I haven't had time to research any of it yet, but today my dad filled me in on a few more family tree tidbits that he recently received.
I've known for awhile now that my great-great-great-great grandfather on that side of the family was a Frenchman named Baptiste Bourgeois and he was a tax collector in the early 1800s during Napoleon's reign. I find out today that he was in Cologne, and the timing is such that it certainly is possible. I also got a couple of cryptic notes that his wife, who I thought was Italian, was actually from Corsica, and there's another side note that says "Sicilian". If I remember correctly, one way to insult a Sicilian is to call him an Italian, but I'm not positive on that. I'm not sure if Corsican is an actual nationality or not. I'm going to have to check on that.
In other nationality news, I guess I can add Dutch to my list of nationalities via a great-great-great-grandmother. The ones that I know for sure:
- French
- Italian/Sicilian/Corsican?
- German
- Dutch
- Irish
- English
Cool. Proud mutt here, too. Have no Dutch or English but I have the rest and can add Scot on my paternal grandmother's side that we know almost nothing about. Two of my great grandfathers were no good.
I envy those who can trace their family way back but just for the knowledge, not the snootiness that usually accompanies it. I wish I knew more of my ancestry. We only go back about 100 years on dad's side and about 300 on Mom's.
I'd bet the vast majority of Americans of Italian descent have a Sicily branch in their tree. Us Ferrara's are from there. If you go a little further back, I suppose we're originally from Ferrara, Italy, but we don't go anywhere near that far back on my dad's side.
Posted by: Rob | October 27, 2009 at 07:06 PM
Supposedly there is Scot on my mom's side, but I don't think there's any proof of that yet. Mom's side goes back about 150 years, and I tease her that one of the reasons that she and her sister are having trouble documenting further is that is where our ancestors were one step ahead of the law.
When I win the lottery I'm going to spend a year in Europe researching this stuff.
Posted by: Dave E. | October 27, 2009 at 07:16 PM
Another Euro-mutt here. I do find it interesting but frustrating at times because it only goes so far. Add in the name changes/confusion and it gets messy.
Northern Italians had (have?) a lot of prejudice against Sicilians (perhaps vice versa). My dad's mom (Neapolitan) wasn't too crazy about my mom's being part-Sicilian. My great-grandparents came from Sicily, settled in Birmingham, Ala. (why? who knows?), and then came up to the Philly area after the KKK burnt their business to the ground. My grandfather can call up a Birmingham accent anytime--which is hilarious when he calls the house and pretends to be conducting a poll.
Posted by: Kate P | October 27, 2009 at 08:21 PM
Yeah, the spelling changes plus getting this stuff through an intermediary who doesn't ask a lot of questions is frustrating.
That prejudice is what I was alluding to, Kate. I swear I had heard that before. I didn't know that Sicilians were targeted by the KKK though. Part of a general anti-immigrant sentiment maybe?
Posted by: Dave E. | October 27, 2009 at 08:37 PM
Scot/Mick/Kraut mutt here.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley | October 28, 2009 at 05:15 AM
I had to look it up, Mr. B., but shouldn't that first one be "Jock"?
Posted by: Dave E. | October 28, 2009 at 10:58 AM