple choice to account for differing generations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trek I'm only 5 hours from St. Pete by train. Come on by and I'll give you a sweater and a big plate of sült.

thanx. i'm assuming sult is something made from tofu?

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Here's a photo of his uniform pants. Really.

i don't have anything that cool but i still wear clothes which belonged to my dead partner. i've got my mom's & gmom's pocketbooks just as they left them (minus the stolen sweet & low packages). and i've got a few shirts still from my grandpa and my step-father's captain's hat. there is just something about the cloth of a person.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan That's also the gene pool where I got arthritis and other hand and joint problems.

a bit scared of alzheimer's, i follow gene pools too. when i my shoulder first acted up i went to the doc who told me i had arthritis. i asked "what can i do about that?" he said, "blame your mother."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Born in London, England. Came to the U.S. as a child. So I guess that makes me first generation. If not, I voted wrong.

my bad and my apologies to you and all other truly first generation americans. i was thinking first generation to be born here and i should have included a catagory for the first generation to immigrate here, especially since what prompted this thread was another thread which seemed a bit anti-immigration and i meant to show how we are built of immigration and to give a platform to tell our own immigrant stories.

i was completely remiss to disallow america's most recent immigrants into the polling, especially since they were the first ones on my mind when i opened this thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 As far as the newest goes, I have a great-great-grandfather from Prussia who stowed away on a ship bound for Hoboken in 1862 when he was 16.

i love it. i also have illegal immigration in my background as the zionist, who my aunt used to refer to as a horsethief, stole his passport to escape russia. we didn't learn the real family name until about 20 years ago and so i have a bunch of cousins who still carry a name not theirs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleHoney One of my personal assignments for retirement is to dig a little deeper into the details of my dad's side of the family. My mother's side has been very well documented by a cousin.

excellent. we are doing the same. we are finding that not only did the last names change (which we already knew) but many of the first names are not the names we grew up with. i meant to check out ellis island records on my last visit to new york but i was so involved with family & old friends that i ran out of time. but one of my new found cousins managed to find the following 1910 new york census listing our greatgrandfather and their children. interesting to see how so many names changed and not just the last name.

[golfnut]

First generation. Both parents from Eire.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

just found this explanation of generations online

Quote:

The first are the pioneers who had the courage to leave their homeland and endure the hardship of being strangers in a strange land. They have a special spirit and pride in their triumphs and accomplishments. The second are the children of the pioneers who enjoy the benefits; they quickly assimilate and then find themselves embarrassed by the old fashioned ways of their parents. But what the children want to shuck off, the grandchildren want to save. The third generation does the genealogical digging, makes pilgrimages to the old country, and writes the family stories.

don't know where i got the idea i was 3rd generation but it seems i've had it wrong my entire life. i'm not third generation afterall. i'm fourth generation according to that definition and apparently more assimilated than i ever imagined. oh well, so much for that poll. sorry all & hope you reported correctly unlike me.

it could be worse, of course. i have relatives born out of wedlock and so unknowingly raised not as the mother's child but by that family as her sibling, so they don't even know what generation they are in the family, never mind in america. and i thought i was confused.

My father was an ethnic Hungarian who lived in Romania before he immigrated to the U.S. My mother's parents were born in Hungary and came to the states as infants. I'm thinking about sneaking into Mexico and becoming an illegal immigrant there.