In honor and memory of the ancestors of Diane Fraser.
The ancestral lines of my four grandparents are featured. Their surnames are:
Many of the lines go back to immigrant ancestors who arrived in MA, NY or CT in the 1600s or before. They include a few Mayflower passengers, some Wampanoag Indians and some Narangasett Indians whose ancestors migrated to North America thousands of years ago. The Wampanoag Indians were here to greet the Mayflower passengers and to teach them what they needed to survive in North America. Together they shared that first Thanksgiving feast.
Other lines are of more recent immigrants, coming to North America in the 1800s. Some of these ancestors first migrated to Canada, and they or their descendants later immigrated to the United States. Others of these more recently immigrated lines came directly to the United States.
This genealogy reflects our unique American culture. All are welcome to come to these shores, and have. The ethnic origins of these many lines include native North American, English, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, German, French and Romany. Their descendants met and married into families of other ethnic origins, other religious traditions, other social classes, other political persuasions. Each nuclear family in my American lineage is derived from this diverse pool of immigrants.
As is true of virtually all immigrants, my ancestors left their homes and came to North America because they hoped for a better life here than what they left behind. Their individual reasons include religious freedom, politicial freedom, economic opportunities and deportation. My immigrant ancestors claim no royal birth, prestige nor wealth. Had that been their lot "before", they would have stayed "there". However, after they arrived and satisfied the terms of their indenture, they were free to make their life as they saw fit, to succeed or to fail. And they did!
My favorite websites:
US National Archives
GenForum
US GenWeb Project
Allen County Public Library
New England Historic Genealogical Society
I welcome your additions and corrections about these families. I have created two on-line forms, a pedigree submission form and a family group submission form, for you to use for the information you would like to send me. Just "fill in the blanks" with the information you have. You can include additional comments, including your sources, in a free text area.
