My Father Of My Grandfather

My family the Heintzelman family has lore that has come from our ancestry in Germany. Ancestry is a very important part of a person. Knowing who came before you can affect a person greatly. If someone knows the hard work that their ancestors did it can lead to a lot more humility for that person. No person gets to where they are in life without the hard work of the people that came before them, especially in America. Almost no one is a native of American which makes it a melting pot for all cultures, which means knowing your history is important. The hard work of my ancestors I feel is extremely important due to the story that surrounds the last name of Heintzelman. The story of the Heinzelmännchen, which originated in Cologne, Germany, was a legend about elves who would do the chores of the lazy townspeople. Every night when the townspeople went to sleep the Heinzelmännchens would come up to do that work that the townspeople had neglected to do (Kopisch and Thrlet). This was a myth that was started many years ago in Cologne but is still remembered today. The story of the Heinzelmännchens is commemorated in statues that stand in Cologne and through my last name. The story of the Heinzelmännchen has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, as the beginning of our last name and heritage. However, this is not the only way that lore is passed down, we have also passed down our history through our names, as many Heintzelmans have been named after

To be honest, my Father’s side’s records are a bit hazy (my last name has no ethnic origin). My Mother’s side is a different situation.

As I embarked on this assignment I was unsure how to begin and what stories to tell. I did not know if I should commence with how my family came to America, my family tree, or a fascinating story about how my grandparents met. In order to complete this assignment I convened with my grandfather, Earl W. Stafford Sr., who knows a lot about our family history, to learn as much as I could.

William, known as Bill, was born on July 20, 1921 in Minneapolis, MN. He worked in the plaster/stucco business for over 25 years before working at Northwest Airlines. His wife’s maiden name was Lorraine Mulcahy. Lorraine was born on August 13, 1922 in St. Paul, MN. Lorraine went to college at the University of Minnesota where she got her Bachelor of Science degree and became a dental hygienist. My grandma “Lo” is the genealogy nut in our family. She has searched for birthdates, marriage licenses, and other documents of her grandparents. I called grandma Lo to get some information on my great-grandparents and family stories. I found out I was part Norwegian and I never even knew it! Grandma Lo’s parents were Edward Mulcahy and Olga Shermoen. Her father Ed was born on April 15, 1880 in Minneapolis, MN. Ed worked as a claim agent for the Great Northern Railroad in the twin cities. Olga was born on March 15, 1888 in Hawley, MN. She also worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a matron. Edward was 100% Irish while Olga was 100% Norwegian. This makes my grandma Lorraine 50% Irish & 50% Norwegian. My grandpa Bill was adopted in Minneapolis so his genealogy is unknown. He was told by his adopted parents that he was mostly Irish. If we pretended Bill was 100% Irish, this would make my mom 75% Irish and 25% Norwegian.

Together my family tree or Genogram and I see why it is important to know who we are and where we come from. I am an African American and both my parents are of African American decent. In the African American culture, many of our ancestors came to America by capture and not by choice. It is said that many African Americans were slaves and were a part of slave trade that was increased between the 15th and 19th centuries (Bennett, 2003; Van Sertima, 1976). Many African Americans were brought here to make their white or European owners money and cause them to be prosperous in areas of agriculture. There were white indentured servants, who could have worked to till the ground and make the harvest plentiful, but it wasn’t enough, so plantation owners saw it profitable to use African slaves as a solution to

At some point of our lives, we’ve all wondered who our ancestors are, and what might

I am a black man in America with no known ancestral history, the only historian in my family is my 78 year old grandmother, and at times her stories become vague and distorted with little recollection of her own mother. My last name is West, such a simple last name, there is high possibility that I

There is an old African saying, “When an elder dies, it is as if an entire library has burned to the ground.” This happens to be the case when it comes to my family history. Unfortunately, my grandparents' on both sides of my family have passed away and the rest live across the world which can be difficult to contact. My parent’s are going to be my sources for this assignment. They both have provided me with information about their childhood and the lives of my grandparent’s. By using the stories provided from Deborah A. Miranda’s book Bad Indians, I will compare and contrast the lives of my family to hers.

A very little to almost none is known about my family history because of the backwardness of the eastern culture as opposed to that of the west. Our forefathers are said to have been nomads all their lives searching pasturelands for their cattle and cultivating land for the subsistence farming. They bartered animals for salt, hides, clothing, etc. Civilization remained unheard to them until after mid-eighteenth century. Our

I’m amazed at how many Americans don’t know their own family heritage any further back than their grandparents. For many years, I was one of them. I would casually tell people, “My family never really talked much about our family tree, because we were afraid we’d find horse thieves hanging from the branches.” But, bad or good, I always wondered about my roots.

My lineage is complicated and blended with multiple different cultures and origins. On my maternal side, the surname from my grandfather it O’Toole which derives from Ireland and my grandmother Wells, which comes from Great Britain. Replicated on my paternal side, I have both roots from Ireland and England. Although these two countries are a powerful force in my lineage, my ancestors also have come from Pakistan, Germany, and most recently Eastern Canada. The matrilineage of my family is much easier to track and I feel as if that side of my ancestry has more history than the others may hold.

Since I have always had such a fascination with genealogy, I thought it an honorable undertaking to research our ancestry. I wish someone had done it fifty years ago so that I might have access to more information on our direct line of ancestors, other than the word of mouth passed down through the generations that I’ve had to rely on and what little I have found digging through dusty courthouse records.”

Up until just a few days ago, I knew very little about my family history. The only item of information I was positive of was that my grandmother (on my mom’s side of the family) is of Italian decent. After calling my grandma and spending hours talking on the phone, I was surprised to learn that not too long ago my family made their journey from Italy to the United States.

Have you ever wondered where your ancestors came from? Where your family started? Through preservation of your genealogy, you can put those wonders to rest. Genealogy is the study of tracing the roots of your ancestors. People do not realize the importance of preserving their family history, because it never concerns them. Geretta Saunders understands this importance, because she wrote to Ancestory.com about her journey on finding her lost soldier. Her and her husband started their ancestral research in 1997, but they could not find the name of her husband's great-great-grandfather; all they knew was that he was a civil war soldier that never came home after the war. During their search, they found his name on a marriage certificate with his

During the process of completing the genogram assignment I learned a lot about my family. It helped me to make connections and put things into perspective. My grandmother and grandfather on my paternal side of the family had 13 children. There are 7 boys and 6 girls. Among the thirteen children there are one set of twins and they are the oldest. My father passed last year from ongoing health issues so I relied much on the information my uncles provided to me. A trend I noticed is that my dad & two of his brothers were the only ones to migrate to America. Unfortunately, the remaining 10 children are still living in Ivory Coast, West Africa and I do not have a relationship with them. So I have limited information displayed on the genogram regarding them. Another trend is that all three brothers married an American woman and had children. I found it interesting that my uncle Armand and my father happened to marry women who were ten years older than themselves. The next trend I noticed is that all three brothers got a divorce from their first wife and remarried to an Ivorian woman. In addition, to the divorce the reason was due to infidelity on their behalf. The trend I also noticed as well is that they all obtained a Bachelor’s degree and have successful careers. All three men had a hostile relationship with their ex-wives due to their role of infidelity within the marriage. This affected how