Apology

I want to apology for not updating the blog for a while.  Recently, my brother passed away from a drunk driving accident.  I've been mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.  And now, I am embroiled in a lot of legal paperwork.  So forgive for neglecting the blog.  Right now, it's just not something I'm thinking about.  I promise I'll return, just not right now.

True North

Even if you don't have Scandinavian roots, they are everywhere. My husband just got his DNA results back and surprisingly he has 10% Scandinavian roots. 

The first Scandinavian immigrants to North America came in Viking ships, captained by Leif Ericson, 1,000+ years ago. But that early settlement of "Vinland" at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, failed to take. The seafaring Scandinavians abandoned the New World and didn't return for more than 600 years, giving an Italian latecomer named Columbus the chance to hog the credit for their discovery. 

Today almost 11 million Americans trace their ancestry to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland or Iceland, making Scandinavians collectively the fifth-largest European heritage group.  A greater percentage of the population of Norway and Sweden emigrated to the United States than that of any country besides Great Britain. 

From Chicago to Seattle, through Minneapolis and the Great Plains, Scandinavians laid the rails and broke the sod in America.  Among the many who helped shape their new country:  Charles Lindbergh, Victor Borge, Knute Rockne, Eric Sevareid, Greta Garbo, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Carl Sandburg, Walter Mondale...and even the first "president of the United States" (under the pre-Constitution Articles of Confederation), a Swede named John Hanson. 

Leif Ericson's crew aside, the first Scandinavian immigrants to America were Swedes (and some Finns) who established a colony in Delaware in 1638, not long after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock; "New Sweden" was lost to the Dutch in 1655, however. Norwegians began emigrating in 1825.  

But chances are that your Scandinavian ancestors came to America in one of the great waves of immigration from roughly the 1840s to the 1920s. Governments encouraged emigration, and the United States was depicted as a land of milk and honey. 

Pushed by subsequent crop failures and pulled by the Gold Rush of 1849 and the Homestead Act of 1862, the trickle of Scandinavians to America became a flood. Jobs laying railroads across the growing nation also beckoned. 

Today, the number of Americans of Norwegian descent almost equals the population of Norway. 

Peak periods for US immigration varied by country:

     Sweden, 1850-1920

     Norway, 1836-1920

     Denmark, 1870-1905

     Finland, 1899-1914

     Iceland, 1874-1914

For centuries throughout Scandinavia it was common to take your last from your father's  first name ("patronymic" naming): If your father's first name was Magnus, in Sweden your last name would be Magnusson (or Magnusdotter, for Magnus' daughter, if you were female).  Families in Norway and Denmark also took the father's name for the surname, adding -sen or -datter. The permanent surname, passed on from one generation to the next, that we take for granted didn't become official until 1901 in Sweden and 1923 in Norway, and patronymics persist in Iceland. 

Other names came from the land. Norwegians often used a second last name, which might change depending on the farm they were working: Your ancestor might be Olav Petersen Dal while he was on the Dal farm, but Olav Petersen Li after he moved to Li. 

Still other names were changed in the military and may or may not have been changed back. 

Changing your name in America was common. The Danish Johansen, Jorgensen and Jensen families might all have become Johnsons. 

For those of you with Scandinavian roots, good luck with your research. With all the name changing, your work is cut out for you. 

Picture Puzzles

Most of us have mysterious old photographs in our own collections.  They may have been given to you because of your interest in family history or because the executor of an estate didn't want to throw them away.  Maybe some photos have a first name but not a date, or there's partial information passed on from family lore.  But most such images haunt us with their lack of identifying information.

By consulting city directories you can establish when a photographer was in business (note the imprint at the bottom).  This is a picture of my adoptive grandfather as a baby around 1887.

Women had short, frizzed bangs, popular around 1890.  Dress with tight sleeves and high, puffed shoulders was in style only briefly.

Man's basic black sack suit and buttoned vest suggest early 1890s. This is a photo of my great grandparents in their wedding photo.

The earliest type of photographic image, the daguerreotype, was on a shiny metal surface.  It actually needs to be held at a particular angle in order to see the image.  It was used for a relatively brief 20-year period.  But another type of metal image, the tintype, was introduced in 1856 and remained popular until the early 20th century.

The presence of a photographer's name, also known as an imprint, can be a shortcut to deciding on a time frame.  In the 19th and early 20th century,  photographers could order cards preprinted with their name and address on either the front or the back.  They would then mount photographs on the cards.  The resulting combination provided a sturdy support for the image and advertising for the photographer.

One of the most important details in the dating process involves clothing.  Clothing elements become key to narrowing down the date.  In general, fashion changes are most notable in the accessories of a woman's costume such as hats, hairstyle and jewelry.

Photographers generally used similar props in their images.  By grouping photographs together that have similar internal details you may discover that you have a number of images taken by the same photographer around the same time.

The intimacy in the way a young couple is seated together may suggest they are sitting for either an engagement photograph or, more likely, a wedding portrait.  In a group portrait, the central figure may be the oldest member of the family or the most successful.  Photographers carefully positioned individuals within a picture and included props that suggested a context.

If you have any old photos, I would love for you to send them to me.

Hunting for Hidden Roots

This entry is mostly aimed at myself.  It is about my being adopted.  I was always told that I was adopted since I was old enough to understand, about 4 years old.  I grew up having a very happy childhood.  I always wondered who my biological family was, who did I look like, what was the circumstances that led to my being given up for adoption.  I also knew I would never search for my biological family until my adoptive parents had passed away.  I was very close to them and felt it would be a slap in the face to them if I did.  They never made me feel that I shouldn't do it, in fact, they encouraged me to but I felt it was an act of betrayal towards them.

Most states that have "closed" adoptions will not release identifying information.  I had written to the state of Oregon's vital records department to get the "non-identifying" information.  I wanted to know my medical history in case I had a genetic problem and could pass it on to my child.  I received a letter back with little information, so I thought.  It basically said I had no medical problems.  The information was a letdown.  I thought I would receive more information.

When I became a flight attendant, I left my parents in San Diego and moved to the Detroit area.  My mom passed away in 1995.  My dad passed away several years later in 1999.  A few months after my dad passed, I came home from a trip and turned on CNN Headline News.  They were talking about a new law that had just passed in Oregon opening up adoption records to persons over the age of 21.  The next day, I contacted the state of Oregon to put my name on the list to get my original birth certificate.  For the next six months, the state of Oregon debated whether this new law was constitutional.  Finally, they decided the law would stand.

It was June 2000 when I received an envelope in the mail.  I looked at the return address and saw that it was from the state of Oregon.  I became very emotional.  I showed it to my boyfriend, now my husband. He told me to open it.  I said I didn't know if I could.  He told me he would if I couldn't.  I opened the envelope and saw my birth mother's name and started to cry uncontrollably for what seems like five minutes.  I had finally found out my biological roots.

After three days of absorbing what I had received, I got on the Internet and did a surname search in the area I was born for anyone still living there with that surname.  I found six names.  I proceeded to go down the list, calling each one for information.  The last one I called belonged to my biological mother's sister-in-law.  I gave her my name and number and she said she would pass it along to my biological mother. When I returned from my trip, I checked my voicemails and there was a message from my biological mother.  She sounded just like me!  I returned her call and we spoke for two hours.  I found that I was genetically English.  I had always felt that I was English and French.

I am among the 5 million adopted people in the United States today, many of us searching for our roots.  While most genealogy is like an archeologist unearthing layer after layer of history, adoptees are unpuzzling more contemporary mysteries--like where we got our brown eyes or why our big toe is shorter than our second toe.  For most adoptees, just the ethnic identification helps our sense of self.  The real reason people search is to solve the dual identity we've lived with so long.  We may feel like an alien or an outsider, and searching for our birth family grounds us.  I personally never felt that way but it did fill a hole in my life.  It completed my broken circle when I could put factual information into place.

Some 60 percent of adoptees will successfully search for their birth family information.  It turns out the letter I received with non-identifying information, actually did have identifying information.  In the subject line it accidentally identified me as Baby Girl Esgate.  Obviously, I was so excited to read the body of the letter that I totally blew by the subject line.  If I had been paying attention, I would have had the last name several years earlier.

When I had received the letter, I proceeded to register with the state of Oregon's Adoption Registry.  By being in the registry, my biological parents would be given my information to contact me if they also registered.

I know I lucked out twice.  I was raised in a loving family and found my other family for the next 40 years.  There aren't too many people who can say that.

Seeking English

Even if our ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower, there's still a bit of merry old England in our heritage.  We're not alone, millions of Americans have English roots.  Unlike many ethnic heritages, we don't have to struggle with records in foreign languages.  Some people start looking for famous ancestors or, especially hoping to find royal lines.  Our ancestors did something extraordinary; They left their homes, possessions, families, friends and homeland forever to try to find a better life.

Most immigrants left England for economic reasons.  A few immigrants left for religious reasons, such as the Pilgrims in 1620 and the Puritans who came to New England from 1629-1640.  Some did not come by choice; for example, English prisons were cleared and convicts shipped to the American colonies.  Some women and children were even kidnapped from the countryside or from the streets of cities such as London to provide labor in the colonies.

Even after the Revolutionary War, English immigrants kept coming to the former colonies in search of freedom and opportunity.  George and Sarah Esgate arrived after 1840.  English immigrants were the third-largest group of US newcomers, behind only Germans and Irish,  in the 1830-1860 censuses, and surpassed the Irish in the 1870 and 1880 counts.

No matter when or where they arrived, whether they came to the wilderness or to a large city already settled with people from their homeland, our ancestors were pioneers.  They all had incredible stories to tell.

Even the term "England" can be confusing.  In 1536, King Henry VIII united England and Wales under the same system of laws and government.  In 1707, Great Britain was formed when the Parliaments of the Kingdom of England and Wales and of the Kingdom of Scotland passed the Act of Union.  In 1801, Ireland was united politically with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  In 1921, most of Ireland separated from the United Kingdom.  So today, Great Britain refers to England, Wales and Scotland, while United Kingdom refers to all of the above plus Northern Ireland.

Here are a few of the photos I've taken when I had layovers in London.

Wedding Bell Clues

Everyone has wedding certificates in their possession.  Working on genealogy, I  probably have more than my share.  I have some as current as my own to ones back to the 19th century.  But there are more to wedding records than just wedding certificates.

Marriage bonds--as in money, not the bonds of holy matrimony--were common in some states, particularly in the South, into the 18th century.  They were posted in the county courthouse to help offset any costs of legal action in case the marriage was nullified.  The groom and usually the father or brother of the bride posted a bond; if a woman posted bond, it may have been the bride's mother because the father was deceased.

Licenses eventually replaced bonds in the 19th century.  In some states, however, a license wasn't required for a couple to be married, or the license might be recorded in a different jurisdiction from the marriage.  For those states requiring licenses, sometimes couples took out a license or application but never made it to the altar.

Marriage licenses and certificates from 1852 had little genealogical information.

Marriage license applications from 1944 had a wealth of information.  The license gave addresses, birthplaces, occupations, and parents' names.  All very helpful with clues to further documentation.  The addresses directs you to city directories.  The birthplaces directs you to where birth certificates can be found.  Occupations can lead you to archived business records or directories.  Parents' names can give you another generation back.

If anyone has marriage records in your possession, I would love to have a copy to document the marriage in our family.

Getting Your Irish Up

I know, I know.  The Esgates aren't Irish, they're English.  But I'm sure other lines in your family may have Irish roots.  My adoptive great-grandmother had Irish roots.  Her father came from Ireland possibly around 1844.  As yet, I haven't researched that line over the pond.  Not even sure, where in Ireland he came from.  This blog entry is more of a informational entry for people with Irish ancestry.

My adoptive 2nd great-grandfather was part of a phenomenal wave of Irish migration--one of 7 million to leave the Emerald Isle since the 1600s.  In previous decades, from the 1820s through the Great Famine and into the 1880s, one-third to one-half of all the people starting new lives in America sailed from Ireland.  They came seeking refuge from poverty, hunger and oppression.  They found prejudice and hardship, but also opportunity--and they changed the culture and history of their adopted land.

From President John F. Kennedy to Grace Kelly, John Huston, Eugene O'Neill, social activist Dorothy Day and Sen. Eugene McCarthy, it's an understatement to say the Irish have "arrived" in America.  According to the 1990 census, 40 million Americans identify themselves ethnically as Irish, behind only British (us) (50 million) and German (49 million).

The high points in the exodus were always linked to low points in Irish life--persecution by the British, desperate poverty and, of course, the Great Famine.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, Protestants from Ulster were among the first to leave Ireland for the frontiers of colonial America.  (The British government essentially forbade Catholic emigration until 1827.)  but the hemorrhage of emigration that forever changed Ireland started in the early 1800s.

Between 1780 and 1830, Ireland's population quadrupled, from 2.3 million to 8 million.  Much of the populace lived in extreme poverty, made dramatically worse by such disasters as torrential rains that destroyed potato and grain harvests and outbreaks of smallpox, typhus and cholera.  About 20,000 people left Ireland for North America in 1815 alone; 50,000 others died of disease between 1816 and 1818.  An even larger wave of emigration to North America--400,000 strong--came in 1827.  And between 1830 and 1841, another 400,000 people emigrated to England, mainly to London, Liverpool and Manchester.

Then, between 1845 and 1855, as a completely unknown blight ravaged Ireland's potato crops, one-fourth of the population fled the country and the Great Famine.  About 1.5 million went to the United States, 340,000 to Canada, 300,000 to Great Britain and 70,000 to Australia.  Some 1.5 million in Ireland died of starvation or disease.

Those fortunate enough to escape the desperate situation at home dutifully sent money back to Ireland, hoping to bring other family members across the Atlantic.  The cost of a steerage-class passage to America during the famine years was $5 to $20, a small fortune in those days if you were poor.

You can get in touch with your heritage as simply as reading any of the following books:

44: Dublin Made Me by Peter Sheridan

More Bread or I'll Appear by Emer Martin

The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (An Oprah Book Club selection)

Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain

A Monk Swimming: A Memoir by Malachy McCourt

A Song for Mary: An Irish-American Memory by Dennis Smith

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (A movie made in 1999)

Or, you could make a trip to Boston.  Or Ireland itself.  Unfortunately, Ireland is not a destination I am able to fly while I'm working so it would have to be a planned trip for me.  I have been to Boston many times, although I haven't done research there.  Below is a favorite picture of mine from Boston.

I hope this has wet your appetite to research your Irish Family History.  If you need more resource help, let me know.