Apparently my great great grandfather who came over from northern Ireland was screwing around with the sheriff's wife. The last time he was seen alive was in the local store when the sheriff walked in; the next time he was seen was when the ice melted. And there's a creek nearby (Ontonagon, Michigan) called Corpse Creek...
Tenant farmers and day laborers going all the way back to the 1500s in Europe. Came to America and, over a period of 100 years, worked their way up to being teachers, store owners, bankers, politicians, engineers, large farm owners.
My dad’s mother came from Germany in the late 1930’s when she saw the direction Hitler was taking the Homeland
All four my mother’s grandparents came over from Germany in the 1890’s
My dad’s father was a Scots-Irish Appalachian Hillbilly who barely could read and write. Not sure how he ever hooked up with a German gal who only spoke a few words of English
Grandparents on my father's side immigrated from Germany as newlyweds. By the time my dad was born they were so fluent in English he never learned the German language. They were Catholics who resented the antisemitism and government tyranny and left Germany behind.
My mom was 3rd generation Polish, and we lived in a mostly Polish community. They mostly were people who had fled communism. While many older people still spoke Polish among themselves, I never met a single one who wasn't fluent in English. We still had traditional food on holidays, which was pretty good.
They came here to assimilate, not to change America into Germany or Poland, or they wouldn't have come here in the first place.
I don't know what's going on today, but I know in the last 25 years or so America has fucked itself. I hope there's a way to recover from the bullshit we're seeing, but I don't really see it.
All early 20th century about a century ago. A bunch of Micks, Guenias and Kruats. The German side changed they’re name at Ellis Island because it was too much. All stayed around here though and headed to the Bronx.
I like that commercial for some genealogy service where the lady says, “I thought I married an Italian.” But it turned out her husband was a big mix of euro-trash lol.
That’s basically the way it would turn out for my family.
About 25% of my family is in the liquor or gambling business. When I was 12, I read the first mafia expose ever written, called "The Vlachi Papers". A guy we were working with at the racetrack was mentioned as a murderer and on one of the pages there was a mention of three bootleggers, including a Kennedy and my Uncle Joe. Explained a lot.
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Anyway, they all came over in boats way after the West was won.
The American dream works.
My dad’s mother came from Germany in the late 1930’s when she saw the direction Hitler was taking the Homeland
All four my mother’s grandparents came over from Germany in the 1890’s
My dad’s father was a Scots-Irish Appalachian Hillbilly who barely could read and write. Not sure how he ever hooked up with a German gal who only spoke a few words of English
My mom was 3rd generation Polish, and we lived in a mostly Polish community. They mostly were people who had fled communism. While many older people still spoke Polish among themselves, I never met a single one who wasn't fluent in English. We still had traditional food on holidays, which was pretty good.
They came here to assimilate, not to change America into Germany or Poland, or they wouldn't have come here in the first place.
I don't know what's going on today, but I know in the last 25 years or so America has fucked itself. I hope there's a way to recover from the bullshit we're seeing, but I don't really see it.
That’s basically the way it would turn out for my family.