My grandmother was Clara Matilda Gruessing (maiden) with Gypsy roots, anyone know about this? Itd be helpful?

Question

Not many in my family will tell me much, she used to tell me not to tell folks we had Gypsy in us or they wouldnt let me play with them. Now I'm old and dont care, just wondering about my roots.

Answer 1

Hey Lili,

Check the LDS Family Search Site first. There are a bunch of Gruessing entries there.

There are 2 entries in the Ellis Island site. There are no entries at GENFORUM. You could start a GENFORUM surname entry.

The best way to determine anyone's roots is to go for the Birth, Death and Marriage certificates. You can find them where you find Vital Records in the towns of the events, or states where the events occured. Here are some more expensive sites.

Answer 2

There is a Clara Gruessing listed in the 1930 census as follows:

Name: Clara Gruessing
Home in 1930: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin
Age: 19
Estimated birth year: abt 1911
Birthplace: Minnesota
Relation to Head of House: Servant
Race: White

She was living with a family of Richardsons. It also lists her father as being born in Illinois and her mother being born in Germany, but you have to take this information with a grain of salt.

Answer 3

It can be very difficult to find genealogical info regarding your Roma heritage. For most of history, Roma people were not included in any census. To this day, many Roma born around the world have little to no documentation to their name.

The German name means nothing. People of Roma descent, even people still entrenched in Roma society, have all kinds of last names. It was common practice for Roma to simply adopt European last names. That's why you find all types of last names belonging to Roma families.

I went through the same thing you're going through. Try to find some good books on the Roma (also called "Romani"). There's so much misinformation out there, you shouldn't bother listening to here say about what they "gypsies" are like. It's a very dynamic and fascinating culture, rich in history and art. Have pride in your heritage, there's a a great history of survival against all odds in your past.

Also, if your family is of German ancestry you might look into learning more about the "Sinti", a type of Roma who have a long history in that region.

PS, it's also very possible your ancestor lied about her ancesty in the past. It may have been the smart thing to do at the time. Also, many people of Roma ancestry also have Romanian blood. For over a century the Roma were kept as slaves in Romania, and it was common for young girls to be bought as sex slaves. Of course, this resulted in many children being born of mixed ancestry. This allowed many people to leave their Roma ancestry behind after slavery ended, by playing up the white heritage and keeping quiet about the Roma part.

Answer 4

Gruessing looks German to me. Of course they would write a "u" with two dots on it instead "ue". And may be instead of "ss" a so called sharp s, a special letter that exists in the German language only.

Answer 5

Sadly but it has been said that lots of Gypsys were killed during the holocaust.