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UP / Thumb of Michigan | Ed Boysun - 12/21/2025 15:27
Ukraine was always being overrun by it's neighbors. My kin had a low opinion of Austrians. It's entirely possible that grandpa's birthplace was Austria at the time.
Along those lines: dad always claimed to be full-blooded Ukrainian. Maybe so, but I'm betting that his (and my) bloodlines have a mixture of the occupying countries soldiers mixed in.
Had some really interesting neighbors who were either born in the "old" country and came with their parents when they were very young, or they were born here soon after arriving. All 4 families were from basically the same town, and originally came to work in the sugar beets. What I found pretty intriguing is that they all claimed to have been from a different country. One family identifies as Polish, another will offer to fight you if they get called Polish. One of the old boys said it was a lot simpler than it all sounded really- the borders were changing all the time. His parents had told him they weren't sure from one day to the next what country they were in, and didn't seem to much care. They all had pretty tough lives when they came over here, but all were hard working and industrious. They've all been successful.
My paternal ancestors came from Ireland, homesteaded a farm we still own. Big draw to here was pretty simple: they wanted to own land, and couldn't do that in Ireland as they were Catholic. When they got here, they were a long way from things like stores and Churches. The best place to trade was 25 miles one way, the closest Catholic Church 23 miles the other way. They had a long wagon ride no matter what.
My maternal ancestors came from Russia/Ukraine. Again, the borders seemed to be pretty fluid there as well. My Great Grandfather was educated, and that was going to be an issue with the communist regimes taking over. They fled while they could, ended up homesteading in ND. Darn near starved the first winter, everyone except 2 brothers left for Michigan. Stories and records seem to be in short supply on that side of the family, Daughter is working on the genealogy now. No idea what happened with the brothers in ND.
I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a wimp compared to what my ancestors had to do to survive. Not sure I could have gotten past the boat cruise on the way here. | |
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How did the pioneers make it work?
