Subject: RE: ethnic origins of Mudcatters
From:
JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Feb 05 - 10:24 PM
Although my mother claimed to have identified English, Irish, Scots, Dutch, and German in my ancestry, she failed to identify which specific known ancesters were derived from those various "ethnicities." And that's just her side of the family. I suspect that her description was more "family tradition" than actual "knowing." About all that I have been able to confirm from genealogical resources is that one line on my father's side was in the US in 1610, and probably came from England. This line traces back about 3 generations in England, but I'm not sure I believe it all, although the documentation is pretty good.
Somewhat later, in a popularly known line, I can claim that my namesake great great ... great grandfather is the one on the back of the US $10,000 bill. No proof, but I've got a picture of him. (a reproduction, of course.)
Most of my ancestors get lost within about 4 generations back, largely due to inability to spell their own names consistently in the records. The prevailing ethnicities implied by records available are "horse thief," "bootlegger," and "drifter." Ascribing any of these ethnic backgrounds to a particular ancester is largely a matter of interpretation.
I am able to trace probable links to some persons on both sides of the "War between the States," but unable to be very certain about most of these. Suggestive evidence places one ancester among Quantrill's Raiders at Lawrence Kanses; but other equally plausible evidence places the same ancestor in Cuba at the time. Most of the family was in Kansas by about the time of the "unCivil War," with prior residences or antecedents in the Illinois/Ohio/Indiana area; but I'm unable to trace much beyond "they came from that general area."
My S.O., on the other hand, is from a family of relatively recent immigrants, and has found documentation in Ellis Island records showing that the majority of her most recent ancestors migrated from Germanic areas and settled within a fairly well-defined area in Texas.(Apparently they weren't too bright.) She comes from a long line of priests, nuns, and vintners - not much different from my line of horse thieves, bootleggers, and drifters, although it leads to the question "how did they have so many children?" It can be documented that it's largely the vintner's fault.
My children have an additional problem in tracing their lineage, since my ex-father inlaw apparently believed that their mother's family had some deep and very dark secrets that needed to be hidden, and burned all of the family records that his own mother had kept. Having seen what he destroyed, surreptitiously once, most of what he thought might be "incriminating" was harmless stuff like hymnals, psalteries, etc.,' but there were a few newspaper clippings and personal notes that would have been invaluable in tracing the lineage, and are now not replaceable. About all that's left is my recollection that the hymnals were in German (a very vague clue) and that immigration of some ancestors, according to newpaper clippings, was after about 1830. One of the clippings indicated that an ancestor who immigrated at about that time may have brought "her" fiddle, which is also unauthenticated as to value or origin. (Not really worth that much, but it would be interesting to know.)
Family tradition indicates that my two children, from their mother's side, probably can claim 1/16 American Indian forebears, although linkage to any specific tribe (Indian nation) was probaly destroyed in those records. Other means of tracing this branch of their ancestry may or may not be available, but thus far noone has attempted to research it.
About the only lineage I can cite with certainty is "dirt-farmer" by lineage, and "American patriot" by choice, both currently rather in disrepute.
John
|
sj
