Thursday, October 2, 2008
Heritage and religion
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My blog today was going to be about the last hummingbird, or perhaps Scamp - a mutt we had when I was young - or maybe about the challenges of knitting with cats in the house. Instead, it's going to be about heritage - specifically, my heritage. It comes out of conversations with an internet friend in Ireland.
My mother was of Scots/Prussian descent. Her mother was born in Scotland. Her father was born in Prussia. My Scots grandmother came here because the industrial pollution had made it hard for her to breathe in her native land. Legend says she came to American in the late 1800s to find cleaner air and a better way of life.
Meanwhile, my Prussian grandfather was a German speaker, who I always said not just kissed the Blarney Stone, but likely stole it on his way to America. He told people here he was of Native American descent. I always wondered if Americans bought the story - told, most likely, with a German accent....
When mom's Scots kin picked on us for not being 'pure,' I would run to dad crying - asking him what I was. When he questioned where that idea came from, I told him the tale of the cousins who were picking on my sister and I about our ancestry. (Apparently great talk among that side of the family.) Dad would grow irritated and inform me I was an 'American!' That was the end of the subject at that time. But other times, he would say we were 'whatever came down the pike.' He told me of our Native ancestry, alluded to our African ancestry, and said little else. His sister would just say our ancestors played their heritage 'close to their vests.'
It was after dad died that I began to dig into my heritage. I was mostly interested in finding that Native American info, but along the way, I got invited to an African family's reunion in Atlanta, GA. When I mentioned the 'mistake' to another cousin, I was informed that WAS my ancestry....that particular line was inter-racial.....and then he told me about slavery and indentured servants and Irish heritage.....I was a bit stunned at the moment, to say the least. But it made sense, as I thought back to dad's comments and teachings as I was growing up....
Anyway, back to the Irish....Irish here in American fared little better than black slaves early on. Often, they were lumped together with Africans. In the South, in particular, they were considered 'less valuable' than black slaves. I can't even begin to imagine....and indeed, some of my Irish heritage came from the South to the North in the early 1800s.
To be sure, I'm not just Irish in heritage....I'm not just African nor Native American. I'm also of early German stock, early English stock - have kin on both sides of the American Revolution War AND the Civil War. I'm directly descended from not only those who fought against the British, but also those who fought FOR the British...something I just felt within my genetic structure, even as a child. I can't explain it, but I often told people I was of both sides of the fence....therefore, I was a 'Mugwump.' That's someone who sits with his mug on one side of the fence with his wump on the other. LOL!
Back to the Irish now...I was doing some internet searches on early Irish immigration to America and learned the Irish were particularly suited for life on the American frontier. Life was hard and a constant struggle. It was a life I like to recreate, but still, can't begin to imagine living day to day. For example, they grew the very fabric on their backs, grew all their own food, made everything they used and lived within from scratch and did it without modern heating, cooling or medical care. Many lost their lives. I find ancestors who died young - right after giving birth or fathering a child. I find ancestors who lost children, and some who were simply 'lost' along the way - perhaps taken by Indians, perhaps taken by slavers, perhaps simply lost. Know one knew...ever.
The Irish here often became 'Mountain people,' as I descend from. I am a Riley, who later appear on the Appalachian Mountain Heritage roster. I am a Jackson born of Rowan County, NC - a county that no longer exists. I am a Berry....
Today, the mountains contain many of those families still. I have kin there who would not trust me any more than another other outsider. I've gone to the mountains to visit cousins who told me not to wander alone in the backroads, least I run into the wrong person. They are a private people, who keep to themselves - and likely run stills. LOL!
Another thing I noticed when searching the internet just how many of the Irish immigrants were Catholic. That reminded me of a friend who visited quite a while back. I had another friend over at the house. After that friend left, my visitor pulled me aside and commented my other friend was 'Catholic.' I nodded.
'Do you let your children play with her children?' I was a bit taken aback, as I responded 'of course.'
In her world, at that time, Catholics and Protestants didn't mingle. In my world, I had an uncle who became Catholic upon marriage and a cousin who became Protestant upon marriage....we long intermingled and intermarried in our heritage. My Prussian grandfather was a Lutheran with a Jewish heritage who became a Presbyterian upon marrying my Scots grandmother. He later became Lutheran with another marriage and Latter Day Saint after wife 2 died and wife 3 appeared. LOL!
I don't know if I come from the Catholic Irish, but looking at the stats, would say it's highly likely. I really can't say that I care. Perhaps it was an ancestor talking to me that prompted me to go to Mass with friends, or to dance the Hora at my friend's celebration or become an 'honorary' Greek at another friend's home. I found all that intensely interesting and adding color to my ordinary life.
Or, maybe, I was just trying to cover all my bases in Heaven. LOL! |
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Friday, October 3, 2008 - ancestry
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