Major Folk Streams of the Pittsburgh Area (York, Beaver Falls: homes, neighborhoods)

[Fiddlehead]

Hey all,

I am currently reading Senator Jim Webb's book "Born Fighting," which is a narrative history of the Scots-Irish from Scotland through Ireland to America. Wonderful reading, IMO, that gets right at the heart of America. A great story in its own right, but brings up the broader story of folk streams in America; our history is the story of many peoples, rather than the litany of wars I learned in school (i.e., Despot 'A' on our side kicked Despot 'B's butt on their side, and aren't we great. Oh yea, and we "discovered" a place populated for at least 12000 years..did I mention how great WE are?!)

BrianTH's response about the legions of immigrant churches in Pittsburgh got me thinking about the folkstreams passing through your city over time. Anyone care to share a story about how your people arrived there. I don't care which. Why they came? Left? Stayed? Returned? Or, if you prefer, can you pass on some references,links for a cultural history of Pittsburgh and W. Pennsylvania? The Iron City seems like a true icon in the growth of our country, and in the Industrial Revolution for that matter, and I would like to hear more about the peoples' stories.

[Tiger Beer]

I'll add a story.

I have IRISH in my blood...they arrived during the Potato Famine...through Boston and ended up in Youngstown Ohio (not too far from Pittsburgh). But when the auto industry took off, they went up to Detroit and worked in the factories.

Unfortunately Detroit went all to hell, and most of those groups dispersed elsewhere. My Irish side is still very Irish though, they make a ton of references to it, etc. They went north of Detroit

Other family of mine were German etc., with the intent purpose to find farmland in Michigan, which they did.

Because of my Irish side...I long for what I see in Pittsburgh, and I've often seen it on the East Coast...these ethnic neighborhoods, etc. Detriot's is basically gone except for Polish in Hamtramck Detroit.

[Tallysmom]

Interestingly enough, I just spent SIX hours online yesterday going over my genealogy. My "body count" (people listed on my Family Tree) is 563.

I've gone back to what I call the "primary" -- the first person to hit America soil. For the most part, we're German, Dutch and English. My Dutch and German line came over as Anabaptists, who were persecuted by Catholics, but they were also running out of land in Europe. They wanted homesteads.

Jacob Seiler (1749)ended up owning 300 acres very near Meyersdale, which he named Cherryburgh. His son, John, ended up owning 300 more right next to him, called The Three Hills. If you check the website www.ecsaylor.org you can see pics of the old family cemetery...

Phillip Kocher owned 300 acres in Quemahoning Township (near what became Hooversville) -- but he's not my primary -- his grandfather Peter is -- and since he ended up where all the other Amish ended up, I felt it was safe to assume he was, too.... Peter's son, Michael came over at 8 years old with him (1738), and moved to Quemahoning Twp.... and bought land. I haven't found his land warrant yet.... because I haven't looked for it... just something else to add to my list of things I need to search for!

I just went home for a wedding and my Mom and I found Phillip's grave, at the St Paul's Reformed Church in Hooversville. It was a gorgeous drive, down Rte 30.....

My English roots are newer -- 1811. Phillip Mason came over from England -- for land. I swear, these people all wanted LAND.... I have records that show that Phillip Mason fought in the War of 1812.... for the US. His grave is apparently lost to time.... but his wife is buried in Bedford Cemetery....

And her line goes back to New York City... when it was New Amsterdam. Which was basically a company town for the Dutch East India Trading Company... and also where Ashkenzic Jews and Sephardic Jews were taken in, when they were granted asylum from Portuguese repossession of Dutch held lands in Brazil -- (I got this from Wikipedia) -- so this place was also known for religious tolerance.

So pretty much -- these people all got here because they had a burning desire for LAND, and had religious intolerance to escape. And were willing to undertake a very scary long journey to get here.

[Fiddlehead]

Tiger Beer,

Great to hear about your two branches of the family. My impression is that the Irish seem to love telling the family story, but less so the Germans. I am English, Scottish, and Irish through my Mom and they are a clannish bunch. My Dad's side is largely German. Unfortunately, I know little of the story on either side, other than they came from Europe via the Midwest. My wife is 100% Irish and they all keep in close touch, with most in Rhode Island or environs. She is an O'Neill, so the blood of Irish Kings runs in my son's veins!

Tallysmom.

Wow, what a summary! You kyboshed my idea about the Germans not keeping records! Alas, most of my hypotheses are short-lived... I see that your ancestors settled the farmland all around W. PA. I would agree that the oppression and lack of opportunity were a common theme. Sounds like they did fairly well with 300 acres in that area. I have never done any geneology on our family, but it would be good to get our folk history before the older ones are gone. Are you still living there, or are you now in California?

In any case, thanks for replying to my query with your great stories.

[Katiana]

Poverty is what prompted my dad's father's family to leave Germany and settle in Pittsburgh around 1875. My grandfather was born in 1876. I don't know they did for a living in Pittsburgh, but around 1880 they moved to Beaver County and farmed near Beaver Falls. All of the farmland has been sold, and most of it is no longer being farmed. I don't know how my dad's mother's family got to Pgh from Germany. My father's generation was the first to work in the steel mills. Most of the non-farmers before that were teachers, and my grandfather was a carpenter in Beaver Falls. One of my dad's cousins did a great geneology. One thing we found funny is that the burial date of one of them given by the cemetary was before the date of death in the family Bible!

[Tiger Beer]

I was reading that German use to be a very prevalent language in the U.S. Many schools, newspapers, etc. were all in German. But when WWI broke out, most all of that just disappeared overnight. Then WWII, and it obliterated all references to all things German. So, I think most people with German blood, just completely disengaged themselves from their historical roots during that century. Generally, anyways.

It is interesting in that my Irish side (father's side), they have done all of the geneological records and traced everything back. That side and their story seems interesting to me, and I think because they always refer to it, etc.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Tallysmom.

Wow, what a summary! You kyboshed my idea about the Germans not keeping records! Alas, most of my hypotheses are short-lived... I see that your ancestors settled the farmland all around W. PA. I would agree that the oppression and lack of opportunity were a common theme. Sounds like they did fairly well with 300 acres in that area. I have never done any geneology on our family, but it would be good to get our folk history before the older ones are gone. Are you still living there, or are you now in California?

In any case, thanks for replying to my query with your great stories.

Records for ships coming into Philadephia from 1700 on are meticulous -- and they had to take an oath of alliegence to their new land, and of course, England -- all of which had to be recorded.

There are many books about these records and many online records.

I use Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker to do my tree. It's addictive! Sunday I spent 6 hours trying to tie two cousins together -- my 3rd great grandfather's first cousin married my (at that point future) grandmother.

It wasn't that it took me so long to figure out HOW to do it -- it was the finding the information that they WERE cousins with sources, and then turning up a bunch more stuff I had to add, and then running into something else by accident that was on another part of the tree....

My paternal grandfather is a different story. He stowed away on a boat to avoid conscription in the Army in Germany, got caught and was made to work off his passage. He had to go back to Germany once, still owed money, so he worked one more trip... but jumped ship in Baltimore. This is pretty much all he'd say -- and it was about 1911 or 1912.

I've had to do some research on him.... and I haven't turned up much. I do know the little town he was from in East Prussia now is in Russia. It's sort of where the Eastern Front was. And that if any Germans lived through the war, Stalin either ejected them or killed them.

But it's a blast looking. Nothing like looking for real people that you were related to make history come alive. It's one thing to know that in the Civil War there was a big battle in Gettysburg, it's another thing to know your great great uncle fought there in the 142nd PA Infantry Regiment. And to know where he went from there...

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I was reading that German use to be a very prevalent language in the U.S. Many schools, newspapers, etc. were all in German. But when WWI broke out, most all of that just disappeared overnight. Then WWII, and it obliterated all references to all things German. So, I think most people with German blood, just completely disengaged themselves from their historical roots during that century. Generally, anyways.

Interesting! Yes, I have read that Germans were the number one European ethnic identity, with Irish second. It is a shame that Germans had to disown their heritage because of a bunch of yahoos that a hundred years later. The German-Americans had little to do with the NAZIs, I assume.

Tallysmom-I'll check out Ancestry.com. Sounds like a hoot.

[fleetiebelle]

I was reading that German use to be a very prevalent language in the U.S. Many schools, newspapers, etc. were all in German. But when WWI broke out, most all of that just disappeared overnight. Then WWII, and it obliterated all references to all things German. So, I think most people with German blood, just completely disengaged themselves from their historical roots during that century. Generally, anyways.

My family's in/from Cincinnati, and that's pretty much what happened there. Family names were changed, street names were changed, and a lot of culture was lost. On another note, after my grandfather died 10 years ago, we found out that he'd been hiding that his father had been born in Russia, not the US. I guess he didn't want people to think he was a Communist? (Even though his father was born long before the Revolution.)

[Tiger Beer]

ancestry.com is very addictive! I just got hooked tonight for the first time.