Welcome to my new blog! As I've been researching my family tree, I have discovered so much more about history and my heritage in general, also. As you might have guessed from the picture above, I have a fair amount of German heritage in my family.
This sign means so much more to me than just decoration at a local German festival near my hometown. My great-great grandfather came from the New Alsace (Elsass) area of Germany in 1871. Although he was born into a very German heritage, he actually was a French citizen when he left for the New Country.
I discovered that I needed to brush up on my history a little to understand what was happening at that time. The Alsace-Lorraine area sat on the border of France and Germany. It changed hands several times. When Germany became one unified country in 1870, the area belonged to France. It stayed in French possession until World War I.
As I research further into my other German ancestors, I have discovered that I have to keep my Germany timeline cheat sheet near me to look at the years. What years did my other ancestors leave the Old Country for America? What was happening in Germany at that time?
So, as you look further back into your ancestors' lives, don't forget to look a little closer at your history books, also. This might just give you a few clues into why they chose to come to a whole new country.
Welcome to the Genealogy Blogging world, Diane. I'd love to have a peak at your cheat sheet. :)
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the delay in answering. I did not realize that I had hit the button to moderate comments when I first started the blog. Problem now fixed! Thank you, Cathy! Actually, my "cheat sheet" is more or less just a compilation of quick notes from a couple of books. Nothing spectacular, just more.
Deletethank you for sharing. I have thought of doing the same thing and just didn't really know how to start. I have wrote my own pages so I can place them in a binder for a book for my grandchildren. I told myself I will continue to write my memories down as they come to me. I have some pages but not many. I will keep up with your blog here and continue to write my own privately for a while.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the delay in answering. I did not realize that I had hit the button to moderate comments when I first started the blog. Problem now fixed! Thank you! Writing for your grandchildren is a good place to start! I hope you enjoy the blog!
DeleteHi Diane. This will be a fun and interesting blog. Here is what I know about the subject. Henry Haessig immegrated to the states with the son of his paternal granduncle, Frederic George Gartenmann. They traveled on the Germanic from Hamburg, Germany, arriving in NYNY 28 Jun 1871. #35 & #36 on the arriving passenger list. Both were 24 yrs old.
ReplyDeleteOn 16 Jul 1870, France declared war on Prussia after being provoked into the war by Prussia's Otto Von Bismark. The war lasted 10 months, ending 10 May 1871. The result was as Bismark expected, the expansion of Prussia including the german speaking Departments of France, Alsace & Lorainne. The departments were returned to France at the end of WWi. Notice many Alsacians listed their nationality as German on documents during the time the departments were part of Germany.
They sailed immediatly after the end of the Franco-Prussian war and given their age, I expect they were soldiers in that war. My aunts, Belle and Betty, said when they asked their grandfather about the old country, he would say " you do nto need to know that".
They came to live with Godfrey and Huldah Bricka (related to Fred's cousin) and Heinrich bought their farm a few years later.
Reasearch is needed. French war records are hard to com by. But, the international red Cross in Switzerland has some records of prisoners. And the Germans may have records form the POW camps. One in SW Poland is especially interesting because I think it was the closest to the Port of Hamburg. I also have Micel Haessig as Heinrich's father. This is not documented, but determined by deduction. This is another fact that needs to be researched.
I have a chart that sjhows the relationships I talk about ehre. I need to know if it can be posted here.
David Haessig
I apologize for the delay in answering. I did not realize that I had hit the button to moderate comments when I first started the blog. Problem now fixed! Thank you,David! I am so glad to hear from you! I will probably start out writing about the Hillman/Moore's, only because I have a lot of to write about right out of the gate. I am afraid to say that I haven't done as much research on the Haessig side yet (very heavy emphasis on the YET! Lol) You, my cousin, are the one that I have gained my Haessig knowledge from mostly. Maybe you would like to write a guest post forms in the future? Possibly?
DeleteFor me, not forms. Sorry!
ReplyDelete