 
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4014
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 7:16 pm: |    |
Ghetto_butterfly... Siebenbürgen Germans are "Transylvania Saxons". Those Germans have been there since Bela II King of Hungary offered them land there in the 1180's AD.
My brother-in-law is Transylvania Saxon, and as a German speaker... I understand all German dialects, and even a lot of Dutch/Flemish, but I cannot understand the language of the Transylvania Saxons. They spent too many centuries isolated from other German speaking peoples.
Sorry to threadjack. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4015
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 7:21 pm: | |
Well since I'm posting here....
Born in Coburg, Germany (where England's Royal House of Windsor originated). It's located in the northern part of Bavaria.
Came to the USA in 1958 (4 years old) along with my father, mother, sister and brother.
Lived in the shadows of St. Stanislaw Church (on Medbury) from 1958-60. Moved to the far east side near Balduck Park in 1960, where my mom still lives. I now live in St. Clair Shores, but visit Detroit daily. |
Ghetto_butterfly
Member
Username: Ghetto_butterfly
Post Number: 685
Registered: 09-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 7:30 pm: | |
Gistok - same here. My grand-ma and my great-grand-ma (her mom) spoke in some kind of German sounding dialect with each other that none of the rest of the family could ever understand. However, I've also heard natives from Luxembourg (this tiny country wedged between south of Belgium and France) speak a similar sounding type of dialect. |
Mikeg
Member
Username: Mikeg
Post Number: 762
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 8:01 pm: | |
Ghetto_butterfly,
Michigan, particularly the Detroit and Lansing areas, attracted many emigrants from the Sauerland region of Westphalia (Germany) during the period of roughly 1836 to 1885 - including two of my great-great grandfathers and three of their first cousins. The town of Westphalia, northwest of Lansing, was founded by a group of Sauerland emigrants who were led by Father Anton Kopp.
Here is a web site that lists many of the emigrants who left the Sauerland and their destinations. |
Oladub
Member
Username: Oladub
Post Number: 23
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 8:19 pm: | |
My maternal Grandparents met at the Electric Park amusement park by the Belle Isle Bridge after WWI. They both grew up in Flanders, Belgium.
My Father grew up near North Bay, Ontario of Norwegian parents. He met my Mother at a roller skating rink downtown, on Woodward, during WWII wearing his RCAF uniform. They married and lived in Windsor after the war until he landed a union carpenter job with Pom McFate at Shoemaker & St. Jean. |
Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher
Post Number: 988
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 8:54 pm: | |
My maternal grandmother came from Jamestown, TN (way back a hundred years before that, her family came from France) and my grandfather came from Dayton, OH (his parents were straight off the boat from Austria). Grandma never did say where they met BUT they did only date 2 months and were married on NYE (she said they were both tipsy) but they were married over 40 years when grandpa passed away. They lived on the East side before buying a house on Lahser between Fenkell and Grand River.
My paternal grandma was born in Canada (Quebec, I believe) and his father was also from Canada. Grandpa's parents came from Ireland. They married in 1917 (grandma was 18). They lived in a house on Scotten where my father was born (1941). They lived there until my grandfather passed away in 1950. Grandma remarried and moved to Rosedale Park on Artesian with her new husband and my father and uncle.
I have a varied European mix. I have research my maternal grandmother's paternal family tree back to the 1600s. Am currently working on the maternal side of that family. |
Fareastsider
Member
Username: Fareastsider
Post Number: 297
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:01 pm: | |
On my mothers side they came to Hamtramck at the start of the 20th century and my grandparents moved eventually to SCS in the 50's. My dads side they came from Jersey to Richmond because my grandfather got a job with the Grand Trunk RR. That was in 1968. My parents settled in Chesterfield in 1975 and have remained there since. My life has kept me out here in the New Baltimore area..... |
Susanarosa
Member
Username: Susanarosa
Post Number: 1427
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:04 pm: | |
My paternal great grandfather and grandmother came from Poland to Calumet to work in the coal mines. My grandfather made it to Hamtramck at some point of the early 1900's and married my also Polish grandmother and had 11 kids.
My maternal great grandmother is a Cicotte and they've been here forever although no one knows exactly when we showed up here and if it was from France or took a side trip through Canada. My paternal great grandmother and grandfather were from England and France, respectively, and moved to Detroit from Lebanon, New Hampshire sometime in the early 1900's. Both my grandparents were lower eastsiders before they met and married. |
Ghetto_butterfly
Member
Username: Ghetto_butterfly
Post Number: 686
Registered: 09-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:05 pm: | |
quote:Ghetto_butterfly... Siebenbürgen Germans are "Transylvania Saxons".
Yes, I am Dracula's grand-daughter  |
Tarkus
Member
Username: Tarkus
Post Number: 312
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:31 pm: | |
Mom's side. Family came over from England in 1755 and lived in Conn. Moved to Mich. in mid 1800's to Almont Mi. Moved to Detroit early 19teens. Grandpa was in upper mgt. for Detroit Creamery and lived on Philip down by the river. My Uncle had the last horse-drawn milk route in the city.
Dad's side. Grandpa moved here from Wash. in the 20's and worked at various tool and die shops and helped to build The Ambassador Bridge.
Grandma immigrated(legally) from Ninove Belgium in the teens worked at US Rubber(Uniroyal). Also lived on Philip near Kercheval in the house my grandpa built by hand.
Parents met and worked at NBD and lived on Devonshire until the 90's
(Message edited by tarkus on April 01, 2007) |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 1806
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:40 pm: | |
There's a good description of a Michigan pioneer's life under my great, great, great grandfather's section at Seymour Andrus. Log cabins and indians are mentioned!quote:In the winter of 1841, Seymour went to Michigan where some inducements were being offered to settlers. He made the journey in a one-horse sleigh of his own making....
In the summer of 1842, Enoch Andrus, a brother, who had very recently lost his wife, and who desired to see something of the new country, volunteered to go to Michigan and build a log cabin for his brother and to clear some of the land. This brotherly offer was accepted, and during that year the logs were hewn and the log cabin, later described, was erected and the timber on about three acres was cut down ready for logging....
Finally all was in readiness for the great adventure, and in the summer of 1844, the young couple with their son Charles now three years old and daughter, Mary, who was born on April 20, 1843, bid good by to their relatives and friends in the New York Home and started for far away Michigan. They travelled by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, by lake to Detroit, thence by the newly constructed Central Railroad of Michigan to Marshall. The final stage of the journey from Marshall to Hastings was made by wagon and required two days to accomplish....
Friendly Indians roaming the wood were frequent visitors. They always expected something to eat and were never disappointed.
[etc., etc.] |
Patrick
Member
Username: Patrick
Post Number: 4190
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 9:54 pm: | |
Mother’s side:
On my grandmother’s side was a mix of English, Irish, and German. I believe the Irish side came here around 1850 or so and settled in Corktown. I believe the English side had been here since the 1700’s but cannot verify this. The last names were Hammer, Ackey and Abbott. Several fought in the Civil War and one was in Andersonville. I verified this when I went there and searched their books.
Grandfather’s parents immigrated to America from Lebanon in the early 1900’s. He came to Kentucky alone and then went back to the old country to marry. Mainly, they left due to persecution of Christians by the Ottomans. They settled in Kentucky and then moved to Detroit in the 20’s They settled at 3670 Heidelberg Street. They had eleven kids and all of them grew up to be professionals….try that with parents that don’t speak a word of English.
Dad’s side:
On my grandmother’s side we have French/Canadian, possibly Dutch and possible Native American. A distant relative traced back the French side to Quebec in the 1600’s. From there they must have traveled around Canada as trappers or soldiers and eventually made it to Iron Mountain in the late 1800’s. My grandmother met my grandfather while working Detroit.
My grandfather’s descendents were the most interesting. His great grandfather was a child of the Demidov industrial family of Russia. There was a Russian count that lived in Italy and had a falling out or an illegitimate child and the child was sent to an orphanage. A few generations later via Brazil and Illinois, the family ended up in Detroit. They lived on Newport near Mack in a large yellow brick house. |
Club_boss
Member
Username: Club_boss
Post Number: 6
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 10:32 pm: | |
While I believe my grandfather was fleeing something, I’m pretty sure he was Muslim, his dad (my great-grandfather)was named Mohamed.
My grandfather “left” Tripoli for America in December of 1912, he was aboard the S.S. Carpathia.
Three other gentlemen accompanied him; none of the men carried the same last name as he did.
Neither of his parents, nor did any siblings, accompany him.
The ships manifest states he was 14 years old, however I believe he was 17.
I know very little about his early years in America.
He pops up on the 1930 Detroit census, working at Ford, married to my grandmother w/ 3 kids.
I know nothing of his early years (1913-1930) in America |
Imperfectly
Member
Username: Imperfectly
Post Number: 217
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 11:42 pm: | |
This is so interesting and slightly addictive !
Its sad for me to think and not really know that much about where my family came from !
Moms side: My grandparents were of the youngest kids in their family and were born here. Both had siblings born in Italy that came thru Ellis Island. My grandmothers family name was changed from Barilla to Barley. I'm sure this happened to many folks. My grandfathers family name is Folcarelli. Then were both born in 1915 so I assume their families came over somewhere between 1900 and 1915. Both families were original to the east coast before coming here. My grandparents met in Detroit, not sure when exactly. They married in 1947. My mom grew up on Mogul on the eastside and went to Guardian Angels and Dominican. My uncles went to Denby.
Dads side: My Dads family is from Tennessee. My Dad got here when he was 14, which would be 1961. My grandparents were seperated and I believe grandpa came up here first, then my dad and uncle and my grandma came up after they reconciled. I believe there is a family history floating around that places the family in america from English roots somewhere in the 1600s. Dads side has some famous Southern names floating around in it like Patton and Howard.
Grandma was a Howard and Grandpa a Williams.
I think both sides had money at some point and then everything went awry.
My dad went to Osborn HS and lived on Goulburn.
Thats all I know ! |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 1809
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 1:08 am: | |
I appreciate each and every little bit of contribution. Something magical could easily happen here. Keep it coming! |
Jrvass
Member
Username: Jrvass
Post Number: 54
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 1:50 am: | |
Paternal side: Bornman's owned the newspaper routes E. & W. of Woodward in 1835. The Vass family came in during WWI from NY to Selfridge and trained pilots how to bomb Germans.
Maternal side: Carl von Kleist married the upstairs maid and was disowned. So he moved from Prussia to Milwaukee after emigrating to Buffalo NY. His grandson (my grandfather) got a job at a small company called General Motors as an accountant in 1917.
He was their budget director during WWII until he retired in the late 1950's.
(Neat story... He passed the Hindenberg in a plane from Detroit to NYC, minutes later... BOOM!)
James |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 4023
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 1:55 am: | |
Jrvass, Off the top of my head I can't remember what Carl von Kleist was famous for... but Germany minted a 5 Mark commemorative coin in his honor about 20 years ago.
So he's biggie in German history! Very impressive! |
Jskelly79
Member
Username: Jskelly79
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 8:21 am: | |
Dad's father came from Poland with his two brothers in the late 1800's settled in Chicago, (was a butcher) married there had two sons and then came to Detroit with the influx of immigrants to the Ford assembly plants. Grandpa remained a butcher never worked in the plants. He had People's Meat Mkt in Hamtramack. His brother had a furniture store on Grand Blvd. Built a house on Birchcrest during the depression.
Mother's side come from Poland a little earlier. They settled in Delray. House is gone now. Lived across the street from the church. Grandmother and Grandfather married here and built the yellow brick house on Charest. It is still standing. Has a 5 car brick garage. Actually Mom's dad owned the store that housed People's Meat Mkt. Her mother, sister and brother all died in an airplane crash in 1940, taking her sister to Arizona for the cure for TB. |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1180
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 8:26 am: | |
Mom's side: My mom moved to Detroit from Newberry (MI) in the UP in 1953, went to work as an operator at Michigan Bell, lived in a "residence for young ladies" where the girls could only greet their "Gentleman caller" in the lobby-parlor, girls only in the rooms. Her Mother was Yugoslavian (then Prussian) they came to America in the 1880's, eventually settling in the UP, her father Irish, was a foundry laborer at the Coke Iron works in Newberry, he came to the UP from Pennsylvania, his ancestors came to America in the 1780's--pre potato famine.
Dad's side, my Grandmother was born in Reedy,WV of English-Scottish stock (not unusual for country folk in those parts) moved to Ohio later
My grandfather was Dutch, worked as a cabin boy aboard a Dutch ocean liner, was walking around New York on a one-day turn-around and got a job, the boat sailed without him (age 14--1908) so he was an illegal alien. He was walking down a New York street some weeks later and ran into his Father,Mother and brother--who had just freshly immigrated. It seemed that great-gramps was a accountant for a Dutch company and there were ledger entries that didn't jive, accusations flew, and so did G-gramps and the family. They ended up in Akron, OH, then Cleveland, Gramps and Grandma hooked up, My father was born (1922) then they moved to Detroit later that year, rented at Second at about Canfield. They lived on Biltmore near Curtis in Brightmore. Dad went into the service in WWII, came home from England in 1945, went to go back home and different people lived in that house. The G-P's moved and neglected to tell my Dad. They moved to Redford twp. during the war.
My folks met at Michigan Bell and married in 1957, this May we are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. We lived on Braille between Clarita and Pickford, in the house my Dad bought NEW in 1947 for $9,800 on the GI bill. We moved to NE Livonia in 1969. |
Pete
Member
Username: Pete
Post Number: 64
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 9:18 am: | |
What a great thread. And I love telling people about my dad's family history because of the wee bit of Detroit irony involved.
My paternal ancestors arrived in from Alsace, which is now part of France, but the people are of definitively German origins. They came to Detroit between 1860-1865, and my great, great, great grandfather Conrad had a small farm on Arndt Street off Gratiot. Ardnt St. still exists - it's near the new Salvation Army building east of Gratiot roughly between I-375 and I-94. The great part is, it looks like a farm again today!
The Alsatians all married amongst themselves, with an Indian wife thrown in here or there, and the Germans were obviously living in the old Germantown area off Gratiot for quite awhile. My grandmother has a great picture of her grandparents standing outside there little store on St. Aubin street. It even has the address. Then they all moved out to the far east side and lived on the canals south of Jefferson. Some relatives lived on Klenk Island and ran booze from Peche Island for their blind pig in the basement. That house is still there and someone was working on it recently. My grandfather was one of the classic child lookouts that hung out on the bridges looking for the police. Then my father grew up on Ashland, and the next generation then made the move to the cheap parts of Grosse Pointe or on to Macomb County. And, of course, at this point, they're already out to Macomb and Chesterfield Townships.
I, however, was raised in western suburbs and am proud to say that I have moved back to the City of Detroit when I returned from graduate school out-of-state 10 years ago. It's an irrational sentiment, but for some reason my knowledge and attachment to my family's history in Detroit led me to buy a house here six years ago (and I love it!). It certainly wasn't a financial decision, though.
And my mom's side is just as interesting, with my great grandfather, the chief detective in the Detroit Police Department in the 1930's, going down with the Mayor of Detroit (can't remember his name right now) in a racketeering case that landed them all in Jackson prison. I don't know when that family first settled here, though, because my mother's mother died of polio when she was only four. I know it reaches back a long way as well, though. |
Gibran
Member
Username: Gibran
Post Number: 140
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 12:01 pm: | |
well if my memory serves:
My dad family (parents) moved here from Lebanon around 1912-15. They settled near ST. Marons (old)and owned a store near Olympia and apartments near Congress. He spoke 7 langs. Raised six kids...
My mom and dad meet while attending Wayne State where my dad was out of service and studying to be a mortician. My mom attended nursing school in Highland Park. She worked at St. John's and Budd Wheel as an industrial nurse. They lived off of Jefferson in one of those cool apartment buildings near Indian Village or Water Works Park. They moved to Wayburn on the east side in the 1950's to be near my Dad's family...
My mom was from Traverse City and moved here to study nursing. Her grand parents came from Poland in 1887 and 1885. They settled in Cedar/Isadore near Traverse City. She was raised in Maple City. My Granddad helped build Isadore's Church... |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1295
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 1:20 pm: | |
Had a fine time tracing my wife's ancestors, also. Both main lines came from Germany in the 1850s with half settling in Detroit and the other half scattered about Macomb County. Been fascinating going through that history...even learned that Roseville used to be called Erin Township. |
El_jimbo
Member
Username: El_jimbo
Post Number: 66
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 1:29 pm: | |
On the mom's side, we don't know when exactly they came to michigan, although we did discover a marriage licence for a wedding of our ancestors done at St. Anne's back in 1803 or something to that effect.
On my dad's side, they emigrated from Poland and Russia in the 19teens and 1920s. |
Homer
Member
Username: Homer
Post Number: 143
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 5:43 pm: | |
Maternal grandparents came from Austria in late 1800's and settled in Milwaukee where they met and married. They moved through Chicago eventually ending up in Tiffin Ohio where my Grandfather was a supervisor in a foundry. My Mom came up to Detroit in 1928 to attend Nursing School at Providence Hospital. She met my Dad and they married in 1930. Paternal grandparents moved to Detroit from Akron Ohio in 1905 and owned an Herbal Medicine business here. Later the family owned two furniture stores in Detroit which both failed during the Depression. I presently live in the home they purchased in 1905 in SW Detroit. |
Jrvass
Member
Username: Jrvass
Post Number: 58
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 8:18 pm: | |
Gistok,
You are kidding me? Right?
Off to Google. Mom will freak if I can get a few coins!
James |
Esp
Member
Username: Esp
Post Number: 49
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 8:32 pm: | |
My dad's father from Szarcsa, Hungary left Hamburg, Germany March 1907 on SS Pretoria to NYC, meeting cousin at 157 Wight St., Detroit, MI. He's on the 1910 census living on Franklin St. working at Buhl Malleable. My dad's mother was over here sooner, her father from Temesjunep, Hungary 1904 on RMS Carpathia to NYC, meeting cousin Kirby St. in Detroit, MI. I'm sure the addresses are long gone boarding houses. They moved around quite a bit in the early years.
My mother's parents are from England. Winnipeg, Canada 1911. Detroit, MI 1923. They always lived around Palmer Park, Woodward, McNichols. The country back then! |
Esp
Member
Username: Esp
Post Number: 50
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 8:48 pm: | |
After typing all that out I JUST remembered when my grandmother told me that the Graf Zeppelin flew over Detroit years ago. I thought she was crazy at the time. But I just googled it and sure enough Graf Zeppelin World tour Detroit 1929. |
Douglasm
Member
Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 801
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 9:39 pm: | |
Makes me wish I knew a little more about my family's backround in Detroit.
Dad (who was from Lebanon, PA) moved to Highland Park after graduating from the U of M just before WW 2 when he took a job with Chrysler as an engineer. Mom's family already lived in Highland Park (on Farrand Park, I believe) at the time. They were married before Dad went into the service and lived in an apartment in Highland Park after he mustered out at the end of the war (Mom's folks had moved to New York City by then). Just after I was born in late 1948, they bought a house on Maplehurst in Ferndale and lived there until 1985 when they retired to a cottage in Clare.
As an aside, Mom, like Gibran's, studied nursing in Highland Park, I assume at the college.
As another aside, I'm sitting at my computer in central Washington State, looking at a picture of the Ferndale house, with the big oak trees in the yard. Grandmother is standing in the drive, and it seems like yesterday...... |
Skulker
Member
Username: Skulker
Post Number: 3743
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 10:06 pm: | |
1730, Robert Navarre.
http://www.historydetroit.com/ people/robert_navarre.asp
My maternal 7x great grandfather. I'm descended from French royalty, bitches. Thats where I get attitude about morons. |
Capnhook
Member
Username: Capnhook
Post Number: 40
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 10:06 pm: | |
We moved to Detroit in 1998 after having moved to MI in 1996. Not much direct Detroit history before that. We moved into old redford and at the end of the street is a small cemetary. Looking up some info, I found out that there is a german lady buried there (died in late 1800s) who was from Schwerin, Germany which is where my wife went to nursing school. We've hopefully started some history here in Detroit. Our second son was born on Pickford street at home. |
Jrvass
Member
Username: Jrvass
Post Number: 59
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 10:16 pm: | |
Gistok,
It is Heinrich, not Carl. He was a poet and my Mom thinks he may be a relation... we have to go down that genealogy trail.
Carl was a bum who banged the upstairs maid!
You know you have the love of your mother... when you call her in FL & tell her about Heinrich Von Kleist on 5 Deutchemark coins in W. & E. Germany, in the 1970's and late '80's. And she begins going down "memory lane" about her relationship with "Lana Lee Kleist".
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I found her for you. This is costing me money! I gotta go! Love ya! Bye!"
"Bye Dear!"
Dad hung up a 1/2 hour before!
James |
Jrvass
Member
Username: Jrvass
Post Number: 60
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 10:21 pm: | |
Another Carl trivia ?.
When he emigrated, he put down his line of work as "Emporer of Germany".
The first census in the US lists him as a truck driver!
Hey, that is life. One day you are a king... the next day you are driving a truck!
(We think he misunderstood the question.)
James |
Blueidone
Member
Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 21
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 11:03 pm: | |
Douglasm..my folks were from Highland Park as well. Don't know much history except that Dad's family is from England originally. Mom's father was from Canada; her mother from Pennsylvania Dutch country. The families lived on Florence and North on the 1920 and 1930 census. My mother was born in the house on North. Mom and Dad married in 1938. I am 4th of 5 kids, born in 1949. Could be our families knew each other! |
Savannahsmiles
Member
Username: Savannahsmiles
Post Number: 25
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 11:04 pm: | |
My dad moved from Jamestown, TN to Detroit in 1949 to find work. I don't know the exact area he lived. My mom and brothers stayed behind in TN but eventually moved to Detroit to be with Dad. They were all over the place and moved back to TN a lot. I was born in Crossville, TN in 1966 but remember many trips to MI. My earliest memory of where we lived was an apartment building on the corner of Trumbull and Selden. My mom liked to move, so there were many complete moves back and forth between TN and Detroit. Other streets I lived on include 12th Street at Spaulding Court between Spruce and Temple...I think, Manistique and Jefferson, Stansbury and Fenkell...I think..., Appoline between Schoolcraft and I-96 (the freeway wasn't complete at the time... not even paved yet), Sumner near 7 Mile and Grand River... there are more, but you get the picture... As an adult, my area was mainly Southwest Detroit. |
Lombaowski
Member
Username: Lombaowski
Post Number: 35
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 6:00 am: | |
Fareastsider,
My grandpa worked for GT in the late 60s and on and off in the 1970s as an Engineer. He worked in the SW yards so most of his friends lived over there. Makes me wonder if they still live down that way. Most probably moved to Ecorse or somewhere like that.
Also interested to see all the Highland Park inputs. When I go through there I can imagine the way things were back in the 1930s and 1940s. I'll bet that was a really nice place to live. |
Pam
Member
Username: Pam
Post Number: 1278
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 7:12 am: | |
quote:I'm descended from French royalty, bitches
Sounds like you got yourself a t-shirt there. |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1184
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 7:27 am: | |
Yea, and you know what happened to them..........
|
1st_sgt
Member
Username: 1st_sgt
Post Number: 51
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 11:26 am: | |
My family is mixed, one side from the north the other side the south.
My Mom's sides are all from Detroit and Michigan via Germany and England. Family names are Turner, Haack and Meier. 1800's G-Grandpa Haack worked for gas company, The Turner’s owned a livery stable and boarding house somewhere on 2nd St. close to Fort St.
1930's G-Grandparents Haack lived on Sturtevant, G-Grandparents Turner on Butternut and Tumble, next door to their only son My Grandpa.
During WWII the Haack’s had 5 brothers and a brother in-law in service. They all came home. Only one was wounded.
My Dad came to Detroit from Miss. in 1949 after his stint in the army. He left the farm for the big city. Started working at Commonwealth Brass where my Mom's grand uncle, Father and she were employed. My G-Grand Uncle Fred Steller trained my Dad as a Machine repair machinist. Dad worked there days and at the Dodge Main plant welding frames on the afternoon shift. During the time of my arrival my Mom would meet him between jobs to deliver his meal. The Union made him quit one of his Jobs. He messed up and picked Commonwealth brass.
My Dad's family traces back to 1700's in NC, SC, Al and MS. |
Patrick
Member
Username: Patrick
Post Number: 4194
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 11:37 am: | |
Has anyone ever done one of those DNA ancestry tests to learn more about your background? |
Naturalsister
Member
Username: Naturalsister
Post Number: 879
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 12:15 pm: | |
My Dad's Parents moved to Detroit from Springfield, OH in 1930 when my Dad was two weeks old. They bought a house on Vancourt near Milford. My Dad grew up in this neighborhood and graduated from Northwestern High School in 1947.
My Dad attended graduate school in OH, where he met my Mom in 1954. They married in 1957, and he brought her here. Their first Detroit resident was on Whitewood street, also near Milford. Mom's from Columbus, OH. My parents raised 8 children in Detroit, 4 of us still live here.
later - naturalsister |
Savannahsmiles
Member
Username: Savannahsmiles
Post Number: 26
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 12:16 pm: | |
Detroitteacher, if you don't mind me asking, who is your maternal grandmother? I have a lot of family in and around Jamestown, TN. If you would like to email me, my email is thompsonclan@bellsouth.net . |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1300
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 12:49 pm: | |
"Has anyone ever done one of those DNA ancestry tests to learn more about your background?"
Yeah, I have, Patrick, with not-so-exciting results. Seven others with my surname have sent in their DNA (cost is $100, done with mouth swab), and the results are I have no direct connection to the other seven. However, I knew that the surname arose spontaneously in England and Ireland in the 1400s, and those who used the name were not necessarily related to other "tribes" who also adopted it. Several of the other seven, however, have proven direct relationships with each other.
On the other hand, all eight of us have had the sample confirm that we hold southern England to be our area of origination in the last 500 years. None of the Irish with our surname have shown up yet, but I know the name was used in the Emerald Isle. |
Pamequus
Member
Username: Pamequus
Post Number: 100
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 1:56 pm: | |
NaturalSister....my maternal grandparents moved here from Springfield, Ohio in the early 20's. They lived near the City Airport.
Paternal grandparents came here about the same time but from London, Ontario.
Both sets of grandparents settled in the same school district and my parents met at Redford High School in the late 30s. |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 1814
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 5:45 pm: | |
In case there are any long lost relatives reading this thread, here are the 80 known surnames from my geneology. If someone finds a match, maybe we can exchange notes by email.
|
Terryh
Member
Username: Terryh
Post Number: 250
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 6:02 pm: | |
My paternal grandfather moved to Detroit
from Oklahoma in early 1920's and lived on St. Antoine. I seen an engagement? picture of my Paternal grandparents from 2o's taken in a photo shop on Canfield. Grandpa came to Detroit to work in the auto industry and eventually became a tool and die man. Was active in the labor movement. Ended up on a farm in Almont Michigan and spent his latter years back in his hometown of Coalgate Oklahoma. A second generation German,
I have memories of him ranting and raving about Blacks; Jews; Hippies; Womens libbers etc. |
Dabirch
Member
Username: Dabirch
Post Number: 2206
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 6:11 pm: | |
quote:Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba
Post Number: 5125
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 12:11 am:
------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
They met at a family reunion at South Haven, Michigan 1933
So your parents were related?
Explains a lot... |
Jman
Member
Username: Jman
Post Number: 32
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 6:22 pm: | |
Douglasm, small world as my father was an engineer for Chrysler in Highland Park from the early thirties till his retirement in 1972. We lived on Waverly which is three blocks north of Farrand Park.
The nursing school was at the H.P. General Hospital on Glendale and the Lodge.
Lombaowski, I lived in H.P. in th 40's, 50's and 60's. It was a great community. |
Jrvass
Member
Username: Jrvass
Post Number: 63
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 8:27 pm: | |
FYI... I was coming home about 6pm from a Christmas Party at my bosses house and Mitch Albom was on WJR talking about his latest book and book tour. He met someone from Birmingham who came to a book signing. The guy owns a company on Adams in B'ham who creates "video memories", basically sitting down with the family with a camcorder on and asking questions. The other company that does this is in CA.
The premise of the book is that a guy is visited by an angel and is given 24 hours with anyone, before he dies. He picks his dead mother. WHAMMO! She is there.
During the course of the day. He says he knows nothing about his family and would like to learn more. She says: "You've heard those stories a 1000 times! Why go over that?"... He never paid attention.
And Albom thinks about himself, the book, and what this guy says to him at a signing while on a plane. And realizes that he is a hypocrite becoause he knew nothing about his family in PA. So he buys a plane ticket, a camcorder, and a tripod.
And spends 8 hours with his parents.
I thought about all of this on I-96/M-59 back to Pontiac from E. Lansing. Called my brother, sister, and a genealogist. We got a little busy.
So far, I bought a camcorder. The next step is transferring 16mm/8mm/super 8 movies/slides/photos to dvd's, with their descriptions or "Amos & Andy", Chevy Advertisements ("See the USA in your Chevrolet"), or "Detroit Tigers Baseball is On The Air!" as part of a soundtrack.
Next, a 1 terrabyte external harddrive. Movies & Pix & sound "sucks" the memory.
I never knew that my uncle used a bulldozer to push bodies into mass graves at Hiroshima. He never told me or my father. But he told his son when he was on leave from Vietnam in '69.
I am in my home office right now. I would guess I could easily make a 5' pile of paper from books & family papers that need "handling".
Talk to your parents and learn this information... before they cannot talk to you. (6 feet below... mine are 77 and 80. Once they are gone, you can safely toss all pictures prior to your birth, give or take a few.)
Enough from me. Soapbox mode off
James |
Mikeg
Member
Username: Mikeg
Post Number: 769
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 9:15 pm: | |
I want to second Jrvass' suggestion and add one of my own.
Know a veteran? Get their recollections and record them for posterity in the Library of Congress. Anyone who can ask a question and operate a camcorder can do it. Visit the Veteran's History Project to learn more. |
Mayor_sekou
Member
Username: Mayor_sekou
Post Number: 652
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 - 10:29 pm: | |
Mom is from Jamaica not the one in Queens the island and NYC.
Dad migrated from Lima, Ohio in September of 1961 moving to that area on the east side that used to be houses where the Jefferson North plant expanded, right around the Mack and Conner area. |
Pamequus
Member
Username: Pamequus
Post Number: 103
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 10:48 am: | |
JIMAZ......We share two surnames...Baker and Moore. Last names of both sets of my grandparents. |
Lakesuperior
Member
Username: Lakesuperior
Post Number: 171
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 12:41 pm: | |
My grandparents moved to Seven Mile & Coyle in 1936. My Grandpa was hired by the Detroit Zoo to do landscape architecture/horticulture that year and stayed at the Zoo until 1942. In 1942 he started working for the Detroit Department of Parks and Recreation and worked his way up to become the Superintendent of Forestry and Landscaping. He won a national award in 1963 for successfully controlling Dutch Elm disease in the City.
Cool, huh? Then Kansas City, KS lured my grandpa away so he could take care of their Dutch Elm disease problem- he became Director of Parks and Rec for Kansas City. My dad has lots of good stories of growing in Detroit. He also went to WSU and lived over in Woodbridge- although there are now athletic fields where his house once was. I grew up in Saginaw but I moved to Detroit five years ago and am now continuing the legacy of my family being in Detroit! |
Douglasm
Member
Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 803
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 2:40 pm: | |
Jman....
.....dad (R.W. Shirk) worked in the heating and cooling lab for Chrysler for years. He "retired" and became dean of students at D.I.T. before it folded.
Blueidone.....
.....Lebanon Bologna goes for almost $9 a pound if I can find it out here, then (alas) it's usually Seltzers, not Weavers..... |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 1824
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 4:14 pm: | |
Pamequus, the only mention of Baker is for Hannah Baker, mother of Lydia Phillips, born 12 Jul 1803, died 17 May 1888 in Hastings Twp, Barry County, MI.
Also, there's Hepzeba Baker, mother of Zachariah Bush, born 1718, died 1800 in Westfield, Massachusetts.
My known "Moore" ancestors go back to Jeremiah Moore, father of Ashman, father of Jacob, father of Jacob B., father of Ambrose Foster, father of James Edwin, father of your's truly.
Recognize anyone?
(Message edited by Jimaz on April 04, 2007) |
Lombaowski
Member
Username: Lombaowski
Post Number: 38
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 06, 2007 - 11:03 pm: | |
Could have probably applied this to the State of Michigan but thought Detroit was appropriate. Still would like to hear any history, wherever that history was in Michigan. |
Hardliner
Member
Username: Hardliner
Post Number: 37
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, April 07, 2007 - 1:07 am: | |
My Turn...
I'm happy to report that I am a product of the appalachian migration that took place in the 1950's, 1960's and early 1970's.
Mom's side of the family hails from the great city of Dalton, Georgia. Mom's folks came to Detroit in 1951. He father found work at the old Dodge main plant, him and his brother. They first settled neat Downtown. and used to WALK all the way to the dodge main plant. Brother got tired of walking and went back to Dalton. My Grandpa ended up getting a job at the Caddy plant on clark st. worked there until he died of cancer in 1979. Worked at clark st, until he got hit by a car on the way to work one morning. after he healed up, was placed at the cadillac plant on raphael st. until he died. My Mom's folks, lived at various places, Porter St was one, they finally settled on Norman St. in Southwest Detroit, until we moved to Lincoln Park here in 1989.
Dad's side:
Dad came to Detroit in 1967. He hails from the Great state of Kentucky. Middlesburo, Ky. It's a mining town. Daddy was smart, never worked in them mines. He came here, first found work at guardian glass in Detroit, until they went on strike. and when that happened, my grandpa put in a good word for him at Cadillac. and my dad got in. My folks married in 1969. and have been married ever since. We lived on Oakdale St. Off woodmere from 1972 till 1989. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I grew up in a great area, at a good time. Dad retired from G.M. in 2001. I rode with him through the plant on his last day. He was so proud. He worked at clark st assembly till around the mid 80's when he had a chance to go to the "poletown" plant and jumped on it. He worked at poletown till he retired.
-HL
(Message edited by hardliner on April 07, 2007)
(Message edited by hardliner on April 07, 2007)
(Message edited by hardliner on April 07, 2007) |
Eastsidedame
Member
Username: Eastsidedame
Post Number: 68
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, April 07, 2007 - 2:53 am: | |
Here's half my story:
My dad's parents came straight from Poland as newlyweds during WWI...the Kaiser was coming. Even so, they had to wait 2 years for their visa. They were legal immigrants, but could never get their citizenship because they couldn't quite get the hang of English well enough to ace the test.
Came directly to Hamtramck and lived at 8984 Manhattan. Dad and his brother were born there. They later moved to 8 Mile Road in a 3 story house they built. After my grandma died in 1981, my uncle sold the lot and the house was torn down. It was one of the last, if not THE last house right on 8 Mile Road.
Dad was a bricklayer and built a lot of homes and businesses around Detroit. Some very well known, like Ford Auditorium and the City-County Building. He met my mother in a bar & grill across the street from Holy Cross Hospital, where I would later be born. Dad said she was eating a hamburger the size of a Sherman tank.
I'll talk about my mom's family on another posting; there's some things I need to find out first.
***************************
Off-Thread for just a moment, please:
Hardliner: We drove through Dalton, Georgia many, many summers in the Chevy Caprice Classic station wagon via I-75 on the way to Florida. Big fun. The dirt was VERY RED! Like Mars!
We stopped off one year and ordered our carpeting there wholesale very cheap and the next year, the salesman came to Detroit and bought his first Caddie, also wholesale through my mom's cousin's brother-in-law.
My parents made friends with everybody. They were very personable that way. |
14509glenfield
Member
Username: 14509glenfield
Post Number: 713
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, April 07, 2007 - 7:50 am: | |
Dad born in Glasgow Scotland (1905) only son. Two of his younger sisters...one became a Sister in the order of St. Francis of Assisi...second one never married. He proceeded them to heaven in 1968. Heart failure while sleeping.
Mom born in Portage PA (1906) with lots of brothers and sisters. 85% migrated to Detroit auto industry. Never knew any grandparents.
They met somehow. He worked for 37 or so years at Hudson Motors. Then BCBS building when Hudsons folded. First house on Cardoni. Then the new one on Glenfield. Mom died 1983. Almost all cousins are still kickin' with families of their own and beyond. I too am an only "child". Both parents were Lithuanian....so...so am I.
(Message edited by 14509glenfield on April 07, 2007) |
Frumoasa
Member
Username: Frumoasa
Post Number: 6
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2007 - 11:46 am: | |
My paternal grandparents came from Austria via Canada in 1955, my father was born a few months later as an American citizen They first lived on Milwaukee Av then moved to Picadilly St. in Palmer Park by 1961-2. My grandfather was a tool and die maker employed first by General Motors, then he started his own shop and owned a 6 unit apartment building at 7 and VanDyke (a German enclave at the time).
My mother's family came to Detroit and settled right in Hamtramck sometime around 1908. Her grandmother was born here in 1912 and married her husband, a Hamtramck native who was employed at Dodge Main in 1935. They bought a house on Evaline and lived there until they passed on in 1995 and 2000.
My husband came to Detroit from Romania after working at a variety of summer camps as part of his visa arrangement in 2001. He came to Detroit for a Romanian Pentecostal convention in September 2001 and stayed in the area with family friends and $200 in his pocket. He started working as a waiter in a coney island and bought his first car here for $400 (a rusted out Pontiac Sunbird). I met him in January 2002 and he invited himself to my high school's Sadie Hawkins dance with me. (I was 16, he was 22). We've been together ever since
My father jokes with me telling me "I worked so hard to make sure that my family didn't live like they were off the boat, so where does my daughter look for a husband? On the dock!" |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 1986
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2007 - 11:51 am: | |
quote:We lived on Waverly which is three blocks north of Farrand Park.
My great-uncle lived on Waverly - second house west of Third on the south side - until he passed away ~1984 |
Durango
Member
Username: Durango
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2007 - 3:04 pm: | |
My great-grandparents came to Detroit during the great southern migration during the early 1900's. My parents were raised on the north end of Detroit around Northern High School on Bethune. Fortunately, the houses that both of my parents grew-up in are still standing and they appear to be occupied.
They moved several times after they were married. They started in the north end then moved to the Lindwood/Dexter area next to a two family flat on Fullerton for about twenty years. In 1975, we moved to Franklin Park on the west side between Plymouth and Chicago.
We were the first black family on the block. We received the traditional Detroit integration welcome of a brick through our front window during our second night in the house. This was not a pleasant memory for an eight year-old, but one that remains with me to this day. |
Savannahsmiles
Member
Username: Savannahsmiles
Post Number: 28
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 12:06 am: | |
Durango, I am sorry to hear that. I have a similar memory. When I was five, we (one of very few white families) were welcomed to the neighborhood by a molotov cocktail that thankfully did not explode on impact. Rotten people come in all colors. Neither black nor white hold the majority on that one. |
Aoife
Member
Username: Aoife
Post Number: 5
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 5:07 pm: | |
I moved here when I was married (to a lifetime east sider), but afterwards discovered that my family on both sides actually lived here.
My grandparents moved here in 1927 from a little town in Quebec where everyone still spoke Scots Gaelic. They settled over near Clairmont- my grandma has all sorts of hilarious "culture shock" stories about this since they moved into a very Jewish neighborhood. They loved the area and stayed until 1943, when they moved out of the city to Lansing, where they started a business.
My other grandparents moved to the city during the war- my grandfather was attended WSU's medical school then got shipped out. When he came back from the war, he finished his residency (he was a neurosurgeon) then they moved North to Flint where he set up a practice.
I remember visiting Detroit when I was very small- probably 4 or 5. We came to visit my Great Aunt (who emigrated from Canada with my grandparents). I remember being very impressed by the city- not because of the downtown or anything like that, but rather the area where she lived was block after block of nearly identical, tidy bungalows. I thought that it was simply a city of tiny, neat doll houses- really magical. I keep those feelings in mind on days when I am tired of working in the city. |
Quozl
Member
Username: Quozl
Post Number: 436
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 12:05 pm: | |
When: 2002
Where: Empty house on Hogarth Street between Wildemere & Lawton Street.
It was one long ride from El Paso:
|
Durango
Member
Username: Durango
Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 8:16 pm: | |
Savannahsmiles,
Fortunately, that was the only incident that occurred during my ten years living with my parents. There isn't a race that has a monopoly on violence or ignorance in any city. It hurts me to see how the neighborhood has changed since I was a child. Most of the streets were lined with Elm trees that formed an archway over each street. We played football or catch with a baseball in the street. We walked to the Open Pantry partystore on Plymouth and Westwood to buy a bag of chips and a Coke, and never had a second thought. No matter where you live, it's sad that kids don't really interact like that anymore.
Listening to my parents, who were born and raised in Detroit, hurts the most because they were part of the last really prosperous time in Detroit during the late 40's - mid 60's. They really remember how great the city was even with the covert and overt segregation they experienced trying to raise a family. |
Sailor_rick
Member
Username: Sailor_rick
Post Number: 174
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 - 12:36 am: | |
Back in the 20’s, my Grandpappy who was the Captain on the S.S. Erie Enterprise, dropped off “a load” at Wyandotte were my Bobeschi was serving borscht at Babushka Bettie’s on Biddle.
Nine months later...
At family gatherings we celebrate their union with a rousing version the “Steam Boat Polka” complete with the comical “Who hid the oiler’s spanner in the engineer’s eggs?” chorus. |
Goirish1966
Member
Username: Goirish1966
Post Number: 10
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 10:07 am: | |
good morning:
my mom's family immigrated here from germany in 1921 when she was 7 years old. they lived on conley (2nd block south of mc nichols) from at least the early 1940s until 1964 when my grandmother passed away.
my dad's family immigrated here from germany in the early 1900s. my dad was born here in 1910. they first lived in the bay city area, then moved to plymouth (not sure when). my grandmother lived there until 1967 when she passed away.
my dad moved to detroit in the early 1930s when he met and married my mom.
the lived in various placed in the jefferson chalmers area until 1950 when they moved to roseville.
(Message edited by goirish1966 on April 20, 2007) |
Lombaowski
Member
Username: Lombaowski
Post Number: 39
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 9:32 am: | |
Eastsidedame>Hi
Your grandparents actually got visas back then? That is fascinating. I'm pretty sure my Grandpa hopped on the boat in Lithuania and hoped for the best. I would imagine my Grandmother's family did the same coming from Poland.
I know that my Paternal Great Grandparents first went to Brazil from Italy and spent some time there (maybe a year) but I don't know why. I think the goal all along was to make it to the U.S. but for some reason they had a long layover in Brazil when my Grandpa was a toddler. My Great-grandfather was a known adventurer so maybe that was a factor but I can't say for sure. My Paternal Great-grandmother died just two years after entering the States however and my uncle seems to think she may have caught something in Brazil. I’m learning more and more about this trip just over the past few weeks, but not a whole lot was ever known since my Great-grandfather remarried and never really spoke about his first wife again. I guess that’s how they did things back then. |
Ptpelee
Member
Username: Ptpelee
Post Number: 4
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 10:13 pm: | |
My Grandparents came to Detroit from Nova Scotia in 1926. They moved into a flat at 4446 Lincoln between Lysander and Forest. It was an old mansion that had been cut up into flats. Three flats sharing one bathroom. It sounds bad but still it was better than the outhouse back in Cape Breton. My Grandfather worked at Detroit Edison (grandpa said if you were Scottish your application went to the top of the pile!), Packard's, and then ended up at Detroit Steel Products for thirty years. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 2
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 7:13 am: | |
My grandparents settled in Detroit in Feb. 1951. Relocating from rural Illinois. First staying with my grandfathers sister until they found employment. By 1958-1959 they purchased a frame house on Carbondale St. near Livernois & Tireman. My grandparents and their four children (the youngest being my mother) were the first blacks on the block. Within a year all the whites had moved. |
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JimazSurnames