Do you know where your ancestors came from?

Question

...and do you know what influenced their decisions to migrate and settled where they did....?

Answer 1

My ancestors arrived from Europe in the 18th century and gradually migrated west. They went where land was offered free -- first to Iowa and then on to Nebraska, S. Dakota, Colorado, Oregon and California nearly always following the railroads.
Knowing the routes they took and looking at what was happening at the time makes American history much more interesting.
My husband's family arrived in the Holland, Michigan area from The Netherlands in 1854 and many still live there. We've met relatives still living in The Netherlands, and have learned a lot about Dutch history in the U.S.
I wish I had known more about my ancestors when I was studying history in school. Hopefully it will make history class more interesting for my grandchildren.
The word "here" makes me very curious on other posts. I suspect it means "U.S."
I'm glad to see "an ya's" post -- more people should be aware of the Armenian genocide!

Answer 2

i think my ancestors came from Transalyvania, near the border of Turkey. They migrated to Asia, during the 12th century. Some of them say that they were forced to migrate because of the legendary Dracula. But I think its nonsense.

Answer 3

My ancestors came from Germany and the reason they came to the States was that they believed that employment was everywhere in the States. As far as I know we have been here since Ellis Island, and there are more and more of us around the US it seems every day. The Hafer's I mean, lol
Thanks and God Bless you,
Matt

Answer 4

Yeah I know, I tracked down my family tree up to 1790. That's ten generations. I bet they did not know I was coming and going to find out what they did. Ha Ha!
back 10 generation ago, I am mostly from Normandy (north of France, where William the Conqueror was from) and Gaule (rest of France) and a tad of Italian thrown in as well.

Answer 5

yup, i just posted on this on my own question.

My family goes back to an illegitimate child of Louis XIV, and also we have a genetic "issue" that traces back to Vikings.

but my usual answer is "We're Scotch Irish" which I believe means we came from Scotland originally, fleeing the
English rotters, to Ireland, then the colonies.

Answer 6

Yes, I do. They migrated because they thought they had a great message to spread worldwide. They were powerful conquerors, driven by faith . In their adoptive country their language is now widely spoken and their culture and faith reign, unchallenged

Answer 7

No, My sir name is Trish, and I think there are only about 7 or 8 women in the UK with this sir name that I can trace. Some experts claim it is German, some say Irish. Who Knows!!

Answer 8

my grandparents were armenian and had to come to argentina because the turkish were killing all the armenians they could find (1915). it was the first genocide of the story. 1500000 armenians were killed just because they were catholics. why argentina? because it was the promised land. it was a very rich country at that moment. other armenians went to the states, france or brazil. in fact, there are armenians all over the world!

Answer 9

yes, they were greeks who lived in Instamby=ul but were forced to flee and come to Greece when the Turks started slattering people there in 1922.

Answer 10

i know on my fathers side my ancestors of his father are from swizerland and on his mothers side they are english , on my moms side they are german . as far as their migrating i do know the english side of my dad were pilgrims from the mayflower , and my moms dad came here from prussia when he was 12.