topic Re: What degree of immigrant am I? in Community Chat

What degree of immigrant am I?

depglass — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:35:03 GMT

With all this talk of immigration I got to wondering, am I second generation or third generation? My grandmother was born in Finland and family came over in 1903.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

YorkieonmyPillow — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:37:04 GMT

If you were born in the US, I don't think you are an immigrant....

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Caligurll — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:38:27 GMT

Only one of my parents was born in the US so I consider myself first generation.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

sunshine45 — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:57:15 GMT

@Caligurll wrote:
Only one of my parents was born in the US so I consider myself first generation.

@Caligurll

this is me also....... first generation US born on my fathers side.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Wahoogaz — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:43:23 GMT

@depglass wrote:
With all this talk of immigration I got to wondering, am I second generation or third generation? My grandmother was born in Finland and family came over in 1903.

If your grandmother's children (i.e. your mother or father) were born in U.S. - that would make them first generation ... making you second generation US-born. If your grandmother's children (i.e., your mother or father) were born in Finland and then came here, that would make you first generation US-born.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

cherry — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:44:57 GMT

I don't know about all of my family ,just a bit on both sides. My fathers side came here in the 1600's

My mothers side is part Native American ,so I have no way of knowing how far back that goes. Both sides married immigrants, so I am pretty well a Heinz 57 type

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

muttmom — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:45:08 GMT

@depglass wrote:
With all this talk of immigration I got to wondering, am I second generation or third generation? My grandmother was born in Finland and family came over in 1903.

I would think your parent would be first generation so that would make you second generation.

I have immigrant grandparents so consider myself second generation.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Wahoogaz — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:49:19 GMT

@cherry wrote:
I don't know about all of my family ,just a bit on both sides. My fathers side came here in the 1600's

My mothers side is part Native American ,so I have no way of knowing how far back that goes. Both sides married immigrants, so I am pretty well a Heinz 57 type

I think most of us are ... whether we know it or not.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Nancy Drew — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 21:42:02 GMT

YOU are not an immigrant. You are a descendant of an immigrant. This is why people need to research. So much misinformation out there.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Isobel Archer — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:24:11 GMT

Interesting topic.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Caligurll — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 17:55:52 GMT

I think what we neglected to add was, at least in my case, first generation American. I'm well aware that I'm not an immigrant.

No need to reseach that.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Moonchilde — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:08:05 GMT

Aaaaand...use the word 'immigrant' in a post or thread and current politics will of course (did anyone doubt it?) be introduced. It was subtler yesterday; today? Not so much. And NOT, I hasten to add, by the OP, who will have her innocent thread shut down if others grab the ring & go for it.

When I started my genealogy research I was positive that, just like many or most others, my relatives had come over in the mid-late 19th or early 20th C. But...oops. Both sides had arrived in the early 1600s. And while many if not most of us are a big, fragmented mixture, not all of us are that, either. I'm 85% one ethnicity and 13% two others, and that's it. The remainder is not determinable, as with most people.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Annabellethecat66 — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:08:42 GMT

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.......

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Mz iMac — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:11:03 GMT

@Isobel Archer

"I recently went to see a production of the Lillian Hellman play, Watch on the Rhine, about a family in WWII."

Bettie Davis & Paul Lukas starred in the movie version.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Moonchilde — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:32:05 GMT

@Annabellethecat66, I no longer go into the details because I have already done so in multiple DNA threads, but they don't "make it up" and there is gross misinformation believed by many people about what may or may not be found on DNA testing.

It is very difficult to pinpoint DNA as Native American for several valid reasons with any given individual; that's a fact. In addition to that, only half of your father's DNA will appear in your results.

I have a NA relative, as do many Americans; it does not show up in my DNA. That doesn't mean the family story wasn't true (it's been verified) and it doesn't mean that all DNA testing is bogus. It means that DNA testing isn't all that people think it is, and won't necessarily show you all you hope it will.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

dex — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:45:56 GMT

I am Canadian born and raised but my father was American living in Canada....does that make me American/Canadian?We are living in the USA so am I an immigrant?

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

blackhole99 — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:53:23 GMT

As far as I know we are 2nd generation American.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Mz iMac — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:55:15 GMT

@Annabellethecat66

This article link will explain why your American Indian DNA is missing.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Moonchilde — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:59:49 GMT

@dex wrote:
I am Canadian born and raised but my father was American living in Canada....does that make me American/Canadian?We are living in the USA so am I an immigrant?

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

"A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country."

Technically, yes, if you were born in Canada. But you were already an American citizen at birth and so the US is not "foreign" to your birth status. Commonly, the term is used to refer to someone without US citizenship.

Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Mz iMac — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:59:00 GMT

@dex wrote:
I am Canadian born and raised but my father was American living in Canada....does that make me American/Canadian?We are living in the USA so am I an immigrant?

Do you have an American passport? Canadian? Are you a dual citizen-American/Canadian?