I assume to find a better life. Some came on the Mayflower, one side of the family were not Quakers but travelled with Wm Penn and his colony. Most likely the lure of land ownership and religious freedom.

I've alway pictured myself with a husband who wanted to join the Mayflower group, saying "You want me to get on that leaky old boat and go where? Be sure the check is on time - I'm staying right here!".

Father's line: One side (father's father's line) of my family arrived from Germany in the mid-1600s and settled in the Pennsylvania area. There are many folks still there with my maiden surname. As my direct line moved west, they married various Cherokee & Blackfoot people. The other side (father's mother's line) arrived from England in the late 1600s, and eventually moved to the Midwest. They also married Cherokee people. This line is traced directly back to King Edward III through John of Gaunt. It was really interesting to see "Granddaddy Eddie's" tomb in Westminster Abbey.

Mother's line: I only know her mother's side because her dad disappeared when she was two and I have no idea who he is/was. Her grandmother's parents (my great-great-grandparents) are my most-recent immigrant ancestors. They arrived in the USA in 1870, settling in Chicago until the Great Fire, then moving to Louisiana. He (a former Prussian Merchant Marine) was a tree cutter. She (from Ireland via the "docks of Liverpool" - yeah, that's exactly what that means) was a homemaker. They had five children, but only one of those children (my great-grandmother) had children. My mom's grandfather was 1/2 Cherokee and 1/2 English. I don't have much on him, at all.

Why did they come? Religious freedom for the 1600s immigrants. My direct-line German ancestor was an Anabaptist preacher who faced resistance in southern Germany. My direct-line English ancestors came for the opportunity to own land.

The Prussian Merchant Marine and his "dock-walker" wife left England to try to change her reputation.

My four grandparents were poor peasants in Poland and came over in the great migration in the early 1900's Their names can be found in the museum at Ellis Island. They settled in large numbers in upstate New York parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Many others of course moved on to Chicago and Detroit and other parts of the country. They built huge churches and worked hard. My grandmother never spoke English although my grandfather spoke passable English because he worked in a large factory at GE. The churches became the cornerstone of their life. I attended the Catholic school and to this day I describe my childhood as growing up in a Polish ghetto. It was a very secure, lower middle class life stye built around the church, family and other relatives

He arrived from England in 1664. Not sure the reason he came over.

fsajewic - I visited Ellis Island on one of my many trips to NYC. Because it has no personal connection for me (it didn't exist until after all my immigrant ancestors were here), I found it a bit odd. The museum is nice, but I think it would be better to experience it if your ancestors had passed through there.

Scott/Pawprint--If you want to do more research try enrolling with FamilySearch. It is free and offers access to quite a bit of information, if you're willing to do the digging.

Have a few relatives who have done a lot to create paternal side of my family tree. Grandmother's family came from England in ????... Dransfield was the name... very British, dontcha think? Her mother's name was Mooney... a bit of Irish there, obviously.

Grandfather's side came from Scotland in ????... Loughead is the name... supposedly related to Lockheed, but as Forest Gump said... ain't seen a nickle of that money.

I don't think either side came to America to escape any kind of "oppression"... probably just the thing to do?? Somewhere I have pictures of both grandparents as babies... VERY Victorian pictures, LONG "dresses",,, maybe christening... with their mother's holding them. If I find them and can figure out how... will post them?!?

I'm back. Successfully scanned and posted the pictures I was talking about. Have NO CLUE how to rotate the picture... or how to move the picture either to the top or bottom, instead of ini the middle? I know it's MY family, but I think Nana was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL baby... I know they ALL are, but she "beautiful-er". I can absolutely see her as I remember her in that baby picture. We would kid Pop-pop about the "dress"!

I did not come through Ellis Island of course, but when visiting... I was in AWE, on how tough it must have been for all those that entered through it.

Moni

My family left for economics, not religious reasons. Family stories imply that my father's side left Ireland sometime in the late 1800's -- but I wonder if they left in the potato famine with so many other Irish, in the mid-1800s. No one on his side ever looked back much. Mother's side came from Germany in the 1905 - 1910s. They had to have permission to leave. The last son to come over did not have the correct papers, and was almost caught -- but after shuffling through this pocket, that pocket, and looking bewildered, the inspector said "Och, go ahead."

My paternal family is also from County Clare (Maghera). At the age of 17, my grandfather came here with just a cousin of similar age. They came on the ship Saxonia and arrived in Boston on March 25, 1904 to stay with a sister who was already here in New Jersey. They had to declare how much money they had and each said they had 5.00. The trip was actually fairly quick as the information said the ship had disembarked from Cobb on March 16, 1904.

The Saxonia

The manifest

As the R.M.S. Saxonia disembarked passengers in Boston on March 25, 1904, all new arrivals in America were recorded on a large form, the Manifest of Alien Passengers. A ship the size of the Saxonia, which carried 1,608 steerage passengers on that particular crossing, would have those passengers listed on scores of such pages.

This is the house my grandfather was raised in Ireland

Many people complain about today's arriving immigrants, that many (and especially those coming across our southern border legally and otherwise) are uneducated and unskilled peasants. It's often true but this isn't new.

It's hypocritical because FOR MOST OF US, the same is true of our own ancestors. Many countries, especially European ones, have long standing people on the middle and well off classes and many of those never considered the thought of leaving their comfortable circumstances. Some did and continue to but the large numbers of immigrants to the US over the decades and centuries have mostly been poor and often desperate.

Father's French side came over in 1604 to Quebec. I don't know why they left because I have traced the name back to nobility in late 1400's, Unless it had to do with primogeniture and not inheiriting much in later generations. Or maybe they wanted more oportunities. My grandfather came across the boarder in New Hampshire, legally or illegally I don't know, in eary 1900's (1909--1913) with his first wife and a few kids. (My dad was born in NH from the second wife, also from Quebec.)

My Mother's Irish side came over in early 1800's to Canada, living in different parts of the country and settling on Prince Edwards Island. My grandmother (mother's mother) came to Boston around 1906 as a well off family's servant at the age of 19. My grandfather came over as a baby from Ireland to Boston in the late 1880's. Again, I guess it was for a better life. I remember hearing something about the potato famine as a kid.

Both my parents were first generation Americans, the children of immigrants from Canada and Ireland. As Elmer said, we all come from immigrants unless you are Native American.

Not sure exactly when he first arrived, but my great, great grandfather and his family bought land right across the field from my house in 1845 (I have the original deed). He died 13yrs. later. They came from Baden, Germany, and I'm thinking it may have been for similar reasons Elizabeth gives. Lots of turmoil at that time in Germany, war and religious persecution.

I have one line that goes back 12 generations to what is now Germany. They left because of the Nine Years War, harsh winters and famine. Another line came from Luxembourg in the late 1800's/early 1900's. I read that more babies survived and there wasn't enough land for everyone. I think the ancestors from Prussia came over around the same time for the same reasons. I have some other lines that appear to have come from the UK, but I don't have enough research on that yet. We also haven't proven the Native American ancestry we are said to have. I am also a mutt.

I have just started my genealogy search. I have found both of my mother's great great great so on so forth grandfathers fought in the revolutionary war. One fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Because of that fact my grand mother, mother and I are eligible to become Daughters of the America Revolution and my son a Son of the American Revolution. My Mother and Grandmother are gone now but I think it would be nice to be able to put the plaque on their headstones, both are buried in the National Cemetery in Florida. My Mother was in the Armed Forces and was at Vietnam. My Grandfather was Air Force so my Grandmother is there with him.

In order to become a Daughter of the American Revolution I have to provide so much documentation which is requiring me to follow the family line all the way back. It takes a lot of time. I have reached out to one of the DAR representatives here that is willing to help me research and will help me use the archives there in Washington to further validate.

My Father's family is from Poland he is first generation to be born here in America. My grandparents on his side are all gone and that line is proving to be a real pain to trace because of the last name changes and spelling variations of their original last name and then tracing the new last name into the old one. Of course I am also having issues with first names because it seems they did not understand some of my relatives first names so they just made them up. Oy. I do know they escaped from Poland around the war. I have found some of my relatives were sent to concentration camps and only some children made it over. The parents hid the kids before being taken off to camps. I am hoping that I can trace this all because I find it fascinating and would love to know how they got the children out and who was who.

Cousins on both sides did our genealogy and I found both sides of my family came over in 1708 and 1709. Maternal side came from Germany and settled in Lancaster county. The paternal side came from Switzerland and also settled in Lancaster. Both families finally moved two counties west and we have all been right here for the last 300 years except for one cousin who recently moved to SC. So the west wouldn't have been settled if it were up to our families. There was a German enclave here and I would guess I'm as German as someone living in Berlin , because German married German. My great grandfather still spoke German in in the 1900 census though they had been here 200 years. There were German speaking churches and they were a group unto themselves . I heard they picked PA because it so reminded them of Germany but still don't know why they left in the first place. The German line ends with me who married a 1/2 German and 1/2 English.

I don't know much about my family history except for a great, great or great, great, great grandfather. He immigrated from Ireland on his own ship, so he was a ship captain of some kind. He settled in Chicago, sold his ship, and bought swamp land that today is part of the Chicago Loop. He sold that swampy land for 50 cents and acre. We are not a family of shrewd businessmen.

FamilySearch.org ... I found a ton of information on my families there, lot's more than I have on ancestry ... and it's free. They will even send you an email if they find something on your family.

My father was from Ukraine (then called Austria) and came to Canada as a baby just before the commencement of WW I. My grandfather was very poor and had come over several years previous in order to establish a home for the family. The Canadian government at the time encouraged immigration, especially from that region of Europe, in order that the Prairies could be developed and farmed. My grandfather was awed by the number of trees on his land, since forests in Europe were controlled by the wealthy. My father and his family were very fortunate to have escaped Europe at that time, because surely many would not have survived the war. My mother's family originally came from the same region in Europe and were also looking for economic opportunity that was completely closed off to them in the old country.

Maternal side came to New York in the early 1900's because they were starving and had no work in Italy. There was also political turmoil. My grandmother came as a teenager with her parents and married sister and her husband. My grandfather left his mother and a sibling in Italy. I have the letters they wrote to each other. His mother passed away just before he was able to send for her. Very sad. My paternal grandfather's family emigrated from Poland/Ukraine also in the early 20C to escape poverty and religious persecution. My grandfather was a young boy. It took lots of grit to do what they did.

The thing that has always puzzled me is, where did they get the money for their passage since so many were so desperately poor. That would be the first question I would ask one of my four grandparents who came over from Ireland. My maternal grandma was 16 years old. Imagine! A 16 year old girl boarding a ship alone sometime in the late 1800s and sailing off to a new country. It boggles the mind. I always think of her when I'm acting like a scaredy cat over something.

Part of my history is Germans coming to Hawaii to work the sugar cane in the 1860s I believe. So there is a resulting grave marker in a small historic cemetery on Kauai for instance. And I eventually (she lived to be 98) inherited period photos. Unfortunately identifying notations may be missing and I have no kids, most of us are dead so that presumably these will all end up being thrown out. After being around for maybe something like 170 years (I'm 60 now).

They moved here from Denmark so they could escape family problems, make money and own land. I am the first born here in Canada. My two sisters were born in Denmark and knew our half brother, which is one reason for leaving Denmark. So sad. Apparently about 40% of first born children weren't or aren't born in wedlock. It shouldn't bring shame to anyone to have or be such a child! I missed growing up with him.....and wasn't told about him until I was 15 ( I promptly told my younger sisters!) I never could keep a secret...

i love this place for the simple fact that we get to hear others' stories. Thank you for sharing everyone.

Embothrium: Someone is interested in those pictures. You may be missing some info, but write up what you know. Look for a library or historical museum to take your pictures.

A 'cousin' posted a picture taken right around 1900-1910 on FindAGrave. All is it states is that it is one ancestor's family. I've made it my project to identify as many people as possible. I think I've figured out my great grandmother, four of her siblings, her parents and an in law. Still have about 25 people not identified. I'd still rather have the picture than not. It's the only picture I have of my great great grandparents.

My father came from Scotland at the age of 19 as he had worked in the coalmines and the air was so thick with coal and smoke that drs. said he would die if he didn't leave so he came and made a success of his life. My Mom came from Canada and her grandmother (who was a Micmac Indian) wanted her children to all end up in America so they could get good educations and less discrimination. She made her children promise not to tell anyone in America that that they were part Indian and so they didn't but, being the second oldest of 68 grandchildren, I used to hear things and one aunt taught me a Micmac song which I sing to this day. Somehow I found out about my Indian heritage.

All of my great grandmothers children became very very successful and my grandmother hobnobbed with the Kennedy's. I think her Indian Mom was very proud of her and, we the progeny, are very very proud of our ancestry. My own husband is a first generation American. He came from Italy, I wanted to mix it up a bit lol.

Scott, you ask the best questions, love it. Also Scott is my favorite man's name. I have a son Scott.

ElizabethA -- German. Self-declared king. Wisenheimer. Are you related to that bigly guy who tweets all the very, very's?

My maternal grandmother is my most recent immigrant, arriving NYC on a sailing ship from Glasgow -- but boarding first in Londonderry with her widowed Irish mother, a brother and a sister. This was before Ellis Island. She was the youngest, 16. She claimed to be Scots and never in my lifetime admitted the Irish part. (No Irish Welcome in NYC pre-1900 -- and longer.) Her family moved in with an aunt by marriage who owned a boarding house where the UN now stands. She found work in a laundry, ironing. One sister became a nurse. Her brother was a motorman on a trolley. She buried them all within ten years of arrival (TB). She married a Scot whose ancestors had been in America in time to fight in the Indian and Revolutionary Wars before moving west. He was born in West Plains, Missouri -- father Scots; mother Irish. He met my grandmother NYC after his discharge from the Spanish American War -- his means of escape from a stepmother and Missouri.

My paternal side is all Scots and French. The Scots were lowlanders. Some were farmers (south of Edinburgh); some were farmers/raiders at the Borders; some went to sea out of Berwick. Two went to Australia; town named for them there. The 'farmers' went first to Edinburgh and received education. Most of those came to NYC and are buried in Greenwood Cemetery. My immediate connection (G-g-grandfather -- a canny Scot) found a wealthy widow in Cincinnati, where the French connection is added. One of the Berwick family captained a whaling ship to Hawaii; married a member of the ali'i; stayed and prospered. The men from the Borders immigrated earlier -- also fought in the French and Indian Wars, one serving directly under Washington. He farmed near Wyoming, Pennsylvania; gave each son a Founding Father's name.

My French Protestants originated in Bern, Switzerland, then settled in the Jura. Many sons were sent to America to avoid conscription. I have letters back and forth. Once Black Hawk was defeated (1830's), one father in France sold out his entire weaving business and emigrated with all the rest of his family by sailing ship to NYC, then down the Erie Canal to Cincinnati, and on west into Southern Illinois, where his sons had established themselves. In France they were mayors of small villages, weavers and educators. In America they were farmers and brewers; later generations were teachers. A few of the natives of France returned 'to retire'.

Primogeniture was a big reason many younger sons emigrated. Wars and the bleak aftermath for 'the people', regardless who 'won'. Famine. Too many children for the land to support. "Progress" -- like Scots crofters turned out by absentee 'landlords'.

We were founded by people -- some willing to take a chance -- some forced.

I would love to hear how the immigrant arriving "without a coin in his pocket", and knowing no one, managed to make that first coin, survive that first day, week, month. I bet it wasn't pretty. That may be why we don't know.

Joan, re: money for passage. Could be your grandma's passage was paid for by a family she would be working for? Or as you say she was incredibly brave to start out on her own!

Very interesting stories from everyone.

A further bit of info about my ancestors who traveled to the US with Wm Penn and the Quakers but who were not themselves Quakers.

Before they left England, they were married in a church in London, St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. Later, they traveled to the US. The church had been ravaged by the Great Fire of London, and afterwards, Christopher Wren was involved in its rebuilding.

Fast forward to 1946. At Westminster College in Fulton, MO, Winston Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech. In 1961, the college President met with some members of the St Louis chapter of the English Speaking Union, and they decided to raise the money to bring over a Christopher Wren church (that had been bombed in WWII) and build a memorial to Winston Churchill at Westminster College. And thus it was!

My ancestor's surname was Robinett (sometimes spelled Robinette). After the church was rebuilt at Westminster College, the newly formed Robinett Family Association decided to have their first family reunion at the college with a worship service held in the church in which our ancestors were married. It was actually featured on the Today Show on July 4th that first year, as a Robinett ancestor was a cameraman and brought the reunion to the attention of the show's producers. I've never been able to attend - it is always just a few days before I head east for our summer vacation. I need to go someday!

The family association holds a reunion there every two years. Among our "famous" ancestors, is former VP Joseph Robinett Biden. When I heard him take the oath of office for the first time and heard his middle name, I practically fell out of my chair! It's a rather unusual name and I had no idea. He is also the only Robinett I know who is a Democrat! Lots were involved in Republican politics during the late 19th century and throughout the first 2/3rd of the 20th century.

Here's a link to information about this lovely church. How nice it was saved and rebuilt, if not in it's country of origin! <https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/church-of-st-mary-history.html>;

A bit of irony. When I was living in St Louis, I was a member of the Junior League there. Our club president had been asked to help figure out a permanent fundraiser for the Winston Churchill Memorial, as it was called in the mid 1970's. She came up with the idea of a cookbook and asked League member to volunteer to submit recipes and also be recipe testers for the cookbook. I volunteered and also submitted a few recipes. They made it into the cookbook and at that time I had NO idea my ancestors had any connection to this church! BTW, it's a terrific cookbook!

Both parents were from Ireland. They did not know each other over there. Mom was from County Leitrim & Dad from County Cork. Both of them came over on a boat to Ellis Island. Dad was 18 & Mom was 16. They both came from very poor families who had lots of brothers & sisters. My Mom always said my Grandma thought that American people were all rich so my Mom could make lots of money & bring everyone else over to America. How people got that idea I don't know but it was very hard on my Mom who did not know anyone in America. Neither one of my parents ever wanted to go back to Ireland to visit. I would love to visit Ireland.

On my mother's side, I am a direct descendant of King Edward I and King Henry III of England. Her family came to America around 1630 and settled north of Jamestown, VA. Her family genealogy is very interesting.

On my father's side, I am related to Abe Lincoln--my great-great-great grandmother and his mother were sisters. I don't known when they came to America, but it was a long time ago.

My Grandfather last name Perry married my Grandmother a Pritchard, they lived in Shelsley Walsh England. After having 4 children my mother the last they came over to a small country town in Pennsylvania, ( where I now live) and bought a dairy farm. This was in 1925. I don't know how my grandfather had the money to do this, he was a Queens guard and used to say he owed all of his good fortune to His Majesty. I didn't spend a great deal of time with Grandfather, but when I did I now wish I would have paid attention to his stories, but I was young and his tales held little interest. My Grandmother died when I was 5 but I remember a elegant lady that always had a pretty hankie in her sleeve and wore a hat with a long hat pin and short white gloves to Church. Funny the things that suddenly pop into your head at times

I have no idea why they came, but now I really want to look into it. I do have Native American on both sides. But I also have blue eyes, freckles, and a Scandinavian last name. My mom always said she thought we were descended from horse thieves when I asked. :)

Not my whole family, but the young Irishman who arrived in the United States in October, 1797, eventually founded Gaffney, now the largest city in Cherokee County, South Carolina. I actually at one time, years ago, held his diary in my hand. I now have a copy (third edition) of The Journal and Genealogy of Michael Gaffney. FROM IRELAND TO THE BACKWOODS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Michael is my great,great,great grandfather. I have been to Gaffney many times and still have relatives there. Fascinating to realize how near and yet so far we are from our own history.

Have you heard of Germans from Russia? That is my heritage. In the 1800s they migrated to the U.S. after pretty much having been forced to leave. They settled in North and South Dakota. Before I was born, my parents made the move to California and I have never lived anywhere else.

My mom came over from Japan in the 50s. My dad's family, who knows? I'm assuming they came from Scotland, he's an Armstrong and his mother was a Roberts. Have no idea when they came or why.

My family came in the 1780's so I have no idea why......Good post, as always, Scott

Mama, luckily I was able to ask both my sets of grandparents where they originated from. However there weren't many details because it was approximately 2 generations ahead of them that first migrated here. Very sketchy details. Just know where they started from. But I wish I knew more.

Thank you YAY!! I'm a curious person.

Yes, I've read everyone's responses. So very interesting. And I'm surprised to see a few County Cork Ireland folks!! I'd love to go there and see what it's like.

Now my last name is confusing. Now it's Barron. But I heard rumors that in Ireland it might have been spelled Baron. Not sure.

My maternal last name is Arnold. So that couid be many places.

I just love history & learning more about myself, family & others.

I think it is cool to explore. I knew about my family but it was fun to learn about my first husbands story. And my DH now has a story to of coming from Scotland that is pretty cool.

My earliest US ancestor came from Wales to the Virginia Colony on the SW side of Chesapeake Bay in ca 1735. From there, with the Dodson(s), they removed ca 1750 to what is now Pittsylvania Co, VA. My ancestor established a 420 acre plantation. I suppose his reason for coming to the colonies was agricultural, and a chance to acquire land.

My Franklin ancestor (of my Dad's Mother) came to the colonies for a very different reason. He lived in Acton, England and saw his father hanged for being a Presbyterian. He made up his mind that Acton was not the place for him and left for the colonies hoping to establish a life for himself and wife and children. They were literally penniless upon arrival. They arrived in Boston in the 1700s. He first tried making a living with candle making and found that was not adequate.

During the Rev. war, a British Officer brought a wounded conscript Scotsman, Hugh McCoy, to the house of my Franklins (who were now in New Jersey) to recuperate. Hugh McCoy did recover, caught the eye of his benefactor's daughter, and refused to sign up again when his term expired. Daughter and Hugh marries and Hugh now stays in contact with his new family. (This is the only Scot that I can verify in my line.)

Near the end of the Revolutionary War, my Franklins, and Hugh McCoy, removed to Burke Co, NC using land warrants from the French and Indian Was and the Revolutionary War to buy land in N.C. After 6 children were birthed, Hugh supposed that he had some property coming to him in Scot,and. He takes passage on a ship. He and the ship is never heard from again. It is supposed the ship was lost at sea.

These Franklins move through Boone Gap into Kentucky and thence onward to settle in Franklin Co. TN. One of Hugh's children married a John Brown. It is this couple who came to Illinois in 1828 when the southern portion of Illinois opened for settlement. They produced my Grandmother.

This is a fascinating question, thanks for putting it out there. My Dad immigrated around '45 at the age of 17, from England. He didn't make it back for 40 years, after both his parents had passed.

I don't absolutely know.. they largely arrived here in the early 1800's from northern Europe / Britain. I'm thinking in part economic opportunity, and in part religion -- they were nearly all Catholics who arrived through Maryland (which was Catholic) from nations predominantly Protestant. None of them kept journals (that are extant, anyway).

My mother and her parents moved after hearing the first rumblings about Hitler. They were Jewish. A lot of their more optimistic relatives stayed. Most of them were killed by the Nazis.

Funny things turn up when you do genealogy. One of the immigrant French wrote home from Tennessee to say that his confectionery business was going well. Ah, but the inventory of his estate detailed a few household items and everything you'd find in a commercial brewery.

My 3G grandfather was born in the late 1700's in France. He was a newlywed when he returned to his family home one evening to find his father shot dead on the doorstep. (I have not found the cause of the dispute.) Jean-George was not much taller than his wife. He put on some of her clothes, and they traveled to the coast as sisters, then on to America. He bought heavily timbered land in a French community near Cincinnati where he farmed and was a cooper for the Cincinnati breweries. Their first daughter was (of course) Susan. They had 10 more children, including two sets of twins. Susan had twin girls, one of whom was my G-grandmother. Jean-George may have escaped the French Army, but his sons served in the Union Army; one dying of his wounds, one serving for the duration. Much later, one member of the family was billeted near the family's home village in France, during WWII.

It's the stories of the individuals that make genealogy interesting for me, not discovering only a name and a date in some archive, with no clue to *who* they were.

A long cherished, oft-told story in my family is that some ancestor of mine was a minor nobleman in the Alsace-Lorraine region of Germany, until the French took over that area in a war. Subsequently the Germans retook the area and restored his land and title, then the French re-conquered the area, again deposing him. At which time he decided to move to America.

Recently my brother has been tracing our genealogy back as far as he can and even took a vacation to Germany to try to track down more information. He's had some success but hasn't found any truth to the "minor nobleman" story. It may be similar to ElizabethA's "King of Wurtenburg" story.

With my wife's family it is much easier. Her parents both came to the US from France, right after World War 2. There is even a photo in the New York Times of her mother's family disembarking from a plane with a caption stating something about how they were the first family to immigrate to the US by plane after commercial flights were started back up.

Donna_Loomis - yes, Germans had a huge influence in Russia at one time, with German Catherine the Great being Empress of Russia after having married the Emperor. The Emperor died and she ruled by herself after that.

Not so much of an influence as I understand it, stacey. These people have been referred to as Volga Germans - they were invited to emigrate to Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. They kept their language and culture and because of living in their own enclaves, had limited interaction with the locals. Many of their communities were out in the boondocks on previously unsettled land. Far from the central core of Russia

Paternal great-grandparents came from Ireland in the 1800's, maternal grandparents from Hungary in early 1900's. My grandmother and her family came over at different times as the family got established here. I have my grandmother's records and a plaque for her at Ellis Island. When I went to Ellis Island and saw the Baggage Room and Great Hall I was really overcome with emotion for what the immigrants went through to come to this country.

Yes, immigrants went through a lot to come to North America and I am grateful that my family was able to enter Canada relatively easily, without the controls on immigration of today.

Thank you for that information, Elmer. I find European history very interesting.