(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Why here??

F

flying belgian

Well-known Member
Both my maternal and my paternal grandparents immigrated from Belgium in the late 1800s. My paternal granddad died before I was born but my maternal granddad lived until I was in my 20s. Never thought to ask him why he chose to come to U.S. Where are your ancestors from and did you ever here why the U.S.?
 
Flying, my uncle tells me that three Huntress brothers arrived from England late in the 1800's. They were not discriminating, or monogomous, hence we have a richly diverse family.
 
German ~60%, Swedish, ~20 English, French, Cherokee, and Irish fill out the missing genetics. Just call me for food. Jim
 
My grandfather came from England specifically to fight for Canada in WWI. He was actually scheduled to be on the Titanic but couldn't make it and came over on the next ship. He received a meritorious service award for his efforts in the war and lived to be 95 years old. My dad lied about his age and signed up to fight for Canada in WWII. He was the only survivor of his crew. Canada was the first industrialized country to repay their war debt after WWII. When my dad was still alive he was less than thrilled with what the gov't. has done to the once outstanding Canadian military.
 
Ancestry is 50% German. 50% english. GGGrandfather left Alsace Lorain via LeHavre France, landed in Bmore and settled north of Bmore. He was originally a ropemaker. Other GGGrandfather and brother stowed away on ship from Liverpool and landed in Delaware. They weren't allowed to leave England because they were master dyers, and had the 'secrets' of the British wool industry. They settled about four or five miles from where my other GGGranddad was. They all farmed.

Got a lot of relatives in the area on both sides of the family. History in the area dates back to the 1820's.
 
Maybe some things have changed in the last forty years, but the Canucks I served with were good sailors, great guys to drink with and hated the 'frogs' as much as we did.
 
My ancesters on my mothers side came to North Carolina on comission from the Crown, when the powers that be changed in England they ran to the wilderness. On my dads side they came from England as well, the second son of the family. The eldest son got land and title, the second son was got a ticket to Virginia. He worked as a surveyor in the Kentucky territory, liked what he saw and stayed.
 
Trouble at home (countries) not enough food, not enough land that was for sale or to settle, not enough freedom, and in at least one case was from here and I will assume it was deep and powerful love. Why Indiana and southern Illinois? All of the above was available with work and a strong ethic to make things better. Jim
 
My parents came for what is today the Slovak Repubic(Slovakia). My Dad left what was then Czecho-Slovakia in 1927 because he said the taxes were too high in order to pay for all the social programs the government was trying to put in effect when the country was formed after WW I. He"s rolling over in his grave over our surge toward socialism in this country under the nnalert. Mom came over in October of 1929 with my two oldest brothers-just in time for the Great Depression! They raised six kids- four through the Depression and were thankful til the day they died that they were citizens of the USofA! They lost a son at Normandy, one son was a general manager at US Steel, a daughter was a registered nurse, another son was a doctor, another an aeronautical engineer and the youngest daughter was a CPA. They drove us kids to get a good education and taught us not to be afraid to work. Dad always said that native born Americans never knew how good they had it.
 
A fitting question with a fitting answer from my heritage. Mom"s ancestors came from Norway - fishermen thru and thru. They came to farm the land and fish. Mom"s dad was a commercial and sport fisherman on the Great Lakes till the day he died. Dad"s ancestors came from lower Germany to farm the "rich land" in the midwest. They did and built a legacy. I hail from the Blum family - the family crest shows agriculture in all four corners.
 
all german from what i know,on my moms side they came over by boat and the one farm that i have is that of my gggreatfather it was deeded in 1836 and we still have that deed. my wife is half german and half mutt or so that what i tell her.
my mom says that they came over here to get away form the wars or so that what she calls them, they lived by the german border close to france.
 
Various parts of my family came over at different times, some because they were adventurers, some for religious freedom, some for economic opportunity. How they got in the various areas they lived in? Don't know, the earliest ancestor's from my mother's side settled in a part of Massachusetts that is now in Maine, Dad's folks in Baltimore, both families moved on to Ohio, then Illinois. My Great Grandpa was Italian, settled in Canada, married his boss's daughter and moved to Maine to grow potatoes, went broke, his cousin wrote there was work in Chicago so they moved their and worked as a mason the rest of his life.
 
Not sure about reason on my Dad's side. Legend has it that somewhere around 1850-60 Great Granddad left Germany looking for fame & fortune. Couldn't scrape up enough cash for a boat ticket so rode in coal bin as a stowaway.
Grandpa on Mom's side came from Germany-Poland border area. Don't know where he got his information, but he claimed he knew that a big war was coming, & he would be on the winning side when it would end.
In 1909 he packed up his wife & 3 youngsters, booked passage, & came to USA, settling near Cedar Rapids Ia. IIRC, the war started in 1914, & when it ended in 1918 they were high & dry, safe & sound on the winning side.
I have confirmed through the Ellis Island website the date they arrived, with a pic of the boat they came on. Mom was 3 yr old, Uncle Herman was 1, & Aunt Frieda was 6 when they cleared immigration.
Willie
 
My first on my Fathers side left England indentured to a land company and landed in Milton part of Boston in 1634. He was listed a Husbandsman (farmer), he earned his freedom in 1641 and spent his life selling hay. I have no idea of the why.
On my mothers side, two brothers were gangpressed into the British navy out of Edinborough and jumped ship in Rhode Island in 1648.
 
Simple.
There was an entire continent free for the taking.
The Lemires came here fairly early, about 1650 or so and settled in what is now Nova Scotia. They lived in Acadia and fought in the numerous wars between the French and English for supremacy over the continent.
Acadia traded hands between the English and French several times but the people there always remained loyal to their Catholic priests and to France.
In about 1715 or so King George finally forced France to give up it's holdings in North America but the Acadians would not swear alliegence to England.
George's ministers were afraid of having those stubborn French Catholics on his flanks so George had his soldiers go in and burn the villages and farmsteads to the ground and disperse all the people. Some of the Acadians went to New orleans which was still French owned.
Some went to Quebec and Montreal, swore allegience to the English kings and went on with farming and raising families.
Those were times when land was cheap and fertilization, crop rotation and other modern farming techniques were unknown. So like many of the white settlers of that era they kept moving west in search of productive land.
Over the next hundred and 25 years they kept moving as civilization pressed westward - usually by way of French cities - Detroit, Sault Ste Marie, Terre Haute etc. till by 1860 or so my great, great grandfather Francois Lemire had reached Sommerset Wisconsin. He married there and they had 12 children. When his wife died he remarried and had 13 more children. One of the first family, Benjamin, bought land from the railroad in Aitkin Mn and that is where I came from.
The Acadians that moved to New Orleans didn't fare as well as they were considered too rustic for polite company and were somewhat shunned by the locals. As is well known the term Cajun is a mix of the words Acadian and injun and says something about the low lifestyles of that group.
And perhaps they did earn the scorn shown them as there was a Lemire, a crew man of Jean Laffitte's who was hanged by the US government for fillibustering (piracy) about 1820 or so.
But I'd better not write any more as you all will accuse ME of fillibustering.
 
Why? Jobs, I imagine. They're long dead so I can't ask them and there's no email trail or blogs I can sift through. Heck we've only got a couple of pix of my grandparents in the 1910s when they got married. My US family tree starts in the early 1900s when grand-parents and great-grandparents came from Poland/Germany/Russia. Borders weren't like they are today, so it's not so easy to say what nationality they were. Back then, the US was the immigration destination of choice due to its surge as an economic power in the industrial revolution.

One heirloom I treasure is my grandfather's shaving mug. It used to be kept on a shelf at the barber shop where he'd get a shave. His name is written in gold leaf on the side and the funny thing is: they spelled his last name wrong.
 
German ancestry, but moved to America from Russia. I have a Mennonite background, (we drive cars and tractors, mainly were against fighting in wars). Before Russia became Communist, my ancestors were invited to farm in Russia, we did, as long as we were not required to fight. My ancestors moved to America just before the Czars took over Russia. Moms side around Mt Lake Minnesota, my Dads side around Jansen Nebraska.
 
I'm Irish on both sides. I don't know much about my mother's side. My father's side (Sloan) came here in the late 1600's and settled North Carolina. In the early 1800's 2 brothers moved to Missouri. One of them came to north Arkansas and settled. My farm has been in the family over 100 years.
 
I get the idea there was a lot of friction between the different countries of Europe and the eastern Baltic countries years ago so the most logical place to move to was the US. In the US there were individual communities that were populated with mainly people from one particular country so the Germans could come to a German speaking US town where they could get help settling, the Swedes could find a Swedish town, etc.

Almost all of my ancestors came from Denmark. One great-grandmother came from Norway, the rest from Denmark in the later 1800's. There are Nielsens, Jensens, Larsens, Mikkelsens, Danielsens, and whatever other scandinavian names there were, in my linneage. Some of them already had a family when they came over and some were young and single. But that's about all I know about my early family here in the US. I know grandpa Jensen was 14 when he arrived here. Grandpa Jensen said he'd sneak into the neighbor's chicken house and eat raw eggs when he couldn't find anything else to eat so starvation must have been the big issue in Europe at that time. Jim
 
At various times in the US, industries would use labor brokers to seek out immigrants to work, since there was not enough (cheap) workers for the steel, mining, and timber industries.
These labor brokers are one of the reasons we saw waves of immigrants from particular regions at particular times.
In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the labor brokers were taking advantage of the tough times in Italy to recruit workers for the coal mines of Appalachia. The labor brokers were the start of the process, then the workers who went over sent for their families to come join them. Neighbors and friends see the process and join them.
My great grandfather left San Giovanni in Fiore (Calabria region of southern Italy) in 1900. A friend had gone earlier and had promised to write and let him know how it was. He never received any letters, but he got suspicious, so he sent the friend a letter telling him to write him but to send the letter to a mutual friend. Turned out his wife (my g-grandmother) was intercepting the letters and destroying them, because she did not want to leave her home. So he finally got a letter telling him how good it was - compared to starving in what is still one of the poorest parts of Italy. He left Italy at age 29, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a son. After 6 months, he finds work at a coal mine near Fairmont, WV, earning $1.80 per day. It took him 2 years to save enough for passage for his family. He sent for his wife, who did not want to leave her sick mother. He told her to either come or he would get a new wife. She somehow made it from San Giovanni in Fiore to Naples, about 175 miles, with her two sons, age 7 and 2. At Naples, she caught a ship to New York, where we assume she was met by my g- grandfather. My grandmother was born in WV in 1913, and the rest is history.
And we complain because the Atlanta or Chicago airport is a little confusing?
 

My great great grandfather was young Irishman who always relished a good fight. he heard that the best one around in 1863 was here. So he came to the US and fought with the Irish Brigade and miraculously survived. The brigade had a nominal strength of 4,000 and suffered over 4,000 casualties in the course of the war.
 
3 of my grandparents came from Germany between the 2 world wars. They were children during the first war and often went hungry. (My grandmother felt it was a mortal sin to waste food.) Germany was an economic disaster after the first war so I assume that was the reason to leave. They worked hard, learned English, and were successful.
 
My Great,Great Grandfather emigrated from Ireland primarily because of no work and the potato famine....he ended up in
central WI and worked a 160 Acre Farm with his wife, a full blooded Winnebago Indian.

My Great Grandfather, moved his family a few counties to the West, and lost his "wealth" by venturing into a "brick manufacturing business."

My Grandfather moved to NW Wisconsin, built a cabin, complete with loft and dirt floor...and tried raising a family by doing carpentry work, and part-timing as a night watchman at a moonshine still back in the woods. It was at this still that he perfected the "art" of consuming large quantities whiskey.

When more lucrative job opportunities presented themselves in the big ciy of Milwaukee, my Grandfather moved the family there where he worked as a union carpenter until he died in the early 1950's. My Aunts and Uncles scattered to remote places like California and Florida, while a few of them chose to stay in the frozen North.

I found out my farm is only 40 miles from where my G.G. Grandfather once worked the ground...I still have relatives in that area, and I have been able to locate cemetaries where my Great Grandparents are buried.

My Maternal Grandparents came from Germany. I lived with my Grandfather until about the age of 10...I remember he was a hard working mason contractor, but always was extremely grumpy toward everyone he came in contact with....later, when I was in the carpenter business, I ran into masons that worked for him. They agreed with my assessment of him as well....

Tim
 
My dad's grandparents came from Hungary around the 1880's . Steel mills were workin hard in ne OH. and my grandfather was working steel by age 14.
 
....continuing the "custom", 3rd son typically went into the clergy and was "the educated" son.

Genealogical research can be fun as well as frustrating at times. I'm in the midst of a family research project now and just get so swallowed up in all the interesting "sideline" stories.

My family...ANGELL...came to Rhode Island in 1600s. 9th GG Grandfather was a cousin to Roger Williams. More stories later!!

Rick
 
My grandfather came from Germany when he was only 16. Came by himself but had other relatives here. Grandmother was from Germany also. On my mom's side the grandparents came from Luxembourg but don't know why.
 
My Wife's side are all Scandihoovians....I say they emigrated to escape from the Sunday Lutefisk dinners....but the tradition followed along behind them...LOL

Tim
 
Father's side is German, mother's side is Scottish and English. The German side, Moehnke, left Marienwerder Prussia (now Kwidzyn Poland just south of Danzig) about 1865. Not real sure about the WHY but sure would like to find out.
Do know that from about 1820 to 1890 they had something called the Germanization Project where all towns and villages were given German or Prussian names. I suspect that this was simply a Prussian land grab from the weak Polish territory. I try to read between the lines as the Prussians glorified military service and this Polish area was more pacifist because of a Mennonite presence. I have found out that many families from that region and time left in the middle of the night with just what they could carry. It was also common for a family to get on the boat with one name and get off with another. So obviously they were fleeing either the military service or maybe the law.
The boat would travel either to Montreal or New York and upon arrival, the families would purchase a "homesteader package" that would entitle them to travel as far as the train or boat would go and then many would have to walk the remaining miles with their one-year's worth of provisions. In the case of the Moehnkes, some went the NY to Michigan to Wisconsin to Oregon route while others went Montreal to Ottawa to Owen Sound route.
Moreover, with the passing of 2 world wars where German names were demonized, many German names were changed. So the tracing of many German family histories has been made very difficult, even with the great internet tools now available.

<a href="http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r268/dgminke/?action=view&amp;current=killyourtvpurple.jpg" target="_blank">
killyourtvpurple.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket
</a>
 
My family surname originated in France, sometime around the 1200's the family came into England and from there my ancestor came to the US from England in the 1640's, so I am a 14th generation American through him, my mothers side of the family is Irish and they have been here since the 1690's. All branches of my family tree throughout each generation from me back to my 7th and 8th GGrandparents were of English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry and two lines of my ancestry evolves from the Creek and Cherokee nations. As you can see my bloodline runs really deep in American History. I would suspect that my kin left the old country to escape the tyrants that ruled in those times, left for freedom, left for land, and hope of a better place. God Bless the USA
 
On one side, the 1st ancestor here was a French soldier who decided to stay here. That would be in the early 1600's. On the other side, English and Irish folks who came here fairly early, they were in Wayne County, Michigan, by 1820. I think there are probably a few other folks in there by this time. Geneaology is interesting, but I suspect a DNA test would reveal some surprises!! :)
 
My father's side, the Dennings, came here from England in the early 1870's. "Legend" has it they had heard land was more plentiful and cheaper here for their occupations of farming, threshing, and sawmilling. They came from Somerset Shire, England, which is southwest of London I believe, but their "roots" are supposedly in Wales.
Several other families from around the same area came over to this same area of Michigan at around the same time and they established two villages here called Somerset and Somerset Center. The Dennings actually bought farms and settled in Moscow Twp. which is a few miles west of the "Somersets", nearer the center of Hillsdale County.
My mother's family(s) (Gillett, Warrick, and Weldon) were of English and French extraction, and lived in Calhoun County (Albion Area) but when they migrated here and where from in their respective "home" countries I've never been told.
 
Father's side came from SW of Stuttgart in the 1820s and 1830s. Settled in Freedom and Lodi Townships in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Each immigrant got 100 acres to make useful. My father grew up on one of those farms. Mother's side? One English and one German, but haven't done much more digging.
 
My Father's bunch immigrated here sometime before 1690 or so, first to Pennsylvania, then Maryland to Tennessee and finally to Texas just after the Cival War.

They came to the Colonies from what is now Templin, Germany. They seem to have been early Anabaptists, who just wanted to get away from Catholics and Lutheran folks taking turns burning them and their stuff up. Quite a resonable response, I might add.
 
Thank you. You are the first one who answered the "why here" Question. Everyone else tells why they left homeland but not why they came here. That being said. The other posts are fascinating. Thank you all.
 
I believe they knew this because of the conditions they lived in, and what my Grandparents told me when I was 10 years old or so, and now I'm 73

( they said, it's got to be better in America, and it turn out they were right . )
 
My folks came mostly from England-Ireland-Scotland-Norway in the early 1700's.
A more interesting story is about a friend of mine. His paternal grandparents booked passage to South Africa in the late 1920's to get away from Germany (Hitler). When they arrived at the dock the ship had already sailed for SA. They immediately booked passage on a ship to New Orleans, La. and the rest is history.
 
My father's side came over in the 1600's, not sure why but probably religious freedom.

Only interesting story I heard was a branch on my Mother's side. It seems back in the early 1700's in parts of Scotland the oldest son inherited the land, others had to fend for themselves. Son #2 decided he wanted the land so he made plans to get #1 out of the way. But his plans leaked out and he had to leave the country in a hurry; took a small boat across the Irish Sea and landed on a beach exhausted. A preacher took him in; he just happened to have a marrying age daughter who was kind of homely, which worked out well. At some point the preacher decided to bring the whole congregation across the Atlantic so the new son-in-law came over with him.
 

Don't know, never have traced any of the family back to the ship they got off of. All the relative I knew about were rather poor. Some of the family members, My Great Grandfather among them, being carried off by the Civil War probably had something to do with being poor. My brother was the first college graduate in the immediate family, then he had to go off to World War II. My Father never discussed it, but it must have been a shock to to him, as a World War I vet, to have to send his oldest son off to war.

KEH
 
Dad's family, The Winbigler clan, came from Austria about 1760 and settled near Frederick, MD. Then moved to Ohio about 1820. Mom's family, the Tuckers were orue English and settled in New Hampshire in the 1600's. Two brothers were given land in Ohio as payment for serving in the war of 1812. Me, born & raised a Buckeye farm boy married a Hoosier, her family were shopkeepers and salesmen. She wouldn't live in Ohio and I wouldn't live in Indiana, so we compromised on Michigan. Still in Michigan, and still happily married 47 years later.
 
Sloan, Irish, mother. First ancestor sloan in 1756 from County Cork. Sailor, sergeant in Navy in 1776. Read and write. Guest, English, father family settled in South Carolina. 75% of relatives still down there. Dad I guess wasn't much of a farmer, came to Detroit to help Henry Ford make money. Got good job for 6 grade education. Dave
 
there were some movies made about Italians in WV coal mines of that period that are very good. One was "Matewan". another "The Molly Mcguires"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Need an antenna upgrade, suggestions?
Replies
2
Views
360
buickanddeere
B
M
Case dealer
Replies
8
Views
638
Marshal51
M
L
1949 John Deere B Restored
Replies
17
Views
1K
Leroy
L
N
Galion 104H
Replies
10
Views
509
Nolbyone
N
H
New member
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
jd2cyl1943
jd2cyl1943
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top