Family Roots

[azsnowman]

Over the past few weeks we've all gotten to know each other pretty well I think Now....here's a little question to further that knoweldge and find out a little more. Where did your family come from?

On my fathers side....Mountain Home Arkansas in the mid to late 1800's, they moved to Trinidad Texas in 1891 and bought a farm and had share croppers from the days of slavery. My grandfather on my dads side was an old country doctor there for 3 years in Trinidad, he quit one night after seeing his best friend die, he said "I can't continue being a doc....bringing a baby into the world one morning and seeing my friend die that same night!" I've got his original *sheep skin* from the Arkansas Med School. A little further back.......my great, great uncle was a member of the Sam Bass Gang......he was a common horse thief he was caught and hung in a place that's now known as Denton Texas (pretty sad ain't it "LOL!")

My mothers side.......all were born and raised in the Pan Handle of Texas, poor dirt farmers they were, mostly cotton, a few uncles still farm near Plainview Texas, another raises watermelons and cantaloupes near Brownfield Texas (in the panhandle). And the rest as they say....is History!

Dennis

[Stephanie]

This is a pretty neat thread Dennis!

My Mom and Dad were both born in NY city. My Mother's mother was born in Ny city too (I think) and her Dad was born in Italy and came over to the USA during the early 1900's with his parents and siblings.

My Father's Dad was born in Rhode Island and his Mother was born in Salem, Massachusetts :o :evilbat: Anyway, we have a geneology book that was created at the beginning of 1900 of my father's side. Alot of my ancestors came to New England in the 1600's (no Mayflower that I could see) from England and Wales. The geneology book traces the name all the way back to the time of William the Conqueror!

[mf_dolphin]

My mother's family are Irish (Ephlin) and settled in the bootheel of Missouri, Wardell. My dads family were German (Franck) and dropped the "c" when they came over. They settled in the southeast in Alabama and North Carolina. From Dad I got a long "fuse" from the German side but when I get to the end of it the Irish side takes over and it can get pretty nasty!

Great thread Dennis!

[Guest]

My dads family were German (Franck) and dropped the "c" when they came over.

Marshall, my mom's side is German and when they came to the U.S., they changed their last name from Schmidt to Smith. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves as being German during the World War II era. Is that why your family changed their name too?

I've always been interested in my family's lineage. I did some research on the internet and got in touch with a relative of mine in Sweden that I never knew existed. Turns out he knows my great aunt here in the U.S. He provided me with a family tree that went back over 200 years, which I filled in some blanks for him that he didn't know about. It's really neat to find out where your family comes from and their background.

[JetMaxx]

My dad's family (Worthan's, Farr's, and Teal's) were among the original settlers of Douglasville, Georgia in the 1870's....dad's heritage was British and German. My ancestors ranged from tenant farmers to law enforcement officers. My late cousin Tom Worthan is a former mayor of Douglasville...and my great-great grandfather William Farr was a leading businessman of his era; not to mention a good friend of Asa Candler, the inventor of Coca Cola.

My mom's family's roots were in the Appalachians....the hills of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Virginia, and southern West Virginia. Heritage was mixed Irish and Native American. My grandfather Nolen was 1/4 Cherokee Indian...his wife (my grandmother Martha) was originally from Nebraska...she was a Coates before being married; and her grandparents were from Ireland.

[breeze]

Definitel a cool thread!

My father's side of the family, Holloway, came to the
U.S. from the southern coast of England, in Somerset.
They settled in Alabama, and, eventually moved up into
the southern Lawrence Co. area of Tennessee, in the
early 1900's.

My mother's side of the family, the Smiths, came from
Germany, though, the times and dates have gotten lost,
over the years!

[ColdFront77]

My mother grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston (south of downtown Boston) and my father grew up minutes from Logan International Airport in East Boston, Massachusetts.

My four grandparents were all from Italy; one of my father's parent's is actually from Sicily. They all moved to the United States in the early 1900's. My father's parents passed away in the 1970's (I never really knew them) and my mother's father passed away in 1984 at the age of 84 and my mother's mother passed away in her mid 90's a decade ago.

[mf_dolphin]

Marshall, my mom's side is German and when they came to the U.S., they changed their last name from Schmidt to Smith. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves as being German during the World War II era. Is that why your family changed their name too?

The name modification was a part of the Americanization that was very common for immigrants into the US. Dad's grandfather came over a long time before WWII. He was a farmer in the central Alabama area. The name FRANCK is traceable back to the time of Atilla the Hun. The Francks were a Germanic tribe that rode with Atilla. LOL There's also a distant relation to Anne Frank as well. I would love to have the time and money to trace the family tree!

[azsnowman]

This is GREAT guys....some very interesting back grounds! Marshall.......if I'm not mistaken, you can use the Church Of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints website to trace the geneology of your family......the LDS are VERY big on family roots!

Dennis

[mf_dolphin]

You're right Dennis. The Mormons have one of the best geneology research centers in the world. Now all I need is the time

[coriolis]

My people came over in the 1880's from central Europe: Bavaria, Chechoslovakia, Austria and others. My parents always said that the borders of the countries changed so many times that it's hard to say. My last name "Brown," was originally "Buronowski." Talk about americanization! We also have Schmits, Beyers, Bouchers in our tree. Very German sounding. They settled in western central Pennsylvania and worked in coal mines and farmed. My one grandfater was a railroader, I believe. My mother put together a family tree with branches that go back 4, 5, and 6 generations. She had the foresight to interview a lot of her older family members before they passed on.

[DaylilyDawn]

We have traced our family roots back to the time of Edward I of Wales . We are the twelth generation and my grandson is the 14th generation. My father was from W.Va. and not much of his family history is known since a fire in the family destroyed records and took the life of my grandmother shortly after I was born.

[azskyman]

Mother's side was mostly Swedish and Nordic. Found their way to Pennsylvania. Father's side mostly German. Have some work to do to get back further than 1880, but will do that sometime.

[Miss Mary]

Immediate family......my dad was born and raised in Cincinnati, German heritage (his ancestors lived in Germany). My mom was born and raised in Scotland, Scottish heritage of course. She had Irish ancestors. They met during WWII and married over there. My mom then traveled overseas, pregnant with her first child, my oldest brother, alone since my dad was still on duty. She had to meet my dad's family alone. That was very hard she said.

My dad passed away 15 years ago but about 10 years ago his sister revealed to us, their Grandfather was Jewish. He married a Catholic German girl and changed the spelling of our name. He renounced his Jewish heritage. I've had a hard time with that ever since I heard it. My mom said I can't judge, since I didn't know what it was like for him back then (racism) to make such a decision. So my maiden name should be Meis, not Mees. I once worked for 6 Jewish surgeons, for 10 years. I think now I was meant to have that job. I thought the world of these doctors, now all but one retired.

Bet you didn't expect to see me post that. So I'm part Scottish/German/Irish/Jewish.

[vbhoutex]

Love this thread!!!

On my Mom's side I am descended from the Baron Von Werthern in Germany, probably Prussia originally. He was my Great x 5 grandfather. He forsook his barony to marry a commoner. I believe it was two generations after that when the family came over. Supposedly we still have the remains of a Castle somewhere in the SE area of Germany.

On my fathers side things are a little muddled but the best I can tell is that his great great grandparents were Scottish. I have a lineage tree that traces the family back to Beattock farm in Southern Dumfrieshire Scotland in 1514.

I really want to do more research on all of it but have never had/made the time. I have always been fascinated by lineage.

On my wifes side of the family, they are traced back to the Mayflower on one side. Her Grandmothers maiden name was Davis. Jefferson Davis is my childrens Great x4 grandfather I think. Haven't gotten a direct written confirmation of that yet, but that is what is said. We still have English Plum pudding every Christmas using a recipe handed down from generations and it is sooooo gggoooooooooooddddd!!

[ColdFront77]

I was told that my father's side of the family goes back to the Portuguese, but what we are absolutely sure about is that it has been an Italian family for several generations.