Fruits of One Tree

 I have traveled from Germany to America a couple of times, and it only took about a day. But on June 1, 1855, little 8-year-old Anna Ladewig, her mother Minna, big brother Gustav, 16, and sister Maria, 10, boarded a ship in Hamburg, Germany to come to the U.S. [1] I think their father Edward Ladewig was already in New York. [2] Unlike travelers today, Anna and her family were on that ship for almost two whole months. The passenger list shows them arriving in New York City on July 27, 1855. [3] But there are two mysteries about their arrival. The day after they arrived, the captain of the ship was arrested for “violating the quarantine laws, by proceeding to this city contrary to the orders of Dr. F. E. Eartindale [ sic ], the deputy health officer at Staten Island.” [4] That makes me wonder, was there someone sick on board, and were the passengers allowed off the ship? Sometimes the authorities would make the passengers stay on board another 30 days in quarantine. An ev...

 Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which makes me think of my Irish ancestors. Ancestry reminded me that my third great-grandmother, Johanna Mulcahy, died on this date, in 1881, in Jersey City, N.J., just across the Hudson River from New York City. I have found a few records for her. She married James Kinane in Croom, Limerick, Ireland on 10 February 1828. [1] I found baptisms of several of their children. Her son William, my second great grandfather, and her daughter Catherine, wife of Thomas Meany, settled in Jersey City, and Johanna lived with Catherine, at least in 1870 and 1880 when the census was taken. They all survived the Irish famine of the 1840s which killed 1/8 of the population; they were among another 1/8 who emigrated. [2] When she sailed to America, it probably took about two months. When she died at about age 75, her death certificate named the cause of death as “senile debility.” She was buried at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City under the name Johanna Cuneen, ...

 My father’s family name sounds German, but they were almost all Irish, except for the German immigrants who passed on their surname, which changed spelling several times over the decades.  They arrived in the U.S. between the 1830s and 1860s. My mother’s father’s family was mainly English, with some Scottish, Dutch, and German. They came to Massachusetts and New York almost as soon as each was available for settlement by Europeans. Not long after that, they settled in Connecticut and New Jersey. There are several ancestors on that side who qualify us to join the DAR or SAR (if we were so inclined). My mother’s mother’s family name sounds French, but they were almost all German, except for the Frenchman who passed on his surname. They emigrated to New York City in the 1850s and 1860s. My husband’s family was English and Scottish, with a little bit of German. They all appear to have arrived in the U.S. in the 1700s, if not earlier. They also qualify us to join the DAR or ...

 Hello family! My name is Lise and I’ve decided it’s long past time to share all the interesting tidbits I’ve come across while researching my family and my husband’s family. I’ve been doing genealogy for about 25 years now and it’s as much fun to me as any novel or TV show. Sometimes I think, “You can’t make this stuff up!” What’s also amazing is how different our daily life is today from even a hundred years ago. For instance, minor illnesses today were deadly back then. My family lived mainly in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ireland, and Germany. A lot of them lived in New York City. When I get tired of looking for them there, I like to research my husband’s family in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia. I have written a couple of books about the family, but there are too many branches to write a book about every one! Our families are a good example of the power of square numbers. We have 2 1 = 2 parents, 2 2 = 4 grandparents, 2 ...