Community Chat

[JeanLouiseFinch]

I don't get the "degrees" of immigrant.  Either you are one or you're not.

[sunshine45]

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@Nomorebirthdays wrote:

I never was interested in my ancestors.

My family is red, white and blue.

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i have to say, i have NEVER heard anyone say that before.......

[Noel7]

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@Nomorebirthdays wrote:

I never was interested in my ancestors.

My family is red, white and blue.

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It depends on how far back you go. 

[Nomorebirthdays]

I know my family org. Came from Germany and the Netherlands, ages and ages ago.

I just never cared, never called myself German-American or such. 

I am just an American.

[geezerette]

All of my grandparents were immigrants to this country.  One came in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the other three after the turn of the twentieth century.  I know what geographical regions their families came from, but because of so many wars for generations, I can't be sure what nationality they were.  One of my grandmothers could neither read or write English, yet she was fluent in five languages due to having so many other countries invade her homeland.  And a distant cousin in the Old Country insists that our family is actually descended from the nationality of bitter enemies, not the nationality my grandparents always claimed.

However, the family story about my uncle being born on the ship in the harbor while my grandparents were coming to Ellis Island is probably just that--a family story.😉

[Vivian]

I am 2nd generation American. My parents were born in the US but their parents were born in Eastern Europe...Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, and Russia. Through DNA testing, I discovered that in addition to my Eastern European roots,  I am 10% British Isles, i.e., England,Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. I'd like to know who that ancestor was. But I doubt I'll ever know.

[Noel7]

Some of my mother's ancestors came here before the Revolutionary War and fought in it.  Others of hers came in the late 1800s from Ireland. I recently discovered one of her grandmothers was French born and raised.

My father's parents and relatives were from Wales, came here in the 1800s and were endogamous, they married other Welsh settlers.

However, I'm hoping that when I get tested, it might show a little Viking, lol.  A lot of people from the UK had a Viking ancestor from the raids, and from those who stayed and settled in what we know of as the UK.

[151949]

My father was conceived in Ireland but born in The USA, So I believe in his case I am second generation.Had he been born in Ireland I'd be first generation. 

On my Mom's side it gets more complicated. My Grandfather was born in Italy and brought to the USA as a toddler. He went thru Elis Island. So there again I am second generation. However my grandmother had ancestors who came over from Germany before the revolutionary war - she was a member of the daughters of the American Revolution, and I could be if I wanted. That was her mother's family . Her fathers's family were some sort of royalty in Germany back in the early 1800's and there was a war there so two families married off their 13 & 14 year old children then sent them to live with relatives in the USA to prevent them being killed. As it turns out their families were wiped out in this conflict so it was good they were sent here.They remained married but lived with these older cousins who owned a distillary and my family stayed in the whiskey business until prohibition. There are 4 sets of graves at the cemetary ending with my grandparents so in that case I am at least fifth generation.

I am unable to find the records for the family that was here before the revolution because there have been floods and fires that destroyed them. i never thought I'd get interested in genelogy but my DH is and when I did - it becomes very interesting.

[Gooday]

I am 2nd generation. 

My paternal grandfather was born in England in 1903 and came to the U.S. through Canada at age 17.  He paid a .15 cent toll from Toronto in the U.S. and never returned.  He settled in Chicago, got a job and by the time he was 30 he and his brother opened up their own Tool and Dye business.

Both maternal grandparents were Sicilian immigrants.  Grandpa was born in 1897 and grandma in 1901.  Their families made their way via New Orleans to Trinidad, Colorado.  There were illeterate and were slave laborers working the mines in Colorado.  They also eventually made their way to the Chicagoland area.

[Spurt]

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@Annabellethecat66 wrote:

My great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian (on my Father's side).

My mother's grandmother and her grandfather came over from Ireland and Scotland.

My daughter has always gritted her teeth when she hears me say that I'm not entirely from immigrants.

So, on Christmas day I spit in a tube and she mailed it off.  About 2 weeks ago she presented me with a piece of paper that had a map on it and showed that my heritage (whatever it's called) is Scotch/Irish and a tiny percentage something else.  PERIOD>

I said, "OK, so that's what we've always known, your grandma's grandparents came from Scotland and Ireland.  However, am I supposed to believe that my mother and father's relatives are BOTH from Scotland and Ireland"?  Ha! Ha!

I know for a fact that my father's side of the family is predominately (not entirely) American Indian. Evidently, it didn't come through.

If you knew my maiden name (it is one of the most generic in the country) and if you can believe this, my grandmother married a man with the same generic last name as her grandfather but they weren't related!  It is a very, very American name.  

I just think this is so funny.  I've felt like this stuff is pretty much made up.  I think this proves it.  I know it's very intricate but if you could see this map...

This was one of the most popular companies most people use.  I don't know if it means my mother's side of the family had super strong genes and they only show through, but I am telling you that my Dad's side of the family is not represented.

I do think in some small (depending on how you look at it) way if for no other reasoning than we weren't just plopped here.......

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@Annabellethecat66

I always wondered if those DNA test were actual accurate results .....LOL