If you are an American, how far back do you have to go in your family tree before you get to someone whose first language was not English?
Back in 1991, before Ancestry dot com was a thing, I got interested in genealogyu2024 my familyu2019s, in particular. So, I set out on a mission to find out all I could, and put together a family tree. Less than two years after the World Wide Web was created (aka: WWW). So, I wasnu2019t really on the internet yet. I had to do it old skool, although I did use a computer to draw the actual u201ctreeu201d, as there were no genealogical tree templates that I knew of, yet. I sent out a form letter to every single person I knew, who was even remotely related to me. I even had to take a quick crash course in Russian Cyrillic, so that I could communicate with my relatives behind the Iron Curtain (which was half of them, in various countries). The curtain fell the following year, which made communication much easier, but at the time, I wasnu2019t even sure if any of my correspondence would get there and back. Amazingly, it all did. I sent out these form letters with pre-drawn, empty u201ctreesu201d, for everyone to fill out. I also included a self-addressed stamped envelope, to make things as easy as possible for everyone.By the autumn of that year, I had received nearly all my templates back, all filled out as best as everyone could manage. Then began the task of making sense out of all of them, and compiling them into one massive tree. I ended up with nearly 600 people to list. For every person, I listed 6 bits of information: Name, place & year of birth, place & year of death, and their occupation. It took me about 6 months, but by Christmas, I had a surprisingly full family tree. I printed these all out on 17u2033 x 24u2033 sheets of parchment, rolled them up into scrolls, and handed them out to everybody as Christmas gifts. It was a big hit, as no one had ever seen the big picture yet. This is my Pociask Family Tree:This was in 1991, so I suggested everyone add to their branches by hand, as the years go by. By now, there are probably another 100 or more kids and grand-kids born. But thatu2019s me, in the lower-right corner, above the block of text. I drew a chain of heavy links around the whole thing to signify that we were all linked together.The furthest back I got for my lineage was 1796, in Prussia. My great-great-great grandfather, with the last name of Busz, was born there. This part of Prussia had previously been part of the Polish Kingdom, and afterwards, once again became part of Poland after WWII. They eventually moved to the Kingdom of Bohemia, which became Czechoslovakia. My four grandparent's lineages basically hailed from 4 places: Prussia/Bohemia, Ukraine, and two from southern Poland, in the mountains. Sou2024 I am pretty much Prussian/Bohemian/Ukrainian/Polish. The late 1700u2019s was as far as I could get back for my family. My daughter, on the other hand, through her mom, I could trace back through Stephen Austin, one of the founders of Texas, and then all the way back to Mary Queen of Scots.As far as my familyu2024 they were refugees after WWII. They lost everything there, and both my father, and my mother came to America as Displaced Persons, although they came separately. My father alone, and my mother with her parents and 9 siblings. This is my grandfatheru2019s u201cReiseausweisu201d or Travel ID Card for the voyage from post-WWII Germany, to NYC in September of 1952:And here is the ship they came over on, the USS A.W. Greely, that was named after a US General, Polar explorer, and Medal of Honor winner:This ship was in service from 1944, all the way to 1986. It had a pretty good run, and was an important ship, as it brought my family to America! They all came here under the sponsorship of a farmer near Buffalo, NY who would house and feed them in return for a couple years of what was basically indentured servitude on his farm, picking lettuce, strawberries and all of that kind of stuff that many migrant workers from Mexico and Central America do today.Sou2024 how far back do I have to go in my family tree before I get to someone whose first language was not English?Wellu2024 that would be me!I didnu2019t really learn English until I went to kindergarten in Buffalo, NY. We were a bi-lingual family. Actually, tri-lingual, unbeknownst to me. You see, my grandmother only spoke Czech, while everyone else spoke Polish. Somehow, I spoke in Czech to my grandmother and Polish to everyone else, without even knowing it! Yeah, I didnu2019t realize that until I was in my teens. That was kind of a weird revelation.Sou2024 yeah, thereu2019s that.
