immigration: what generation american are you?

[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]

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]

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

Guten Morgen, Herr Schmidt!

Ha

 

[Meadbh]

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.

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]

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]

I wasn't sure how to answer this.

poll allows multiple choice to account for differing generations.

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?

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.

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."

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.

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.

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]

immigrants

First generation. Both parents from Eire.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

just found this explanation of generations online

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.

 

[Tiger]

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.

 

[Khan]

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.

The interesting thing to me is that all those genealogical charts record the official relationships. In my family (not my parents): a man found out his biological father was the brother of his legal father (small town in Maine); a man raised his wife's five boys, two of which were not his biologically (small town in NY).

 

[Pavo]

1st generation here; learned about LBYM and everything money from my parents who, although uneducated, really made it in America (in about 30 years from a net worth of ~$100 to a net worth of ~$3.8 million).

lazygood4nothinbum -

Interesting find. I was that way up until the end of college, then embraced my parents 'old ways.' I was very much Americanized, but reverted away from it and back to the European culture.

In a college finance course, the professor broke it down like this:

Immigrants OR 1st generation: lay the foundation
Next Generation: builds upon the foundation; expands the business/'empire'
Next Generation: lives off of the fruits; destroys it all

Cycle repeats itself.

 

[Zipper]

Pardon me Zipper, I thought you were Canadian.

Reread.

I am Canadian (1943 St. Thomas ON). My family and I spent 1978 in Australia on a teacher exchange.

 

[Zipper]

Guten Morgen, Herr Schmidt!

Ha

Zimmerman, which in German is apparently a carpenter or a room finisher or trimmer.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Great Aunt did a lot of research on Mom's side of the family...DAR...English, Irish, Indian (not native) back there somewhere, g-g-grand IIRC. Dad died when I was 2 and I don't know about his side of the family. A real melting pot, I think.

DH's family has done a better job of tracing the family tree back to and beyond the Mayflower...John Howland. Any of the 16 voting Mayflower a decendant of John Howland? DH didn't join the Mayflower Society but his mom did and both of our kids joined the Junior Mayflower Society - thanks to my MIL.

 

[martyb]

My ancestry has been traced back 5 generations to my g-g grandfather born in North Carolina in 1792. Beyond that lies mystery.

Where in NC? What's the last name? (if you'd rather not, I understand). My whole family has been in NC since before the 1700's and I've done a good bit of genealogy research, just thought I might have already or maybe in the future come across some info you could use. My ancestor Sylvester Baldwin came over as a child from England in the 1630's and was the only member of his family to make it (the trip) alive. Lucky for me! He stayed in Connecticut for awhile, but he and his crew headed down to North Carolina before the 1700's where they were farmers, mill owners, business people and public servants. I have deep roots in the Carolinas, and am definitely at least a 5th generation American. My gg grandfather was born in 1798 in Montgomery County.

 

[Trek]

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

Not even close. I'll let it be a surprise.

 

[REWahoo]

Where in NC? What's the last name?

You've got mail...

 

[two4theroad]

I got interested in family trees after the Roots episodes in the 70's and continued the interest into the 90s when I got my first computer so I started tracing my paternal side because of the last name. 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. Quakers do not fight in wars but 1/2 the family ran a hospital type set up for the American side during the Rev. War. There is a historical marker in North Carolina about them. Of six sons, three remained Quaker and refused to fight but the other three of them were Tories. My immediate ancestor was one of the Tory sons and was hung after the war. Fortunately he had my next ancestor beforehand! This rebellious branch then ended up in Georgia/Alabama during the Civil War but the anti-slavery Quaker blood stayed true and they went north to fight for the Union Army. My GGfather and gfather came to Texas in an oxcart in early 1900's.
On my mother's mother's side there is Cherokee in both sides as well as in my fathers mothers side.
My GGG Grandfather on fathers mothers side shot a man in San Antonio, in self defense according to the family stories but he was afraid for his life. He went home, got my GG Grandfather to help him pack up his things supposedly for a hunting trip together then set off down the road and sent the boy home with the story and instructions to go home and take care of his mother and sisters. I later met up with his next family who was researching their tree as well. He married another woman farther south in Texas, adopted her children and had a few more. My 90 year old grandmother is still alive and she heard that story from him (her gfather)when she was a grown woman in the 30's.
I have much research from DH's side as well (Scotish Catholics)but this is long enuff!

2fer

 

[WanderALot]

Born in India, came here when I was 10.

Me too, except I had just turned 11 when we got here.