Have you ever thought about your ancestors' trip over to America?

Question

Not to discount the newer generation of immigrants, say post 1950s......but the immigrants that came here in the 1800s, early 1900s........technology sure wasn't what it is today....there was no tv, no radio until the 1920s I think.....so when they came from their country, it must have been a very brave thing to do because they only heard that America was the land of opportunity. Many of them probably knew they'd never see their families back home, ever again. What is your ancestors' story/what do you think their experience must have been like making the trip on a boat for days on end?

Answer 1

Very Hard, thats what it mist have been. I know my great grand parents had a very hard time getting here, and a lot of my friends great and even just grand parents had an even harder time. You are right. Long boat trips. Getting sick, dying. No money. No family. Leaving the family they had. A huge sacrifice to find a better tomorrow.

Answer 2

That is a wonderful question and a very warm look at the people that originated this country when it was still a baby. Yes they were very brave. And like ourselves when we leave home for College even when it is just 400 miles away it seems so far doesnt it? My Great Great Grandmother came over in the 1800's and she was so old when she died at 96, she came with most of her immediate family and yet it was so hard then. She spoke English and 4 different languages so she had no language problem, however getting work, finding housing, adapting to the wild so to speak, the newness alone of a different terraine is difficult as well as weather and not knowing what will become of them here in this vast land. Remember most Europeans come from very dinky little countries and are not as wide spred, here there was also the great frontier still to be conquered in wagons. My Grandma said hoisting a shotgun for a woman on a ranch was a common thing at times, with strangers wandering around that were scary people, and there were wild animals, snakes, wolves, coyotes, bear, etc. They hunted their food then unless they had some form of cattle because there were no groceries like today. Baked their own bread. Their shopping trips took up time the neares towns were a half a day away they would leave at the crack of dawn to get home by at least 10 pm. They bought bolts of cloth to make garments, not too many clothes to buy in stores either. Hats and shoes yes but they usually only had two pairs of shoes one for Sunday go to meeting and one for everyday. And that is if they could afford them. When they came on the boat my great great grandmother's mother brought with her a piano, and gave lessons when she arrived, the piano was warped but it worked just the same.

Answer 3

I heard a song that depicts this very topic. It's called Grandfather's Emmigrant Eyes written by Guy Clark and Robert Murrah.

Old Ellis Island was swarming,
Like a scene from a costume ball,
Decked out in the colors of Europe,
On fire with the hope of it all,

There my father's own father stood huddled
With the tired and the hungry and scared,
The turn of the century pilgrims,
Bound with the dream that they shared.

They were standing in line just like cattle,
They were poked and sorted and shoved;
Some were one desk away from sweet freedom;
Some were torn from someone they loved.

Through this sprawling tower of Babel
Came a young man confused and alone;
Determined and bound for America;
Carrying everything that he owned;

Sometimes when I look in my grandfather's emigrant eyes,
I see that day reflected and I can't hold my feelings inside.
I see starting with nothing and working hard all of his life,
"Don't take it for granted" say Grandfather's emigrant eyes.

Now he rocks and he stares out the window,
But his eyes are still just as clear
As the day he sailed into the harbor,
To land on the island of tears.

My grandfather's days are numbered,
But I won't let his memory die,
For he gave me the gift of this country,
And the look in his emigrant eyes.

How I gaze with pride at my children,
And I marvel how quickly they've grown,
Born and raised in America,
It's the only home they've ever known.

They never knew their great-granddad,
Or that he was determined and wise,
But I hope that I've passed on his spirit;
And the look in his emigrant eyes

That song pretty much sums it up for me. I've heard the stories...names being misspelled and our ancestors being too afriaid to correct it. Brothers and sisters never seeing each other again. Not knowing for years that a loved one had died. Making the sacrifices they did and would make the choice again despite the hardships they faced.
Our 80 and 90 year-old grandparents have seen more change in these last hundred years than the world has ever seen. They might not have the educations and we have (and wouldn't have, but for them)...but if "experience" holds any ground at all, these are the most intelligent people on earth. They've seen it all.

Answer 4

My ancestors came across the Atlantic from England at the very end of the 17th century and settled in upstate new york which was fertile but dangerous land back then local tribes were caught between relation between the British and the french. All white people needed to speak both languages to survive as well as some Indian whether it was Seneca or Iroquois, either way you were screwed, but here they lived and survived, until the french and Indian war which we fought as British when the revolution first started my relative took a brief hiatus to modern day Ontario and tried to avoid bloodshed, but like other families were forced into the war by British atrocities and longing for freedom.. Since then my relative have fought in every armed conflict with the exception of WWII because both grandparents were mining coal mining so the US government deemed them to important for war supplies. We traveled West by wagon and handcraft, we are true pioneers and whenever I feel blue or m ready to quit anything in my life I think back to those past generations and think what their reactions would be and then i decide again. i wish everybody had moral compass.I no longer count any bad deeds as long as I have my compass. around.

Answer 5

My grandmother was married young to a man chosen for her by her family. He drank and was pretty rough on her. She had a daughter who died at age 2 from pneumonia. After Piroska died, grandma had had enough and divorced him. I could never get her to even tell me his name. Being divorced in Hungary in the 1920's was almost unheard of and her family was ashamed. They arranged for her to come to America to marry a man who was willing to take her. She really wasn't given much choice, if she had stayed the entire village would have made her life hell. I can imagine what went through her head on that long boat ride and as she processed through Ellis Island - no English, no idea what this guy would be like. I could never have been as brave as she was. She married him and he died of blood poisoning 8 months after my father was born, then she was on her own and still couldn't speak much English but she made it, eventually owning 4 rental properties. She was in this country 41 years before she finally got to go back home and she took me and my sister with her when she went. Everyone was really nice to her then and amazed at her "fortune". I wonder if they ever realized all that she went through. I could see the difference in her when we were there, she was all aglow with familiar surroundings, the language, the people. Even after so long that's where she felt completely at home, which made me wonder how she felt each and every day just getting by and putting up with American ways. She's my hero!

Answer 6

My family was brought to America in the bottom of a boat on a six month journey that saw many of their fellow travellers die at their side. They were given little food or water and probably were not given sufficient room to even stand during the trip. Upon arrival they were separated from family and sold individually to different people. My great x 7 grandfather was sold to a man named Francis Newman in Port Tobacco Maryland. On one occasion he stuck his overseer for attempting to rape my great x 7 grandmother. This resulted in "one hundred lashes on the bare back, and to have the right ear nailed to the whipping- post, and then severed from the body.1"

Their son, Josiah Henson, my great x 6 grandfather escaped from slavery to Canada where he established a settlement for escaped slaves and met with Harriet Beecher Stowe, becoming the influence for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (and earning himself a nickname).

Coming to America probably sucked quite a bit. What a sordid affair! Good luck!

Answer 7

I don't think of my family that came here in the 1800's more than the ones who came here in the 1700's, especially in 1717. I am a decedent of the Germanna Colonies of Virginia, mostly the Second Colony of 1717. This colony was not suppose to exist in Virginia. This group of colonists was suppose to be on their way to Pennsylvania, but ended up in Virginia. They were ill-fated from the start.

They were picked-up on the Continent, (where I don't remember at the moment) and then the ship, (again I don't remember), docked in England for more supplies. As they were docked, the Captain of the ship, (again I don't remember his name), was arrested and thrown into debtor's prison. He eventually got out and they set sail. It was late in the sailing season, so it was getting colder. Needless to say, many died on this voyage due to the fact that they used up a lot of their supplies waiting on the Captain to get out of prison.

Before they arrived to the New World, the Captain decided he wasn't "paid" enough. So, he took all their belongings and set sail for Virginia instead of Pennsylvania. When they got to Virginia, the Captain of the ship sold these Germans into servitude to Governor Alexander Spotswood. Some would question Spotswood on his actions for he had to have seen the injustice, but he was powerful and he could use the cheap labor. He settled this group about 2 miles from the First Germanna Colony, which was a legitimate colony that Spotswood imported in 1714. The story continues from there, but that is for another time.

I try to think of what these people had to go through. They were on their way to the New World for a different life and they get "hijacked" by the Captain of the ship they were on. Most probably could not speak English and didn't understand what was happening. A lot of them died on the way there and some were probably were still grieving. It was a sad event, but if these people had not been forced to go to Virginia, I probably would not be here.

There was probably one blessed event on board. My gr,gr,gr,gr,gr,gr,gr grandmother was probably born on the ship. Her name is not in the parish records, but she is on the importation list, so I try to think of how happy some people were when that happened. A nice thing to happen surrounded by all that suffering.

Answer 8

Yes, every time I catch myself whining about something in my life that I think is too hard, I think about 2 of my grandparents surviving WWI in Europe and the others (Grandparents and Grt. Grand parents immigrating by steamship before 1908.
Then I am ashamed of myself.

Answer 9

My ancestors crossed the Baring straight ice bridge somewhere around 20,000 years ago in 3-4 waves. Do i think about them you ask? Sometimes, i wonder which Asian line we're related to? Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan or others?

Answer 10

Erm... my ancestors more likely never heard about America at all, as they may have crossed the Bering Strait to get there. I'm Native American, you see, and walking all that way, probably over ice and snow and with who knows what predators along the way -- well, I think that was a little braver.