About half of my great- and great-great-grandparents left their homelands to come to America. I try to imagine leaving the country I know, the language I speak, the home I've lived in, nearly all of my possessions, and especially family and friends I love -- and I can't. How did my ancestors have the fortitude and courage to make that choice? To change their lives so completely? I'm sure it would have been a carefully considered decision based on a variety of circumstances. These grandparents emigrated from England and Germany/Prussia/Hannover in about equal numbers. Some travelled together as families, parents and children, so the distance would have been the same. For some of the ancestors I know only the general location of their starting point, therefore miles may be approximate.
3,518 miles
Andrew and Elizabeth Jane (Laws) Doyle brought their four children, including my great-grandfather William, from Northumberland, England, to Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
4,062 miles
John Froman's naturalization document indicates he was a native of Hesse Cassel. He came to the U.S. with several siblings.
4,147 miles
Catherine Saylor named Baden as her place of birth. She travelled to the U.S. with her parents, Jacob and and Elizabeth (Shaefer) Saylor.
4,084 miles
Frederick Gerner, according to a family source, was born in Mannheim, Germany. He and his parents, Christian and Mary or Elizabeth (Stahl) Gerner, travelled to Butler County, Ohio.
4,097 miles
Henry Carl Meinzen came from Hannover, Germany, to Steubenville, Ohio.
3,554 miles
Elizabeth (Armitage) Meinzen's last known city of residence in England before emigrating to the U.S. was Trimdon, Durham. She came to the Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio with her father Abel Armitage and several siblings.
The closest experience I have of travelling such a distance is driving between Ohio and Rexburg, Idaho, about 1,800 miles, when my daughter went to college. The closest experience I have of moving to and living in a different country is serving in the Peace Corps in El Salvador. We travelled most of the 1,900 miles by air and returned home after 8 months. It's quite a different thing to travel twice that far with the intention of never returning to live in your country of birth.
I hold my immigrant ancestors in high regard.
This post was written for Amy Johnson Crow's 2020 version of 52 Ancestors. The post topic was "So Far Away."
--Nancy.
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I appreciate your research and thoughts on this. I too have great grands that came from the far country(s) likely seeking a better existence than could be found at home. Poverty and religious persecution were many of the reasons people left their home lands. Many in serfdom to some overlord. I do not know why my ancestors left only that they did and eventually made me. Just as the early American pioneers left home and family in the east and came west, leaving behind loved ones and possessions.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the only way we would know the reason for ancestors to have immigrated is if they left journals, diaries, or sent letters. Sadly, QuiltGranma, none of my seem to have done that (at least that I can find so far!).
DeleteSomething to reflect on for sure. I am amazed at my ancestors travels too, mine were fleeing the potato famine. I especially wonder at the elderly ones. Enjoyed the blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellie. I think it would have been especially hard for older people to leave home and country, leave behind everything familiar to them. Strong people, our ancestors.
DeleteThese journeys fascinate me. I have a lot of colonial ancestors who came in wooden sailing ships. How brave to embark on a long journey to an unknown place!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, such bravery to leave everything they knew to come to a place they knew nothing about -- in a wooden sailing ship, at that! Certainly brave and also strong.
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