OT Re: Genealogy

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> Joseph Fatula wrote:
>
>> The idea that someone's ancestors, back
>> three generations, would be almost entirely from the country you live in
>> now, seems so odd to me.
>>
>
> Really?  I would imagine it's the norm over most of the world.
>
> I don't know the history of my dad's family back further than his
> father, but I'm pretty sure you have to go back further than his
> grandfather to get someone who wasn't born in the US.  Heck, there are
> even some capitalized Native Americans back there somewhere, too.
>
> Certainly you have to go back further than that on my mom's side; the
> first ancestor to emigrate hither was in early 18th century.  Figure
> that's what, seven generations back or so?
>
>
My family also goes back further than great-grandparents. I believe one
great-great-grandfather on each side of my family was an immigrant, one
from Ireland and one from Scotland. I have great-great-great
grandparents (on my maternal grandfather's side of the family) buried in
a cemetery no more than 4 miles from where I grew up.

When I was a kid, some of my friends had grandparents and
great-grandparents from somewhere else, and I was always terribly
jealous. My family always seemed boring by comparison. My maternal
grandmother was from Texas, and that was about as exotic and interesting
as it got, in my opinion when I was a kid. I always felt like I was
somehow cheated because we didn't have family traditions, foods, or
customs "from the old country" or whatever, except my Texan
grandmother's enchiladas, which hardly seemed to count at all. Does
moving from Texas to Delaware count as immigration?

I just have to laugh about it now. And, anyway, I married a guy with a
Swedish last name, so I've got borrowed heritage. ;)

M.