The other day, as I was taking a walk with my dad and my son, we talked a little bit about family history. I forget exactly how we arrived at the topic, but as we were talking, I found out a little bit about his parents and his grandparents.
As a novice genealogy researcher, I realized that although I was interested in obtaining information about my ancestors from my dad, I was not interested in totally grilling him about everything under the sun regarding our heritage. With this in mind, I only talked about it for a little while before moving on to other topics of conversation because I was just so happy to be outside on a nice day, walking and talking with my dad. There are always just so many things to talk about with my dad, especially my little boy, who was right there with us enjoying our walk and checking out the scenery from his back carrier.
What I did find out about my dad’s family was very interesting to me. It turns out that both my father’s father (whom I never met because he passed away before I was born) and my father’s mother were first-generation Americans. My dad’s paternal grandfather came down from Canada, and his maternal grandmother came over from Ireland.
While my dad could not remember exactly where in Canada his paternal grandfather came from, he thinks that it may have been Nova Scotia and that he came into the United States through Vermont. I am not sure exactly where to begin looking for information about him, but I do live in Vermont so I will have to see what resources are available.
Since my father’s maternal grandfather came from Ireland, it is likely that he came in to the United States through Ellis Island. I am excited about this because I am intrigued by Ellis Island and will have the opportunity to try to research the immigration journey of one of my ancestors that may have passed through this legendary gateway to America.
Do you know how and when your ancestors arrived in the nation where you now reside?