Climbing My Family Tree, Part 18

Immigrants Henry Baldwin, Sr, Ezekiel & Susanna Richardson

Last week we learned about immigrant John Taylor and his wife, Julia A. Dyer (my three times great-grandparents). Julia was born and grew up in New Sharon, Maine in the 1800s, but several of her ancestors sailed here from England in the 1600s.

Climbing My Family Tree, Part 17

Immigrant John Taylor

 My intent this week was to pick some relatively low hanging fruit from the family tree.

I focused in on John Taylor (my three times great-grandfather), thinking that going back just five generations to the 1800s would involve less research, as compared to my many relatives who came here in the 1600s.

To my great surprise, John Taylor’s wife (and my three times great-grandmother), Julia A. Dyer, has a very long history in the United States, and I was able to trace her ancestry back to the 1600s, finding at least seven more additional English immigrants in my direct lineage! 

Climbing My Family Tree, Part 16

Immigrants José Marquez Remigio, Elvira Batista Pires, Marne Caetano de Jesus, & Carmen Lucia Pires Marquez

This week our chronicle shifts to my wife, who lives out her own immigration story every day. Born in Santos, Brazil, she came to the United States by plane in 1988, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1995.

Unlike the majority of my ancestors, who immigrated to North America hundreds of years ago, Carmen is a contemporary immigrant, who tells her story in first person, from her heart. 

Climbing My Family Tree, Part 15

Immigrants Austin Kilham, Alice Gorball, and John Kilham

Austin “Augustine” Kilham (my nine times great-grandfather) sailed from England with his wife, Alice Gorball, and their three children on the Mary Anne in 1637. His son, John (my eight times great-grandfather), was nine years old at the time.