immigration: what generation american are you?

[DesertRat]

My Dads family landed at Ellis Island in 1923. Came from Kiel Germany via Hamburg. Immediately went to Winnipeg Manitoba, then to Detroit then settled in the Missouri Ozarks. Mom is from Thayer, Missouri.

 

[mountaintosea]

On Mom's side 3rd generation. On Dad's side goes back to the revolution and beyond. Also a little Cherokee in there.

 

[unclemick]

Hmmm - are there still more Andersons than Smiths in the Seattle phone book or are those days long gone?

3rd generation - mostly 'son' Finns plus a few normals, a German fiddle player from Chicago and a DAR type from Maine. Canada, Boston, Maine, Michigan and -drum roll please:

New York City!

heh heh heh - Yeah I know some don't count as foreign countries - BUT I did live thirty years in New Orleans - yea you rite!

 

[toofrugalformycat]

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.

Did you know the records are online and searchable for free?
Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search
I don't know if they are all there, but I found my great-uncle this way.

 

[novaman]

I'm first generation. I was born in Maryland but my parents are both from China. I can trace my lineage back 40 generations to Hwa-Xun, who was born in 627 ad. He was a viceroy, governor, and imperial counselor in the early Tang dynasty. My dad went back to China after he retired and traced our family records back to this guy. He compiled it in a book and gave it to me many years ago. Starting with Hwa-Xun The book has the direct descendant listed, his parents, his wife (or wives) his children, his birth and death year. A brief description of what he did and any accomplishments. This is an amazing thing to have. I am the 40th in line from this guy.

 

[martyb]

Wow! I thought my 5th generation line was long! 40 deep is DEEP!!!

 

[REWahoo]

I'm guessing novaman is going to end up winning this contest.

 

[aenlighten]

The oldest line

is 10th generation, coming from Wales through London in 1635, ending up in New Amsterdam. The most recent is 4th from Prussia around 1885.

 

[bbbamI]

I've been told great grandparents on both sides were Irish and Dutch.

I guess that's why I have dark brown hair and get tan by sitting in the shade?

 

[HFWR]

I've been told great grandparents on both sides were Irish and Dutch.

I guess that's why I have dark brown hair and get tan by sitting in the shade?

Milkman?

 

[bbbamI]

Milkman?

Yeah...that's probably why I chose bbbamI...hmmm.

 

[brewer12345]

American mongrel - too hard to tell generations.

Probably a good description for me, too. Dad's family is mostly German and Irish coming over in the 1840s and 1850s, but throw in some French, English, Dutch, and who knows what else. My maternal grandmother's family goes back to early settlers and I am apparently (distantly) related to Doc Holliday. My maternal grandfather split when Mom was two, so who knows?

DW is into all the geneology stuff and supposedly has traced her family back to the 1600s in germany and farther on her Dad's side. I guess my attitude is that I am what I am, so while the family past is vaguely interesting, its not as important as the present and future. Guess that's why I never did anything with my history degree.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

My named ancestors came over in 1712. It was an easy line to follow since they were Quaker and all of the same last name were related. They also keep really good records at their meeting houses of all marriages and births.

i think that is great to have so many details about your family's past. like moemg, i'm afraid that i'll find synagogues have been burned down should i ever make my way to russia to trace my roots.

Did you know the records are online and searchable for free?
Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search
I don't know if they are all there, but I found my great-uncle this way.

thanx frugal. that must have been cool to find your uncle there. have been to the site but was a no go. one of the problem is all the name changing that went on back then. and it was not just last names as i discovered from finding that 1910 census of my father's family in new york. the first names changed too. i'm hoping there are more records at ellis island which did not make it to their computer. maybe on my next road trip i'll take a day or two in the city. problem is that life is so busy up there that it is hard to accomplish much in short periods of time. could take more than a few days. i'll see.

I'm first generation. I was born in Maryland but my parents are both from China. I can trace my lineage back 40 generations to Hwa-Xun, who was born in 627 ad.

wow that really is amazing. and what a wonderful tradition of the chinese to keep such good records. having been a student of communication, i'm surprised in thinking back on my studies, that my professors did not touch on the development of the forth estate in china, considering that in the west it basically began with record-keeping.

My maternal grandmother's family goes back to early settlers and I am apparently (distantly) related to Doc Holliday...I guess my attitude is that I am what I am, so while the family past is vaguely interesting, its not as important as the present and future.

doc holliday? i love it. could be where you got your genes which enable you to handle the markets as well as you do. my brother thinks like you though. he could care less where people come from. i don't know what my attraction is to it. i don't think i live in the past. i realize i have my own life and that i make my own future. i think it just adds a bit of depth to the present.

also maybe it helps me to appreciate the opportunities i have now. what if my greatgrandparents had stayed in odessa. or what if they emmigrated someplace else.

all these immigrants have come to a land where the native americans revere their ancestors. yet we assimilate and in doing so often reject our roots or at least lose track of our own families. i just find that interesting.

 

[freebird5825]

2nd generation - American of Greek, French and Irish descent

Mom was 1st generation Greek American
Dad was 1st generation Irish and French American

 

[bssc]

Mother's side - Third generation
Father's side - back to at least the 1830s in Virginia.

 

[Fireup2020]

How about adoption to mess things up? "Family wise", my great-grandmother was the youngest of 7 little Italians - she was the only one born here in 1894. Her husband was born in Italy. Other great-grandmother was born in Ireland, and her husband was German...not sure where he was born. Dad's side is more interesting - his mother is a DAR, and his grandfather came up to CA from Chile with horses (hence the racetrack, land interests and relations with the Pachecos in the Bay Area in CA)...were Moors - captured by the Spaniards, sailed the exploring ships around S. America, settled in Chile for a while, then up to CA (fun to get Dad a little tipsy to really tell the tale!)

Biologically, maternal grandmother born in US to immigrant parents from Holland. Her husband was Spanish (gasp!) and Yazi Indian. Paternal grandmother born in US to immigrants from Norway, married to a Scottish "mutt" (read - probably an Irishman or Englishman in that bloodline, but came from Scotland) who was also born to immigrant parents.

Not a clue how to vote in this poll!

 

[CyclingInvestor]

My dad immigrated in 1947 from Germany
My mom's dad immigrated around 1900 from Germany
My mom's mom was English / Irish, here a couple generations

I guess that averages out to 2nd generation.

 

[igsoy]

paternal grandfather was brought over from France when he was a child in 1920.

paternal great grandfather on the other side came from Sicily, great grandmother came over alone from Sweden at age 16 in 1912.

maternal side is english and scottish and has been here more generations.

 

[Nords]

I'm a 19th-century Western-European mongrel.

 

[FIREd]

Trying to become a first generation immigrant. No Mayflower tales here, I came in on an airplane. I traced my dad's family tree back to 1650 (worked on it for years) and it seems to be a mix of Swiss and Savoyard (the duchy of Savoy does not exist anymore, it was dissolved in 1860 and is now part of France and Italy). His family has lived in the same town on what is now the Swiss-French border at least since the catholic church started keeping records of all births, marriages and deaths there around 1700. I can't go back very far on my mom's side since her family's records were destroyed during world war 1. But from what I gathered, it's mostly French and Savoyard.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Dad's side is more interesting - his mother is a DAR, and his grandfather came up to CA from Chile with horses (hence the racetrack, land interests and relations with the Pachecos in the Bay Area in CA)...were Moors - captured by the Spaniards...Biologically, maternal grandmother born in US to immigrant parents from Holland. Her husband was Spanish (gasp!)

do you find yourself dealing with internal struggles? (poll is multiple choice).

caught an interesting segment on tv yesterday about african children (think it was in congo but not sure now) who are forced to join the army and kill. they focused on two kids who managed to escape their forced servitude and became best friends during rehab. it was only after they became good friends that they realized that they had been on opposite sides of the conflict.

was at once sad & heartwarming to hear the kid talk about how he very likely killed the friends of his best friend and his best friend likely killed his own friends but that now they are like brothers.

 

[bright eyed]

PBS is airing African American Lives 2 where mostly famous african americans are treated to an intensive geneology search by Professor Gates from harvard - it is very interesting to learn peoples family histories and the impact/desire in us to be a part of something - or to "know". As an immigrant I know where all my family is "from" even if i don't know much about them individually. I think some part of American history is fascinating since there were so many who were trying to "leave behind" bad family/religious histories and/or social class status - perhaps that is why we are so bad at history as a nation...so in part you could say it contributed to our "american dream" where anyone can become someone - but also contributes to some of the ignorance and lopsided focus on profit over culture/community.

 

[Khan]

Stripes (1981) - Memorable quotes

John Winger: We're all very different people. We're not Watusi, we're not Spartans, we're Americans. With a capital "A", huh? And you know what that means? Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

still studying my father's family, i thought i needed to go to Ellis island in person because their computer records go only to 1892. sloppily researched by me, turns out ellis only opened in 1892. you can find records here Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. while there, i learned that for immigrants arriving to new york prior to ellis, Castle Garden records date to 1820 (i believe my paternal great grandfather arrived in the 1880s or so).

regardless, ellis island is a wonderful little excursion. i took two friends who live in the area but have never visited before. this was my first time as well. for just $12, a ferry takes you from the central rail road new jersey (crrnj) terminal at liberty state park in jersey city to both Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - Official Tickets & Tours - Guaranteed Lowest Price.

we'd all been to the statue before so stayed on board during that stop. but we all enjoyed ellis island very much. it has recently been restored with parts exhibited still in its deteriorated state. the museum does a very good job relating the immigrant experience of entering this new world.

here are some pics from our trip

crrnj exterior

crrnj historic platforms

crrnj ceiling detail

crrrnj waterfront

morgan stanley jersey city headquarters built after 911 as seen from crrnj

view to twin tower reconstruction site as seen from crrnj (similar view from morgan stanley building)

just two guys. no idea who they are

ellis island processing building (2nd structure--original structure burned down)

imposing interior

museum exhibits (i didn't realize my friends made themselves a part of the exhibit as i was taking that picture--sneaking, aren't they?)

got to enjoy watching coast guard practice while on ellis island. first the copter hovered, then they tossed a dummy overboard and then a diver rescued the dummy.

view to south end of nyc from ferry (note the puff of black smoke right about where the towers stood).

the arm pit of lady liberty

 

[kyounge1956]

PBS is airing African American Lives 2 where mostly famous african americans are treated to an intensive geneology search by Professor Gates from harvard - it is very interesting to learn peoples family histories and the impact/desire in us to be a part of something - or to "know". As an immigrant I know where all my family is "from" even if i don't know much about them individually. I think some part of American history is fascinating since there were so many who were trying to "leave behind" bad family/religious histories and/or social class status - perhaps that is why we are so bad at history as a nation...so in part you could say it contributed to our "american dream" where anyone can become someone - but also contributes to some of the ignorance and lopsided focus on profit over culture/community.

I saw the first African American Lives series with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, TD Jakes, Mae Jemison and I forget who the others were. I found it just fascinating! I am third generation on my father's side: both of his parents were immigrants from Barbados. My mother's maternal line were free people of color in Maryland before the Civil War. She has a family Bible that records that part of the family. The first entry dates from 1854, the death of my GGGG-grandmother. I have found my GGG-grandmother in the 1840 Census and people with the same surname as my GGGG-grandmother in the 1820. I don't know where that branch of the family came from or how many generations they were in the US earlier than I am able to trace them. They were Roman Catholic and had French names. My mother's most recent immigrant ancestor was her grandmother, who came over from England as a young child. Ooops! I called myself a 2nd generation in the poll, but it should have been 3rd.