Tell us about your family's ethnic background.

sparkey

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3/4 Colonial American, 1/8 Cornish, 1/8 Welsh
Y-DNA haplogroup
I2c1 PF3892+ (Swiss)
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U4a (Cornish)
What ethnic background do you come from? I ask both because I am interested in knowing more about the posters here, and because I want to observe patterns. People move around so much nowadays, that it seems like everybody now has a complex ethnic heritage, but I bet that the number of ethnicities someone can identify in his or her background will vary by region.

Also, some follow-up questions:

  • If the culture you participate in now is different than the culture of your recent ancestors, which do you identify with more strongly?
  • If you identify with an ethnicity that does not have a corresponding independent state, do you describe your heritage as coming from that ethnicity in particular or from the greater state? (For example, "Scottish" vs. "British," "Catalan" vs. "Spanish," or "Flemish" vs. "Belgian.")
  • If you are of mixed heritage or of a different heritage than the majority in your current living place, do you consider it important to perpetuate that culture or identity within your family?
I'll start with myself. I am an American of mixed European heritage. Although I could list more, the ethnicities I identify most closely with (other than "American") are: English, Welsh, Cornish, Swiss, and German. I could simplify that to "British and German" I suppose, but the Welsh, Cornish, and Swiss sides of my family have distinct histories, so I like to keep them separate when talking about them. With so many, though, it's hard to keep them culturally alive, especially with most of my family content to just be American. So, to contribute to their perpetuation, I take the role of the family historian.

Interestingly, my fiancee, although English rather than American, has a similarly complex background that adds to the number of ethnicities to keep track of. She also has significant English and Cornish heritage, but adds to that a history that includes Irish Travelers, Scots, Lebanese, and Chaldo-Assyrians. Simply, "British and Middle Eastern" if anybody asks, but again, the sides of her family are distinct, and all are worth mentioning in this sort of discussion.
 
I'm probably the most boring member here, entirely German! Even within, nearly all of my ancestors are from the same area (which is Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony). I was born and grew up in West Germany, but moved to the eastern part of Germany, where my family originates, six years ago.

Hold on, my family name is of Sorb origin. But the last members who could have been culturally considered as real Sorbs lived like 200 years ago. So I don't identify myself with it.

I've never had a German girlfriend, though. They were Maltese, Romanian and African.
 
Mine is not too exciting, I'm Spanish, an Andalusian village created by the policy of Carlos III to repopulate Andalusia, all my surnames are Spanish: Velázquez, Garcia Naranjo, Barroso, Garrido, Toro, Fernandez, Cortes etc.

According to my father's family came from a deserter from Napoleon's troops, but it is unprovable as civil registration records of people were burned in the moments before the Spanish Civil War.

however I did the test and came out: Phoenician, I know I could do a Phoenician in Napoleon's troops? but also a story too sophisticated to have arisen out of nothing or invented by ordinary people for a people do not know, Show time is difficult.
 
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What ethnic background do you come from? I ask both because I am interested in knowing more about the posters here, and because I want to observe patterns. People move around so much nowadays, that it seems like everybody now has a complex ethnic heritage, but I bet that the number of ethnicities someone can identify in his or her background will vary by region.

Also, some follow-up questions:

  • If the culture you participate in now is different than the culture of your recent ancestors, which do you identify with more strongly?
  • If you identify with an ethnicity that does not have a corresponding independent state, do you describe your heritage as coming from that ethnicity in particular or from the greater state? (For example, "Scottish" vs. "British," "Catalan" vs. "Spanish," or "Flemish" vs. "Belgian.")
  • If you are of mixed heritage or of a different heritage than the majority in your current living place, do you consider it important to perpetuate that culture or identity within your family?
.

What I find interesting (and puzzling) is why people from former British colonies like the US or Australia feel it important to categorise themselves so strictly and state a heritage or heritages, rather than just describe themselves as the nationality of their birth. It is only a fairly recent phenonomen, it certainly wasn't a trend to do so when I was growing up, where a person's ethnicity was fairly inconsequential but when I meet Australians or Americans now I find I can be literally grilled on my family history. I've asked this question of many but no-one, as yet, has a satisfactory answer, perhaps there just isn't one?

Anyway all that aside it is, none the less, an intersting topic, I've an English father and an Irish mother with a little Scot thrown in and was born in Australia. I'm married to a Greek, Cretan family to be exact and now live in Greece. So to answer the questions as best as I can

I probably identify most strongly with the heritages in which I was raised, but there is also a strong Greek influence and sometimes it is hard to know where one begins or the other ends. Our house is a strange mixture of all, part English/Irish/Australian and part Greek, although we speak mainly English when amongst ourselves. Which was originally so the children would be raised knowing all heritages and be bi-lingual but is now a well established part of our lives.

If we were in any way religious there may have been a problem, my mother being Roman Catholic, my father Church of England and married into Eastern Orthodox but as we feel religious stuff to be irrelevant the differences have never raised nor imposed themselves.
 
What I find interesting (and puzzling) is why people from former British colonies like the US or Australia feel it important to categorise themselves so strictly and state a heritage or heritages, rather than just describe themselves as the nationality of their birth. It is only a fairly recent phenonomen, it certainly wasn't a trend to do so when I was growing up, where a person's ethnicity was fairly inconsequential but when I meet Australians or Americans now I find I can be literally grilled on my family history. I've asked this question of many but no-one, as yet, has a satisfactory answer, perhaps there just isn't one?

Although I'm not speaking on much more than a personal level here, I think it is simply very interesting. Stories like yours make good conversations. And since our family history affects who we are, it can make us feel like we understand one another better (even if that's not always the case). And former British colonies are among the most diverse places in the world, hence the people who live there are more likely to develop an interest in different backgrounds.

As to why it's only happening recently... I think that it has to do with how being a minority has become more in vogue. A century ago, it was beneficial to just call yourself by your country of birth, whereas now people are more likely to be interested if you describe your whole background, and there's no real harm in doing so. There are exceptions to the trend, though... in my experience, English-Americans rarely call themselves as such, being the most likely to just call themselves "Americans," and some groups, namely Iraqi-Americans, often prefer to avoid discussing their heritage.

I probably identify most strongly with the heritages in which I was raised, but there is also a strong Greek influence and sometimes it is hard to know where one begins or the other ends. Our house is a strange mixture of all, part English/Irish/Australian and part Greek, although we speak mainly English when amongst ourselves. Which was originally so the children would be raised knowing all heritages and be bi-lingual but is now a well established part of our lives.

This kind of thing is really interesting to me... picking up a culture and blending different cultures in a family. My fiancee has spent a lot of time in France and has picked up a good deal of French culture, which is reflected in her mannerisms from time to time. So although not French, there are ways in which she has become French. And spending so much time around the Middle Eastern side of her family, I've picked up more of a taste for Middle Eastern things. All together, it makes for a big mishmash that's difficult to separate (and why would you want to?).

If we were in any way religious there may have been a problem, my mother being Roman Catholic, my father Church of England and married into Eastern Orthodox but as we feel religious stuff to be irrelevant the differences have never raised nor imposed themselves.

(y)
 
Well, my family is from Brabant, in the southern part of The Netherlands.
But we have also far away relatives in Belgium.
And part of my closer family also went to Canada in the 1950's. (Nephews of my father)

I am officially Catholic, but rather in a liberal and social way.

My own known ancestry tree goes back to about 1623.
His son was born in 1645.
 
Although I'm not speaking on much more than a personal level here, I think it is simply very interesting. As to why it's only happening recently... I think that it has to do with how being a minority has become more in vogue. A century ago, it was beneficial to just call yourself by your country of birth, whereas now people are more likely to be interested if you describe your whole background, and there's no real harm in doing so. There are exceptions to the trend, though... in my experience, English-Americans rarely call themselves as such, being the most likely to just call themselves "Americans," and some groups, namely Iraqi-Americans, often prefer to avoid discussing their heritage.

This kind of thing is really interesting to me... picking up a culture and blending different cultures in a family. My fiancee has spent a lot of time in France and has picked up a good deal of French culture, which is reflected in her mannerisms from time to time. So although not French, there are ways in which she has become French. And spending so much time around the Middle Eastern side of her family, I've picked up more of a taste for Middle Eastern things. All together, it makes for a big mishmash that's difficult to separate (and why would you want to?).:

Thanks for your thoughts on my question Sparky, it is something that has become very obvious since moving to Europe and only something that those from the immigrant countries (as I call them) spend much time discussing. After a lot of pondering I'm tending to lean toward the argument that there is some inherent need in people to feel anchored to their roots and/or their ancestors, I've noticed that those born and raised in the land of their ancestors don't feel the need to state or discuss their personal history and that they seem more secure in themselves somehow. When we go back to my husband's ancestral village all his personal history is there, the streets, the houses, the fields, the cemetary, and family and village stories stretching back centuries, people raised in countries like ours have lost that I think and are, possibly, attempting to find it again?

Cultural influences are interesting I agree, especially in the way they evolve themselves in our lives, it certainly makes for an interesting and adventurous life! Culture and race are a man made construct anyway but at the most important level the differences are non-existant.
 
I guess I own my ethnocultural identity in layers.

1. North American - all of my family lines of descent have been in either the US or Canada since well before either country existed in its present form.

2. Swiss Mennonite - this is a cultural identity all of its own, of about 500 years standing in my family's case, and still current in my own case.

3. German Swiss - I don't need a DNA test to know that my genes are 95+% 17th century Emmental Swiss - whatever that was at the time. That is when my ancestors left Bern and they have intermarried ever since. My mother can still speak a dialect which has been passed down from that time. So Swiss is what I identify with as a European origin, though I feel somewhat conflicted in that since we were not so politely asked to leave the country.
 
American that contains parts of others

What ethnic background do you come from? I ask both because I am interested in knowing more about the posters here, and because I want to observe patterns. People move around so much nowadays, that it seems like everybody now has a complex ethnic heritage, but I bet that the number of ethnicities someone can identify in his or her background will vary by region.

Also, some follow-up questions:

  • If the culture you participate in now is different than the culture of your recent ancestors, which do you identify with more strongly?
  • If you identify with an ethnicity that does not have a corresponding independent state, do you describe your heritage as coming from that ethnicity in particular or from the greater state? (For example, "Scottish" vs. "British," "Catalan" vs. "Spanish," or "Flemish" vs. "Belgian.")
  • If you are of mixed heritage or of a different heritage than the majority in your current living place, do you consider it important to perpetuate that culture or identity within your family?
I'll start with myself. I am an American of mixed European heritage. Although I could list more, the ethnicities I identify most closely with (other than "American") are: English, Welsh, Cornish, Swiss, and German. I could simplify that to "British and German" I suppose, but the Welsh, Cornish, and Swiss sides of my family have distinct histories, so I like to keep them separate when talking about them. With so many, though, it's hard to keep them culturally alive, especially with most of my family content to just be American. So, to contribute to their perpetuation, I take the role of the family historian.

Interestingly, my fiancee, although English rather than American, has a similarly complex background that adds to the number of ethnicities to keep track of. She also has significant English and Cornish heritage, but adds to that a history that includes Irish Travelers, Scots, Lebanese, and Chaldo-Assyrians. Simply, "British and Middle Eastern" if anybody asks, but again, the sides of her family are distinct, and all are worth mentioning in this sort of discussion.

Hi Sparkey, As you know, in America when you talk about ethnicity, the government has us classify ourselves by race with the ethnicity option being Hispanic/Latino or Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino. We think of country of origin or ancestry as nationalities. So, I am an American and identify myself as such outside the US, however, within the US, when talking to other Americans, the discussion changes and we tend to break down American into our sub-parts. My father's side is French, Swiss (although these deeper roots are Norwegian), Irish and Scots-Irish (by the way I hate the American tendency to use Scotch-Irish) but he tended to relate to French more than the others. Despite his Mennonite Grandmother playing a major role in his life. Most likely because we have a very French surname. My mother's side is Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh. She tends to call herself Irish, probably because she was very close to her Grandmother from Cork (a Kelly). All of this means when describing myself to a fellow American, I tend to call myself French and Irish.
 
Hi Sparkey, As you know, in America when you talk about ethnicity, the government has us classify ourselves by race with the ethnicity option being Hispanic/Latino or Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino. We think of country of origin or ancestry as nationalities.

The 2000 census had the most useful question about ethnic background to date, asking simply for "ancestry," and providing boxes for primary and secondary. The 2010 census dropped that, though.

I didn't fill out a census form in 2000, and I'm not certain what I would have put. My 5 that I identify with wouldn't have fit, and "Cornish" would get counted as "English" per the rules of the 2000 ancestry tallying system, anyway. I guess I would have put something like American/Welsh. That pretty well covers the fact that most of my ancestors came to America before the Revolution, and most of those who didn't were Brythonic. I suppose similar dilemmas, as well as "patriotism" and general lack of knowledge, are the reasons so many simply put "American" on that census question.
 
I was born in the west of Ireland and have lived in Ireland all my life. My parents/grandparents,great grandparents and great great grandparents are all from within a 30mile radius of the same area of Connacht. Culturally and ethnically I am Irish.
 
I'm Irish, Polish, German, English, French, Swedish, and a little bit Hungarian, was Born in the US.

I really don't follow any culture of those though ^ Although I do find them interesting, mainly the Irish, German, and French cultures, and their history.

"do you consider it important to perpetuate that culture or identity within your family"

No, I find that perpetuating cultures onto others to be annoying and oppressive. If it's done in a light-hearted manner that isn't condescending towards others I'm perfectly fine with it.
 
What ethnic background do you come from?

My father's background is Irish, Ulster Scottish, German, English, Highland Scottish, Welsh, and possibly Jewish. My mother's background is similar. She has English, German, Welsh and Irish (or Ulster Scottish?).

My father's father's side is almost all Irish, with Highland Scottish emigrants making up the remainder. There is one notable exception - after generations of only Irish and Scottish spouses, my father's father's line did marry into a first-generation German-American family by the name of Reidelberger. I chalk this up to progressive Americanization of the family, the same process that has turned the descendants of one of the most staunchly religious cultures in Europe, the Irish, into one of the most statistically secular groups in America. I also need to mention that while my father's father's line is primarily Irish, I am still uncertain whether or not my Y-chromosomal line is Irish or Ulster Scottish. I lean towards Ulster Scottish because my surname is centered in Lowland Scotland and Northern England. But several niggling factors, like the fact that this line almost exclusively married Irish and Highland Scottish spouses and that they were staunch Roman Catholics prevents me from being sure.

My father's mother's side hasn't been as well researched as my grandfather. On that side, we mostly have German and English, with some Welsh. My father has done more research on this side than I have, and claims that tracing his mitochondrial line yields a Jewish surname. Since Jewish ancestry is traced through the mother rather than the father, this would technically make him Jewish, though not myself. I haven't looked into it, but it's certainly interesting. My father's mother's side is, depending on how you look at it, either primarily German with heavy English influence, or primarily English with heavy German influence. My father's mother's side emigrated to America from England, but emigrated to England from Germany not long - in the greater point of view - before that. During their stay in England, this line married into a few Welsh families. Again, I haven't researched this side very well, and what I'm describing is only what I know for certain.

I've researched my mother's ethnic background even less than I've researched my father's mother's ethnic background. That is to say, I haven't researched my mother's side at all. Thankfully, my mother's father has, and he has told me bits and pieces of what he's found. My mother's father's background is mostly English, with some Welsh, German and Irish. My mother's mother's background is - according to my grandfather anyway - mostly Irish. I have a hard time believing this though, as my mother's mother's maiden name is English in origin (Greene). Based on what my grandfather has told me, and it isn't much, I think he might have made a common mistake and confused Ulster Scottish with Irish. I won't know for sure until I start looking into it myself.

If I had to group my ancestry into its major components, I suppose I'd say Irish, English and German. Second place would be Highland Scottish, Ulster Scottish (or Lowland Scottish) and Welsh. I'd place Welsh a bit lower than Scottish, since although it's represented on both sides of my family, it makes up only a minority either way you look at it. I would place Ulster Scottish somewhere between the Big 3 and Highland Scottish, if it turns out that I'm correct and my mother's mother's background is in fact predominantly Ulster Scottish. Mentally and emotionally, that ethnic group would also become more prominent in my personal sense of identity if it turns out that my Y-chromosomal line is Ulster Scottish, and not native Irish.

If the culture you participate in now is different than the culture of your recent ancestors, which do you identify with more strongly?

Irish. Part of that might be because when I was raised, my father was the one who talked about our family heritage the most, and he always talked about us (and continues to do so) being Irish. The fact that his mother's family is mostly German/English doesn't seem to faze him much, lol. It might also be strengthened by the fact that I grew up in an area with a lot of Irish-Americans, including first-generation emigrants. My mother's best friend was and still is a McCormack from Belfast, for example. As such, the culture has always been present in my mind. Having gotten into genealogy, I've since then seen that German and English - Germanic if you want to lump it together - makes up just as large, if not a larger portion of my ancestry. I'd like to someday explore my German heritage more and gain a greater appreciation for it, but at the end of the day, I think of myself as primarily an Irish-American because that's what I was raised thinking of myself as.

If you are of mixed heritage or of a different heritage than the majority in your current living place, do you consider it important to perpetuate that culture or identity within your family?

Absolutely. My vision for an ideal America is one in which all of the varied ethnic groups and cultures that make up the nation are fully represented. America is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, but our cultural diversity - for lack of a better word - doesn't reflect that. We ought to have German-Americans speaking German, Filipino-Americans speaking Tagalog, Irish-Americans speaking Irish, Scandinavian-Americans speaking Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, etc., Welsh-Americans speaking Welsh, Japanese-Americans speaking Japanese, Iraqi-Americans speaking Arabian, Mexican-Americans speaking Spanish, and all Americans united in the common goal to create the best possible nation in accordance with our Constitution. While English culture and American culture may have some superficial differences, it's nonetheless true that the situation we have now - a largely monocultural America - resulted from emigrants being dominated and forced to gradually succumb to our version of English Protestant culture, much the same as the English Empire attempted to do in its heyday, no offense meant to those Englishmen among us. And that's a tragedy.

The way we reverse that tragedy and set America on the path to self-actualization, in my view, is to encourage everyone to learn about their heritage, take pride in it, and gradually try to revive it, starting with yourself. Towards that aim, I try to learn more about Irish history and the Irish language whenever I can find the time. One day I'll do the same for Germany's history and culture. I've already gotten a Filipino-American coworker of mine to start learning Tagalog. He was fluent in it when he was a child, before emigrating to the States, but gradually lost his ability to speak it well. I haven't seen him for about half a year, but hopefully he's still working at it. I don't see how perpetuating your heritage and identity can ever be a bad thing, as long as you don't let it devolve into tribalism. That's why you need a common ideal, and I believe, in America's case, that the Constitution can provide that.
 
I talked about this in other threads, but let's do it properly:

I have,

- 3 grandparents from the same Catalan town (Cabra del Camp): Paternal grandmother and both grandparents on my mother's side.

All known surnames concerning this lines are Catalan in origins, although some of them were listed the wrong way in the documents, specially due to Franco's dictatorship. There you are what I found: Garriga, Duch, Queralt, Vendrell, Montserrat, Boada, Ferràn, Ferré (Ferrer), Roig, Magriña (Magrinyà), Porta, Soler, Aluja, Forné (Forner), Bové (Bover), Sogas (Sogues), Contijoch, Inglès (not sure if originally Anglès, both forms exist).

- 1 grandparent from Murcia: This is my earliest known Canovas (Cánovas) ancestor born in Cartagena, so my Y-DNA comes from this line. Murcia was repopulated in historical times during "Reconquista" by people from the Catalano-Aragonese kingdom (Corona de Aragón), when "Jaume I" was the king. Despite the fact Canovas (surname) is very common in Murcia nowadays, it's probably of Catalan origin. In Catalunya exists prior to the Reconquista from year 1000 aprox (Canoves-Cànoves), and there are also other similar surnames reported in both Aragón and Catalunya in ancient times (Casanova and Casanovas/es), which could also explain its origins. My grandpa's second surname was Galindo, linked to Aragón from at least the 8th century. Don't know more surnames from this line, maybe he had some Castillian surnames too...difficult to say though, many surnames found in the Eastern fringe can trace its origins to Aragón or Catalunya.

I think there's strong evidence of the mentioned replacement in Murcia when checking different surnames, it's a shame we don't have enough Y-DNA profiles from this region, but I expect finding some of the peculiarities shown in Aragón and Catalonia...possibly higher I2a1a* and G2a than the average Spain.

Overall I am mostly Catalan by heritage, with some distant Aragonese and possibly little hints from Castille. Genetic projects show I am clearly Northeast Iberian.

My maternal languaje is Catalan and, as usual here, I speak perfect Castillian. Despite the fact we're part of Spain, I consider myself Catalan, that's what I am. And I hope one day we'll have our own independent state, because this is not working.

Of course, I'd like to perpetuate my culture, but I think Castillian (along with English) it's very important nowadays, so it's necessary to include them.
 
Hello.

I'm hailing on my fathers side from Bogut (A serb noble from modern Northeastern Bosnia) who was a founder of my highland tribe.

Read more about Bogut if you google Vojvoda Bogut, can't post links yet.

So ye, on my fathers side we're low nobility who fought turks for approximately 300 years on and off. Never intermixed (R1a gene tested :D )and on the maternal side I'm part "Boiko". Funny thing is that these Boiko are proposed to be one of the founding serb tribes in the Balkans.


Google Boiko too if you wanna know what they are about. :)

They moved into modern Bosnia when Austria-Hungary annexed the shit =)

Christian orthodox, practicing etc. Conservative political views, although I don't hate any ethnic group nor do I have "superiority complexes" like some people from the Balkans do have.
 
Hello, i am Canadian and my father is from Manitoba( a province, in Canada), his ancestry is Metis, His father was French canadian while his mother is of Cree, ojibwe and european descent. His ancestors were members of the first Metis Nation, a precursor to the province of Manitoba.
My mother's parents immigrated in the 1940s to canada from the Netherlands, the were both Catholic and came from the province of Noord-Brabant, on the border of belgium. This site has been great for trying to understand parts of my ancestry.
 
I'm a Canadian of mixed descent.

Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, French, Dutch (Frisian & Dutch), some German and Native American (Mi'kmaq). I'm not sure exactly with which groups I identify the most with. I feel as though I identify with British/Irish-Dutch more so than with my German and Native American heritage. But at times I "feel" Dutch, mainly because my maternal family is Dutch and came to Canada in the years shortly after WW2.

I guess though most of the time I identify with being from Canada.
 
I am American, with English, Irish(with some scottish backround), and German. There have been rumors of possible Welsh, French, and Native American, but I have found no evidence for this. On my fathers side is entirely to my knowledge English an Irish. My mothers side is Irish an German. Both sides of Irish have some last names that originate from scotland, Showing the Irish families had scottish ancestors.

I Identify myself as American because I did not grow up in any of these cultures. The only reason I'm aware of these ancestors is from my own research. Most of my family seems to have forgotten where we came from. I state that my acestors were of these culures, not me.
 
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I'm 14/16 English, 1/16th Welsh, 1/32 Scottish and possibly 1/32 Irish (although this isn't documented yet.
My paternal grandfather's ancestry is from Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Sussex, and also probably has distant Irish (don't know where from).
My paternal grandmother's ancestry is from London (not sure where before that), and coastal Cheshire.
My maternal grandmother's ancestry is from Kent.
My maternal grandfather's ancestry is from Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Scotland (not sure exactly whereabouts in the long run, possibly Kirkudbright), Pembrokeshire (Wales) and Hampshire.

May have missed off a couple of places, although hopefully not.

There may be some distant Italian or Italian-like ancestry on my mother's side.

I identify with English over British as that makes up most of my ancestry, and i've grown up in England.
 
I am American but if there is a reason our families have identified in the past with our European heritage it would be that many of our ancestors came as groups from the same area. All of my immigrant ancestors came to live in the same 10 mile diameter area in southwestern Indiana. The German (and to an extent Polish) constituent in the area built a German Catholic parish in town (only WWI stopped German being spoken at Mass). Among two other rural Catholic parishes the constituents were a mix of German, French, Swiss and Belgian.

But the immigrants came in groups. My father's paternal line included his grandfather and the grandfather's 5 half-brothers from near Osnabrueck. But they were not the only people from that area who settled here. That grandfather's wife was one of 6 sisters who came from the Emsland. But those sister's had two aunts whose families also emigrated to the area. And yes, they all knew each other. Then there was the German/Polish contingent in the community from near Trzcianka. Some of them married into my French family from Moselle. That family also called another Moselle family cousin but that came from 4 generations back in France. But then also some of the German-Polish cousins were also cousins via the Emsland contingent. Then there are my French-Swiss ancestor whose descendants married cousins of immigrants who came from Belgian Luxembourg. And my French-Swiss half-cousins whose cousins back in Ct Jura married my own cousins there. My families are rather well connected to each other.

The only immigrant family that doesn't quite fit was the one from my Brabant-Wallon, Belgium. But they even managed to find the mother's siblings up in the Belgian area in Green Bay and points east after seeing their names in a newspaper article about the Peshtigo Fire. I only just discovered the likely paternal origins of that family. It appears the immigrant changed his name when he came to America, possibly because he was fleeing a civil fraud case that was going against him in Belgium (I hope some strange statute of limitations isn't still in effect).

So when anyone asks me, I always say that my ancestors were about half German-speakers and half French-speakers. My dad's side of the family is a quarter French (Moselle), 5/8ths German (Osnabrueckerland, Emsland, Posen) and a bit Polish (Wielkopolskie [Poznan]). Mom's side is half Belgian (Brabant-Wallon, Luxembourg), a quarter German (Baden), and eighth French (Franche-Comte) and and eighth Swiss (Jura).

I count my mother's Swiss ancestor as a French-speaker although his name was Imhoff. His family had fled the German area downstream on the Birse during the 30 Years War when the Swedes took Laufen and the town turned Protestant. They barely went ten miles upstream to Delemont but that was still land in the control of the Prince-Bishop of Bale. After that they invariably married into families which carried French surnames.
 

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