Discussion » Questions » Family » Did your family arrive in the US, Canada, Australia or elsewhere as immigrants? Do you know their story?
Jane S

Did your family arrive in the US, Canada, Australia or elsewhere as immigrants? Do you know their story?

My maternal great-grandparents came to work on the Iron Range. There were immigrants from 43 different countries who were recruited to work in the mines. My Cornish great-grandfather was a captain in the mines and my Slovenian great-grandparents were storekeepers. The immigrants faced hard work, poor living conditions, dangerous work, and discrimination. But 100 years later all these immigrants have assimilated and helped this county to thrive. https://www.mnopedia.org/immigration-iron-range-1880-1930

Posted - March 6, 2023
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Responses


  • 10052
    Rumor has it that one of my ancestors landed here by happy accident after over-imbibing at a bon voyage party on a ship. 

    And people wonder why I don't drink...
      March 6, 2023 8:26 PM MST
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  • 10993
    That's a story I haven't heard before. 
      March 7, 2023 5:58 AM MST
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  • 10052
    I totally believe that it is true. That side of my family tree resembles a whiskey barrel! 
      March 7, 2023 9:46 PM MST
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  • 13277
    How could anyone arrive in a new country as anything other than an immigrant?

    My great-grandparents, grandparents, and their families were Austrian, Polish, and Russian Jews who fled persecution and worse to come to the US. The most recent was my uncle, who escaped Vienna at age 29 just before the German Anschluss in 1938.

    Untold numbers of my Polish relatives didn’t get out and perished in Nazi-run death camps.
      March 6, 2023 8:32 PM MST
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  • 34246
    A person could be Native to the country or could have been born with dual citizenship and therefore not considered an immigrant.
      March 7, 2023 5:54 AM MST
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  • 10993
    An immigrant is a person who comes to a country to establish permanent residency, so a person can arrive without the intent of starting a life in a new country. 

    I am glad that your family found a safe haven in this country. 
      March 7, 2023 6:10 AM MST
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  • 5451
    I’m 100% of European descent, mostly English on my dad’s side and mostly German on my mom’s side, so, yes, all of them immigrated here.  My dad’s side of the family has been in North America the longest.  They lived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th Century.  My mom’s side of the family has been here the shortest amount of time.  Her grandparents immigrated from Germany. This post was edited by Livvie at March 9, 2023 8:50 AM MST
      March 6, 2023 8:46 PM MST
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  • 10993
    Do you know why they came from Germany?  I find immigration stories so interesting. 
      March 7, 2023 6:11 AM MST
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  • 5451
    They thought Adolf Hitler was going to get the country into a major war so they left. This post was edited by Livvie at March 9, 2023 8:50 AM MST
      March 7, 2023 7:44 AM MST
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  • 10993
    Smart move, I'd say!
      March 7, 2023 9:00 AM MST
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  • 844
    To my knowledge, all of my family came as immigrants. I've never had my DNA tested but, as reported by my parents, their countries of origin were Ireland (potato famine people), England, and Germany. The Germans were in part immigrants to Germany, members of the group(s) of Christians (name not religion) that came through the Isle of Man. The origins of that line is believed to be Scandinavian.

    There are many decedents of this Christian group spread all over the world. I once worked with a woman who had married a man named Christian. He had immigrated from the Caribbean (I don't know which country). I asked her if her husband was connected to the Christians from the Isle of Man. She said that he was. Fletcher Christian is the most well known. There are so many of us, that one of you may be one yourself or may know someone who is. This post was edited by NYAD at March 9, 2023 8:50 AM MST
      March 6, 2023 10:26 PM MST
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  • 10993
    That's an interesting history. So you are related to the residents of Pitcairn Island.
      March 7, 2023 6:16 AM MST
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  • 844
    No, not likely. The Christians that came as immigrants to the Isle of Man were not necessarily related. They were probably religious refugees (Christians) from the Scandinavian countries. They were named Christian by locals. There's still a large population of them on the Isle of Man. The Isle has limited space and resources so many emigrated to other countries at different times over the centuries. My ancestors went to Germany before coming to the US. For some reason, our families like to pass on this quirk of ancestry. The Isle of Man is also known for is the Manx cat and the birthplace of the Bee Gees.
      March 7, 2023 9:16 AM MST
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  • 10993
    I must have misunderstood. You mentioned Fletcher Christian, so I assumed you were somehow related.
      March 7, 2023 10:23 AM MST
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  • 53503

     

      My answer to the first question is an unfortunate yes.




      My answer to the second question is truthfully, not the full story, just parts of it. Grrrrrrr.




    :(

      March 6, 2023 10:54 PM MST
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  • 10993
    I thought about your story after I posted this. It's almost unimaginable today that such cruelty existed. Most immigrants to this country faces hardship and discrimination,  but it pales in comparison. 
      March 7, 2023 6:23 AM MST
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  • 53503

     

      Thank you, my friend.
      ~

      March 7, 2023 7:19 AM MST
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  • 2999
    It's hard to even imagine, the cruelty of one human being to another.

    I feel so bad your family went through such hard and perilous times. However, here you are, Randy Candy to many happy women.  :  )
      March 7, 2023 4:31 PM MST
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  • 16763
    Of my 32 great-great-great-grandparents, 29 were born outside Australia. One generation further back, it's 62 of 64. One line goes back to the Dreaming, 40,000 years at least. The oldest extant culture on the planet.
    Most of the remainder were Irish, save one French Canadian who bequeathed upon me a surname nobody can pronounce if they read it or spell when they hear it, and one shearer with no background - he called himself "John Smith", 'nuff said.
      March 7, 2023 3:52 AM MST
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  • 10993
    Sounds like they've been in Australia so long that you may not know the story of why they came. That's true for my paternal side's arrival in America,  although I have heard that one was transported here after stealing a horse. Do you know of any convicts in your lineage?
      March 7, 2023 6:28 AM MST
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  • 16763
    Two, Dennis and Kathleen O'Neill. Transported on the very last convict ship to Australia (Fremantle) in 1868, for "Political Activity in Ireland", ie Irish patriots trying to kick the English out.
    "John Smith" may have been, there's no way to tell - although it's unlikely given that he did drop that he was from South Australia, which was the only State colonised entirely by free settlers. He may have been a convict for a crime or crimes committed locally, he wouldn't have been a transportee. This post was edited by Slartibartfast at March 9, 2023 8:53 AM MST
      March 7, 2023 3:56 PM MST
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  • 34246
    Both of my Grandfathers immigrated to the US as young children. One from Germany and the other from Sweden. Both were military men. One was stationed in Japan and met his 2nd wife there. He remained in Japan after his retirement. 
    Both Grandmothers family's were in the US for many generations. I have the genealogy going back to the early 1800s but not to when they immigrated. 
      March 7, 2023 5:37 AM MST
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  • 10993
    Do you know the story of how your grandfathers' families decided to come here and how they fared when they arrived? I find these immigration stories very interesting. 
      March 7, 2023 10:28 AM MST
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  • 34246
    I do not know why they chose to immigrate. 
      March 8, 2023 7:28 AM MST
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