I'm sure you've heard that old saying about America being a "melting pot". This country contains people from all over the world, from every nation. I find it amazing when people claim that they're all English, or Dutch or whatever. How do they KNOW for sure? Let me tell you, I sure don't know exactly what I am!
My Mom's father was from Belarus, and her mother from Poland. That I do know for sure. When it comes to my Dad's side of the family, however, there's a lot of unknowns in there.
His last name is either English or Irish. But it is also known in the family that Dad's father was a draft dodger, way back in WW1 days, and he had changed his name to avoid being called up. So that's mystery number one.
Next is Dad's maternal grandmother. It's been said that she was Native American. Of course there's no proof of this either. I've searched and searched until my fingers are raw and, short of going back to Arkansas, where she was born, I'm not going to find that information on the internet. Maybe not even then. Oh, and I need to mention, too, that she was supposedly a cousin of the Dalton boys of the infamous Dalton Gang! Once again, you guessed it, no proof.
Dad's maternal grandfather was "supposedly" the son of a Civil War soldier who was murdered right before he was born; in fact his death was what put his mother into labor. Where's the documentation? No where that I've been able to find. Dad said he was Dutch. Maybe!
I haven't even mentioned Dad's father's side of the family. About that I know next to nothing--naturally!
Anyway, the end result of all this is that this stuff has only increased my interest in my own genealogy. Maybe someday I'll find some answers. I have found a few, but for now there are still too many questions and a lot of frustration. Such is life!
Are you one of the lucky ones who knows all there is to know about your family? Or are you, like me, among the great melting pot who has no idea what ingredients lurk in the stew?
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