Unfortunately, before I got to the good stuff, I had to figure out who these people are! So below is the very basic family tree on my mom's side- the German, but originally Italian, name Ernesti. I traced back through the fathers only, keeping with the Ernesti name, though I could've spent years tracing each of the wives.
And now for the stories...(to pay homage to my favorite show "How I Met Your Mother", I will call them Fun Facts...)
Fun Fact #1: I learned that every Ernesti in this list before the younger Carl was born in Haaren, Westphalen, Germany and was baptized at St. Vitus Catholic Church. Everyone before Philip was married and then buried at St. Vitus as well. Add that to my bucket list: see the records at St. Vitus Catholic Church, Haaren, Germany.
Fun Fact #2: Seven of the nine children of Carl and Angela (my 3x great- grandparents) immigrated to the US around 1882. I know that Philip for sure came in 1882, and the tale goes that he wrote a letter to his brothers in Germany telling them to come to America and to bring women. This is documented in a book called Voices of the Prairie that chronicles some of the Ernesti stories, among many other families. I do want to find out if the seven all immigrated together because it looks like they might have come at different times. The two sons that stayed in Haaren, Germany (Ferdinand and Fritz) stayed because Ferdinand was the oldest and would inherit the farm, which he did, and Fritz was in the service.
Fun Fact #3: Another interesting fact was that all of the records I saw listed everyone as "farmer", and when they came to America they settled in Nebraska and became farmers. I still have relatives who live on farms. So, the love of farms and the land is something deeply rooted in our family, for generations, even though I've lived in the city my whole life.
Fun Fact #4: Friedrich and Anna (at the top of the tree) were given special permission by the church in Haaren to get married in Easter. They were married December 10, 1739. This is the farthest date I traced last night.
Fun Fact #5: The average number of children my family members had was 5. This was skewed a bit because there were three generations- my grandparents (Ambrose & Kathleen) and then my 2x great (Carl & Angela) and 3x great (Anton & Elisabeth) grandparents all had at least 8 children. Other than those three generations, everyone had 1-3 kids.
So, in about 3 hours time, I traveled all the way back to 1739. Now, if I was on the show "Who Do You Think You Are?", I would have hopped on a plane this morning for Haaren, Germany to discover more stories of my ancestors. Instead, I have to look at pictures. Here is what St. Vitus Catholic Church looks like now... it was rebuilt in 1861.
The point of ancestry searches is not to get a list of where you came from, but rather to learn who you are, underneath the layers of the present. So, what did I learn from my Fun Facts, you may ask?
1) I am German to the core...stubborn and strong.
2) I am independent...like Philip who immigrated to Nebraska. Not sure I'm independent enough to move to another country by myself, but I could at least visit!
3) I have just moved to a farming/urban community- I had to have a little of both and God knew that when he brought us here. I crave the perks of a city (population, activities) and the perks of a small town (community, farmer's markets).
4) My family has always tried to get around the rules, albeit in a law abiding way, but we like to go outside of the norm. I am no exception.
5) I want to have two kids. Having more than three kids is a fluke...it's only happened 3 times in the lineage I know of. That reaffirms my preference for having two kids, three at the absolute most!...someday...no this is NOT a pregnancy announcement(:
