Family History and Geography

When you first start doing your family history, you are eager to add as many names as possible to your family tree. You know the surnames and possibly the given names of your ancestors so you start writing them down and then documenting the certificates that prove their existence.

Then, you find that your grandparents emigrated from the country that matches their name. Baker and Schmit from Germany. Larson from Sweden. Larsen from Denmark. Murphy from Ireland and so on.

Did the geography of the country affect your grandparents? I would think so. Some tiny countries have a large population. Some are surrounded by water. Some are governed by monarchs. Seamen tend to come from people living by the ocean and merchants and industrial workers come from the larger cities.

The United States has many different geological areas. Emigrants tended to migrate toward areas similar to their native country and they stuck together as neighbors, workers and club members.

They usually worshiped with the same religion that they used in the old country. Religion was a source of comfort to the lonely and often a source of welfare for the poor.

Emigrants tended to work at the same industries and jobs that they had in the old country. They tended to be poor and knew only one method of making a living.

Industrial workers went to such towns as Troy, New York. Tailors went to large cities such as New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. Merchants tended to follow other workers such as miners.

Farmers started working in farm country such as Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska. Miners came from Cornwall and Ireland to similar mines in Michigan and Montana.

Many laborers settled temporarily in places to build tunnels and railroads. The Chinese especially would take the leavings left from quartz miners looking for gold.

When I went to Ireland to get some certificates for my family, I was struck by the similarity of the geography to my own town and state. The mountains are not as high as in my town but they look similar. Between the similarity and the extraordinary hospitality of the Irish, I felt right at home.

My grandfathers and great grandfather worked in the copper mines in Allihies in County Cork and the copper mine in Knockmahon in County Waterford in Ireland. They were encouraged to immigrate to Montana and work in the copper mines in Butte.

The timing was perfect as the mines in Ireland had been worked dry since the famine in the 1850s. Fertile farmland in the area around the mine in Waterford contributed to the better status of those miners, but they still all emigrated to mines in Michigan and Montana.

I have not visited the copper mines in Michigan, but I know the geography of Allihies in Ireland is very similar to the geography of Butte, Montana, home of "the richest hill on earth."

Elizabeth Larsen has researched her family tree for 35 years. For more information on beginning a good genealogy and many tips, go to http://www.squidoo.com/basicgenealogy

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