SEARCHING FOR OUR ROOTS
A
GENEALOGICAL STUDY
OF
OUR FAMILIES ROLE
IN
HISTORY
|
|
Welcome to my website! The material I have collected here is
an attempt to tie our families into a very exciting period of history.
As someone who has always held a strong interest in history, I wanted
to see the role our family played during the immigration of the mid-1800s
that help make the United States into the great melting pot. On the
surface it may appear that we are one a small cog in a mighty machine.
However, as I studied the general trends that developed within this
migratory period, I began to see that as a machine needs every cog in order
to run, our families were so typical of the immigrants in this time period,
they indeed play a major role in history. Immigration to America has
always been one of the major themes of our historical development. From
the time of Columbus to today, the United States would not be what it was,
is, and will be without immigrants. There is much to tell.
However I have focused on the time period between 1845-1875. Of
the nearly thirty different families that provide us the roots from which our
family grew, twenty-seven (90%) came within this time frame. Textbooks will
call them the old immigrants as they
migrated from northern and western Europe instead of eastern and southern
Europe as the new immigrants
did. They came on wooden sailing ships before steam power enabled frequent
trips across the Atlantic. They came to Minnesota when it was on the
edge of the western frontier. They were trendsetters, pacesetters and
pioneers in the true sense of the word. They helped settle the land and
made us what we are today. The following material is divided into several sections, all produced at various times. It is not meant to be the great American novel, although I truly think the material could be used to help produce such a work. Instead it represents exactly what I set out to do, study why and how our ancestors came to this country and the role they played in its development. |
Chapters
/ Links:
1.) Surnames!
A listing of our surnames and links to databanks for these families.
2.) Migration
Patterns Our ancestors, where
they came from, when they migrated, where they arrived, where they settled,
etc.
3.) Our Roots
Scandinavian! Our ancestors from Norway and Sweden.
Irish! Our Irish heritage.
Central Europe! Our roots in Prussia / Germany and
Switzerland.
4.) Reasons
for Leaving Europe. Ten
reasons why our ancestors left their homes.
5.) Leaving
Home. A study of the
trip from their homes to the seaports.
6.) Crossing
the Pond. A study of
the trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
7.) The Arrival
in America. A study of
the immigrants arrival in the new land.
8.) The Journey Westward. A study
of their trip to the Mid-West.
9.) Why Did They Settle
in Minnesota? Five reasons why
they selected Minnesota.
10.) Settling
in Minnesota. A study of
their first years on the frontier.
11.) Our
Trips to Europe. Our three
trips to Europe to study our roots.
12.) Misc,
Information and Links. Various
pieces of information and links that I found helpful.
Reasons for Leaving (first article)