Lauren Salgado

On my Mothers side of the family I am Aztec and Hispanic. My great grandmother grew up in Tepic, Mexico. She later immigrated to Arizona in 1939. She left her 10 brothers and sisters to come to America for a better lifestyle. My great grandfather was born in Jalisco, Mexico. He later moved to Arizona where he met my great grandmother and they got married. My grandmother was born in Los Angeles California, 1942. My grandfather was born in 1943 in Texas, he eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1950, where he met my grandmother.

 

On my Fathers side of the family I am Mexican and Aztec also. My great grandfather on my grandpa’s side was born in 1918 in Mexico. My great grandmother was born in 1917 also in Mexico. On my grandmothers side my great grandfather was born in 1915 in Guadalajara, Mexico. My great grandmother was born in 1916 in Guadalajara, Mexico also. Both great grandparents on both sides moved to the United States in the late 1920s. My grandmother was born in Los Angeles in 1935, and my grandfather was born in Colorado Springs, 1935. Both families came to the United States in search of a better lifestyle for their children.

- Los Angeles

Samantha Sproul

I am a mix of many different heritages. From my father’s side I am English, Scottish, and Irish. On my father’s side, family began to migrate over here way back. In 1620 three of my ancestors from England came over on the Mayflower, so my family has been over in the United States ever since then. When they came over, many of them settled in the Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts area. I have many ancestors that fought in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Many of my early ancestors were captured and killed by the Indians.  Some were also driven out of the towns for having a drinking problem.

From my mother’s side I am Polish, and Russian. Both of her grandparents (my great grandparents) came over from Poland or Russia. My great grandmother lived to be either 105 or 106. Her exact age was never known because they had to change it for paperwork when she came over here. My great grandparents settled in the Bronx and in Brooklyn when they arrived over here.

Ali Mandile

Heritage Blog- Ali Mandile

All four of my great great-grandparents were born in Southern Italy.  They came to the United States in their early teenage years. My great great grandfather came from a little island off of northern Sicily called Lepari. His wife came from the mainland on the west coast of Italy (about half way up the boot). The other two came from Southern Italy.

They all came around the year 1860. They arrived in Boston with a lot of other immigrants. They thought the streets of the United States were “paved with gold.” Life in Italy was not exciting and there was not much going on. They heard about the progress and the opportunity the United States had to offer.  They wanted to work and have better lives, so they came over to the United States.

They came here and lived around Boston Proper. One of my great-grandfather’s cousins moved to Rhode Island, but the rest settled in Boston. The Italians stuck together for the most part, and lived mostly in the North End of Boston.

My great-grandparents met because their parents belonged to an Italian club in Boston. They got married and had 14 children. They lived in Dorchester, MA in a big house. My great grandfather was a barber.  He worked in Boston and owned his own barbershop. His wife stayed home with all of those children.

My other great grandfather was a stone mason in Boston. His wife worked as a housekeeper and a candy maker.  They had 3 children, John, who died in his mid-twenties, and a sister Lucy. Lucy became a nurse in 1920, which was a proud moment for my family. She was written up in the newspaper for being one of the first female nurses in Boston.  She brought my grandfather to his first Red Sox game and was an avid baseball lover.

My grandfather’s father went to Boston College and went into the seminary. His name was Angelo Mandile.  He came out and got married to my great-grandmother, Margaret. They had seven children: four girls and three boys. Two of the children, Frances and Peggy worked for the phone company their whole lives. They all stayed in Massachusetts except for sister Mary married a sailor at the end of the World War II they lived in Idaho and had 8 kids.

Lucy married a captain in the Marines during World War II.  When he came back from the war they moved to Green Harbor in Marshfield, MA, where I live now. His family all worked as fishermen and he became a lobsterman. He was President of the Lobster Association of Marshfield. His daughters are alive and they live in Canton now.

All of my grandfather’s family lived well into their 90’s.  My great aunt Mary was 105 when she died. My great-grandmother was 103 and she lived through 3 centuries! She was born in 1899 and passed away in 2003.

My great-grandmother, on my dad’s mother’s side, was Irish and was born in the U.S.  Her name was Margaret Dennin/McGuinnis.  Her mother came from County Cork, Ireland and came over by boat during the Potato Famine.  She landed in Nova Scotia and then went to Boston on another boat.  This is why my grandmother’s Professor at B.C. called them “two boaters” because they couldn't afford to come from Ireland to Boston, directly.  My great great-grandmother worked as a maid for a wealthy Brahmin family.  She married and moved to Providence, R.I.  where she had 3 children, two boys and a girl.  The girl was to become my great great-grandmother, Margaret (first generation, American).  When Margaret was old enough to marry, she married Stephen Dennin, who was a liquor distributor.  They had two children, my great-grandmother, Margaret and my great uncle Johnny.  Stephen was killed, shortly after. A keg of beer fell off the truck and struck and killed him!!! My great-grandmother remarried and he was named James McGinnis.  They had two children, my Aunt Dot and my Aunt Kay.  They all lived together and seemed to be happy.  My great-grandmother died when my grandmother was four years old.  That would be 67 years ago.

     My great-grandfather's history is kind of not so clear.  His grandfather had roots in France.  The French name was "Couer" translated to Hart in America. My great-grandfather, born in the U.S., married Martha.  His mom and sister died within months of each other with tuberculosis.  He was 6 years old and he and his father moved in with my grandfather's three sisters.  He was 105 when he died and my great-grandfather was 97 when he passed away. It looks like we have some longevity in the genes on my dad’s side!

Now for my mom’s side! My great-grandfather, Adolph Hahn came to the US thru Ellis Island in NY from a little town in what was then Germany called Walleen and settled in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a little township called Engadine. Two years later he sent for the family and they also came 
through Ellis Island.  There were my great-grandmother Amelia and 9 children, 2 
of whom died on the way of chicken pox.

My great-grandfather, Herman Carl Hahn, was the youngest and literally left home (ran 
away) to go to high school in Newbury, Michigan.  He was the only sibling to go beyond 4th grade in school.  He got a job working for a man named Swanson, who gave 
him room and board and put him through high school and Olivet College in lower Michigan.  From there my great-grandfather went to Marquette dental school in Milwaukee Wisconsin and became a dentist in a little town of North Fond du Lac Wisconsin.  Most of his patients were either farmers or railroad workers.

He met my great-grandmother Jean Elizabeth Davidson, while interning in a mental 
hospital in Newbury Michigan, where she was an occupational therapist.

She went to school in a Detroit Michigan High School.  I do not know where 
she got her therapy training.  She was one of two children.  She had a 
sister Blanch.  My great grandmother was an orphan and was adopted by a 
family, of which I know very little.  I do know she had a sister 
Carrie, who was adopted by a family who moved to Canada just north of 
International Falls Minn.

My grandfather’s mother's father was Linus Davidson.  I know nothing of his past.  He 
worked his whole life in a Buick GM auto plant in Flint Michigan.

My grandfather was one of three boys born in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.  He graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and eventually ended up settling in Boston.

My grandmother, Mary Rita Fink, was born in Fond Du Lac as well to Reuben and Rosemary Fink. I do not know much about her family except that her grandfather on her 
father's side was a farmer in FDL county Wisconsin and her mother's father was a 
Fond Du Lac fireman. 

SO, I am Italian, Irish, and German. The end. I promise.

Dennis Juhasz

Starting with my Father’s (Dennis) side, my grandfather Stephen Juhasz was born in the United States from Ukrainian parents who came to America in the early 1900’s. A predominantly Hungarian surname (Juhasz), my ancestors lived in Ukraine for a number of years before immigrating to the United States. During this time, there was an Inter-war between Poland and Ukraine, as many of the residents of both countries tried to find a way to escape the hostilities. America seemed like a perfect place to succeed, being a newly developing country with freedom as its leading drive behind its growth. This led to the growing up of my grandfather Stephen and his marriage to my grandmother Ethel. An Irish immigrant, her parents came over during the mass emigration from Ireland to Ellis Island like many Irish during the early 1900’s. After a traditional Ukrainian marriage my father was born and eventually married my mother Deanna.

My mother’s side of the family (the Flynn's) started in Southern Italy and came by ship to America, settling in Connecticut instead of the more traditional New York/New Jersey where a large portion of Italian immigrants chose to live. This side of my family I know much less, and I assume this side of my heritage came from one of the many economically depressed cities of rural Italy like the majority of Italian immigrants. I believe they settled in the New Haven area and gave birth to my mother, Deanna, where they continued to live up until today. My Italian heritage grandparents (Elaine and Edward "Grumpa" Flynn) are still happily married and reside in East Haven.

This is but a glimpse into my heritage:  ½ Italian, ¼ Ukrainian and ¼ Irish.

Virginia Hally

While asking my family about our heritage, I came to learn some very interesting things.  Unfortunately, all I was able to learn about my father's side was that they came from Ireland. My mother's side, however, was much more intriguing.
My grandfather is 100% Italian, and is first generation born in the United States.  His father, John Sr, met his future wife, Bettina, through her father.  Her father was a land owner/ farmer in Miller, Italy and John worked for him.  Through this he met Bettina and they fell in love.  In 1930, John came to America from Chigliano, Italy to work for his aunt's brother-in-law who was a construction contractor; leaving his future bride home in Italy.  After a year he returned to Chigliano to marry Bettina, and in 1932 they came back to Springfield, Massachusetts, moving where work was available.  This led them to Greenwich, Connecticut, where John worked on the Merit parkway doing stonework on bridges, and my grandpa was born. This job moved them family all the way to Hamden, Connecticut.

My grandmother's side of the family was more complex. In the 1700s, my grandmother's mother's family came from England.  My grandmother's father, Alexander, came from Combusland, Scotland in 1926 and moved to New Haven, Connecticut.  This is where he met his wife, Virginia Sherwood, family owners of Sherwood Farm in Greenwich from 1776 -1976, Connecticutfrom 1776 -1976, who went to Larson College which is now known as Quinnipiac University.  The two met in New Haven, got married, and my grandmother was born.

In 1953, Virginia Hair (my grandmother) and John Rossotto Jr. met in a telephone booth in Hamden, CT  in front of an ice cream place. She was 15, he was 17 and it was love at first sight.  They've been together ever since and live happily in Hamden, CT  in the same neighborhood as their two daughters and four grandchildren.  My grandfather has done a lot of developments in Hamden including building Sherman Ave, where York Hill is located, in the early 60s.  From this, I have come to learn that I am not only Italian and Irish, but also Scottish, English, and Connecticut Yankee. 

Laura Savage

My Dad’s side of the family is 100% Irish, while my Mom’s side of the family is a mix of German, Scottish, and English. Not much is known about my Dad’s side of the family because his father was adopted, but we know they came over from Ireland, probably during the potato famine in the 1840’s. My Mom’s side of the family (the Stahr branch) descends from Germany, Scotland and England even from the mayflower.

John Samuel Stahr - Germany

John Samuel Stahr came to the U.S. on the “Francis & Elizabeth”, from the Rhine Palatinate in Germany. In 1742 he settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where the Germans were called Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch. He probably sought religious freedom and opportunity. We know that three generations later, his great grandson, Isaac Stahr (my great, great, great grandfather), was the minister of the Reformed (Protestant) church in Oley, P.A. He served a congregation in the town and in the countryside, traveling to and fro by horse-drawn carriage or sleigh.

Ephraim Stockwell Branch - Scotland & England

William Stockwell was born in Scotland in 1650 and immigrated to the United States as a young man.

William Lambert came to England on the “Susan & Ellen in 1635.

Ephraim’s grandson, Cyrus Stockwell, was a hotel owner in New Brusnwick.

Ephreim’s great grandson, Stephen Stockwell, was editor of a newspaper in Boston called the Boston Journal. He lived on Prospect Hill. There is still a stockerll Street in Boston where he lived.

Nathaniel Webb Branch – England – Mayflower

Nathaniel Webb’s ancestors trace back to Priscilla & John Alden on the Mayflower, 11generations back from me.

John Sheffler (Sifrar) Branch – Slovenia

John Sifrar came to America through Ellis Island in 1904, changing his name to Sheffler. He settled in Pittsburg, PA, in a Slovenian neighborhood. He met his wife, who was also from Slovenia, in America. They raised seven children and were Catholic. John went to work for the Union Pacific railroad, as a mechanic.

                              This is a picture of the Sheffler family who came over from Slovenia

This is a picture of my Grandfather Henry Stahr and his parents

This is a poster that was made by John Sheffler to show his Slovenian pride

Kira Oppici

When asking my family about my heritage I learned some information that I had never known about. First, I spoke to my father’s side. My grandfather, Brian R. Oppici, was born in Jersey City. Which is where both his parents were also born. My grandfather’s grandfather however (my great-great grandfather), Anthony Oppici, was born in Boca, Italy and met my great-great grandmother, Anne, when he immigrated to Jersey City. My grandfather’s mother’s story really intrigued me. My great grandmother came over on a boat with her mother from Wicklow, Ireland. My great-great grandfather had came over through Ellis Island years before and had to send over money in order to send his wife and children. My great-great grandmother then had to come over with her 17 children on a small rowboat all the way to Ellis Island from Ireland. To this day there is still a picture of her and her children up in the Ellis Island museum. 


My dad’s mother, Patricia Oppici, was also from Jersey City. I found out that both of my great grandparents on her side were from New Jersey. Her father was from Weehawken and her mother was from Jersey City as well. Her grandfather on her mother’s side, Fred Hansen, was originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, her grandfather on her father’s side was from Italy. Her grandfather, William Rice, was originally William Riccio. He changed his name after being in the US and not being able to find a job due to discrimination against the Italians at the time. 


My mother’s side does not have such an in-depth knowledge on their history but I was able to find out some information. While both of my grandparents were born in New Jersey all four of my great grandparents on my mother’s side were born oversees. My great grandparents on my grandmother’s side were both born in Holland. My great grandparents on my grandfather’s side were born in Denmark and Scotland and than met after coming to the United States.

Jordan Hall

Over vacation I tried talking with my family about my heritage. I found a lot out about my mom's side of the family. My great-grandfather's (Pa) grandparents came from Czechoslovakia. When they first came to Boston their last name was Kozeluh. However, both of my Pa's parents were born in Boston. Before Pa's father got married, he changed his last name from Kozeluh to Costello to sound more Irish because of living in the South End of Boston. My great-grandfather was both in Boston in 1914. My great-grandmother (Nana) was born in Boston in 1913, though her father was born in Nova Scotia. My grandmother was born in Boston in 1942. She passed away on June 5, 2009 so not much more information was able to be found. As for my mother's father Charlie, his grandparents came to Boston in the 1800's in steerage from Ireland, which is by boat to flee to potato famine. Charlie's father was born in Boston in 1884, and was as his mother who was Irish as well. Charlie was then born in Boston in 1940. 

As for my father's side of the family, nothing is really known because both of his parents and all of his grandparents are deceased. None of my dad's sisters knew anything either. We just know they were French Canadian and English.

Zach Freed

            My family has a very interesting background.  My mother’s side comes from mainly eastern European countries, plus Russia and someone down the line was from Ireland.  My father’s side is a little trickier.  There is no one alive to really ask, so I go by what I know from memory because my mom doesn’t really remember.  All I really know is that there is some central American background and there is also some German background.

            If I remember this correctly my great great grandfather on my father’s side was from germany.  My original last name was Freud.  I don’t know his name, I do know it started with M but I don’t really know much else about him.  Although I do know he was a kind of scientist.  He came over to North America at some point in the mid 1800’s when he was teenager and they adapted his last name to Freed when he went through immigration.  The most solid fact I do know is that he then moved to Panama, not sure how he got there or why, in the end of the 19^th century.  I believe he died before 1920, and my grandfather on that side still lived in Panama.  When he got married to my grandmother it was the late 1930’s.  My dad was born July 9, 1945 in Panama.  Soon after, my grandfather left them and they moved into the states.  It started in Florida, then up to New York.  My grandmother went back to Florida after he graduated college at CW Post.  My uncle and his family still live in Panama, and he served with my dad in the Panamanian Army.  My father met my mother in New York in 1977, married in 1980, and actually went back down to Panama doing legal work for the JAGs office in 1990 when I was born.  After about a year with me, I was brought back to the states with my family.  My sisters were already in New York.

            My mother’s side is very weird.  I know as far back as my great great great grandfather.  My grandma doesn’t know anything of her heritage and I couldn’t find any records.  My great great great grandfather was from Ireland.  I know this because my great grandfather and I both have some form of red hair.  Mine is present in my facial hair; not really sure why.  So he was from Ireland, served in the military.  His wife was from Poland.  I don’t know their original last name, but I do know that when they moved to Poland in the early 1800s their name had changed to Keil, or Kiel (pronounced k-eye-ell).  My great great grandfather was born in Poland, met his wife there, and moved to Germany.  My great grandfather was born in the 1870’s, I couldn’t get an exact date or a name.  He served in the German army, became a mid-ranking officer.  He actually defected to the United States in the beginning of the 20^th century, I think in 1909.  I know he was here about 10 years, give or take a few, before my grandfather was born in 1918, in Brooklyn.  When he came over his name was changed to Kiell (pronounced k-ee-l) which is my mother’s maiden name.  There is a journal my grandfather has from his father.  It is written in Russian and German.  He learned Russian while in the army and some of his family members lived there.  The journal doesn’t move from a shelf in their house.  It is almost completely destroyed, but it chronicles many of the journeys and has all of his immigration papers and passports for him and his brother.  His brother, I guess my great uncle, died shortly after coming to New York.  My mother’s parents still live, but are in their early 90’s and late 80’s and have some memory issues.  Still walking around though.

My family history is kind of lost.  The only reason my father knew as much as he did was because he was able to use some legal tools to find his brothers in the late 80s and learn a lot from them.  He died in 2000.  My mother doesn’t have resources like that and her side of the family really doesn’t remember or know anything.  We also don’t know how to read Russian or german and he also had very hard to read handwriting. 

So that’s basically it for me.  I pinned a few countries, I know there are a few others earlier in the bloodline, at least on my mother’s side, but I don’t really know any info that far back.  I’m just going by what I remember them telling me, because now they wouldn’t be able to tell me much at all.