Back where I come from.

“Back where I come From” is a country song I like a lot, performed by Kenny Chesney. It’s an oldie and a goodie. Do you know it?

Well, we all have a place we come from, where our parents were living when we were born, and we can look back even much farther to see where our ancestors came from, before arriving in America.

My cousin Kay did lots of research years ago about my dad’s side of the family. I appreciate all the names, dates, and other info she found. I pulled it out this morning because I recently finished a book about the Civil War and it got me wondering if my ancestors had arrived before the war broke out. I could not remember. And, reading about a time in history can make it all seem more real if you have a personal connection.

What I read in Kay’s research is that my great-great grandfather was John George Milheim, and he married Anna Elisabeth Frederick in Alsace-Lorraine, France in 1868. He and his wife Anna had many children (perhaps 7) and one of them, Jacob Frederick Milheim, was born in 1869 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Jacob married Margaret Louise Reno in Butler in 1892. So this tells me that John and Anna must have taken a ship across the Atlantic shortly after they married and they made their way to Butler. Anna was probably pregnant along the voyage.

The US Civil War started on April 12, 1861 and it officially ended on April 9, 1865. So, I learned that my great-grandparents Jacob and Margaret came to America right after the Civil War. They came to a new land, to settle, to work, and to start their family. Ulysses S. Grant was president at the time.

My great-grandparents had six children, one being my grandfather, the second oldest, Norman Frederick Milheim, and he was born in Butler, PA. He married Florence Voeller Milheim in Grove City, Ohio in 1921.

One of their two children was my dad, Paul Richard Milheim, who was born in 1926 and just died last year at the age of 97.

Wooo. That was a lot of names and dates, right? But what it shows is that a part of my family (on my father’s side – the male line) came to the US only 156 years ago. They were immigrants looking for a better life I suppose. We will really never know why John and Anna, so young, decided to leave their hometown, to leave Europe completely, to cross the ocean, and to come to the New World. Although, we do know that John was born at a time in an area of France that bordered Germany, and that border changed at times, so it was also sometimes part of Germany. Maybe political unrest was concerning to them. The name Milheim is very German, the miller from the hamlet. Anna’s maiden last name was Frederick, also German, and she could have been somehow related to the Frederick name of rulers in Rome and Prussia.

My direct ancestors got out of Germany way before the rise of Hitler. I am thankful that they were not there during World War II but I am sure other family members (their sisters, brothers, cousins) were still living in Germany and suffered during those years.

I have read lots of books about the experiences, real and historical fiction, about people in Europe during the war. Knowing ancestors were there makes it real. I can imagine the horror they went through. So frightening to them.

My brother had his DNA analyzed a few years back and the company connected him with others who had also been checked and they were primarily people who had migrated from New York, to Pennsylvania (there is a small town in the state called Millheim, near State College) and then on to central Ohio. Many landed and settled in rural areas to start farms. They were Lutherans and they brought their religion with them and they set aside land for church buildings. My grandfather was a Lutheran pastor. My father Paul became one also. They both served various churches in Ohio.

I’m lucky to know these roots and to be able to follow it back to Europe. (Again, thank you cousin Kay.) It is definitely nice to ‘know where I come from.’ I realize not everyone does.

I don’t have quite as complete information on my other side, my genealogy on my mother’s side. But she also had German ancestors, and her father’s last name was Fogt, thought to be Americanized from the name Vogt when they arrived here. They also all settled in Ohio, many in central-western Ohio.

I write this because I think it is good for my daughters to know some of their history. Family names have been re-used through the generations…. We have several Fredericks, and Paul connections (first a Pauline, then Paul, and now three Paulettes.)

I also write this because it is one example of how people make pretty big decisions about moving. Back then, in the 1800’s, it was for opportunity, and for a place to raise a family. It still is today. Maybe thinking about our own family histories can help understand why immigrants today are taking a chance, looking for a better life.