I am Italian and Polish on the Yoia side of my family. My Dad is 75% Italian and 25% Polish. My Mom on the other hand, is Irish, French, Polish, Austrian, English, Swedish, Native American, and Scottish. Her maiden name is Bain, and she grew up in a family of 7 children. She had 37 first cousins, many of which she never met or would not recognize today. Because my Mom is made up of many nationalities, I am going to focus on one: Austrian. My Great Grandma, Louise Kurtz, made the voyage from Gunns, Austria, to Elkton, South Dakota at the age of 4 in 1893. The journey from Austria to America was not easy, and her brother Victor died on the boat over. Her father, Gustav Kurtz, was a miller on the River Danube until they left Europe and then farmed in America. Louise was one of twelve children. She married Fred Bain and to this union nine children were born. Louise was German. Fred was a mix of German, French, and Indian. My Grandfather, Earl Bain (one of the nine children), married my Grandma, Mavis Layton and they gave birth to seven children. Two girls, and five boys. My Mom was the second of the seven children and was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina where Earl was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. He got out of the service in 1954 and moved on to the Derdall farm north of the home place. Other moves took them to Bushnell, Brookings; Portage, Indiana; and Wisconsin, Rapids. Earl has since passed away in 2005, and Mavis is living in Wisconsin Rapids near some of her children.
I thought that it was interesting that when her Great Grandmother came over from Austria she went to South Dakota. I always thought that people stayed in the North East when they came over from Europe because it was the closest place to settle. I never think of people coming to America for South Dakota or the midwest in general. It is interesting how they made their way to the North east eventually.
ReplyDeleteI find it more and more interesting in how I've learn that a lot of people that come to Quinnipiac have a Polish decent, much like Lauren.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting to hear about how big your family is. All of my family came from smaller sized families, so it was cool to hear about something different.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it was interesting that all parts of your family were so large and because of such expansions, your heritage would only grow.
ReplyDeleteWow 37 cousins that shes never met! Thats insane! I can only imagine the family tree in Lauren's family! It most be HUGE!
ReplyDeleteI think its very cool that while your dad is only two different heritages, your mom is a combination of eight different ones. I also think its interesting how generation after generation, each family had about 7-9 kids each, making your family so large.
ReplyDeleteI think it's amazing that your mom has 37 first cousins! that is similar to my Dad's family and it's crazy to think how it was much more normal or families to be that large just one generation ago!
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