Information on the Topic
Is there an ancestor who didn't move far from where he or she was born? Perhaps an unmarried aunt or uncle who always lived with their parents? Maybe you have an ancestor who lived not far from where you live now or you've made a discovery close to home.
This is a very interesting topic for me as before and after migrating to the US, overall my ancestors didn't move far from their roots. There are some who did, but the main bulk of people stayed around the areas. This being said, my mother and her family is a particularly interesting in this area.
When I was growing up, my father was in the US Navy. Anyone who knows the military knows they can get sent any place in the world upon finishing boot camp. As I didn't really have any aunts or uncles who were really around, and my parents divorced when I was young, I just figured we stayed in an area where my mother liked and Dad was around the area so we stayed or had to for custody reasons.
However, in my teens I started to realize this wasn't the case.
My maternal side
I hurt my knee in 7th grade. When the doctor wanted to send me to Cornwall Hospital, which was nearby, my mother told him absolutely not. She was not going in that hospital. I do know she always turned away from certain areas of the surroundings and refused to go visit or shopping in areas. There was always no reasoning as to why she wouldn't, but she wouldn't and that was the end of it. When my knee was injured, she even told the doctor she'd go down to NYC before she'd go to THAT hospital. My mother was never one for driving in any bigger towns let alone NYC. We did have to go down to NYC a few times, but she always had friends drive us, so to actually say she'd go down there before she'd go to THAT hospital, something was up. I thought it was strange but let it go. By the way, I did go to the hospital but we always had to make it first thing in the morning or not at all.
When my sister moved to Salisbury Mills and wanted us to come visit, my mother wanted to know where exactly it was and who was going to be there. Again strange but that's my mother. Other things cropped up but Mom always worked around them.
Then when I graduated from Vocational School and we had to go to Middletown, she hated to go there but she was with it. On the day Mom was reserved with things but she was always like that. Then when we went in and I went to line up with my class and she had to find a seat in the bleachers, I left her and everything seemed fine. Then ceremony went well and then I went to find her after. She turned when I called out to her and her eyes had the look of ice in them. What on earth made her so mad? The only words she would say to me was "We're leaving. NOW!" and turned and walked out the door. No congratulations to graduating or on making honor society, no well done for winning outstanding student, and no well done. Nothing other than a wall of ice. By this point in my life I was used to it and I turned and followed her out carrying my certificate and plaque in my hands. Would you believe she sat in the passenger seat all the way home and not a word said. When I parked the car, she turned to me and asked me "How DARE you!" and got out. I couldn't figure it out and it stumped me.
It wasn't until years later when I was doing research, I found out the probable reason why - The area her family lived in was there as the school had students from the entire county which encompassed the areas she would never travel. I found my Great Great Grandfather, Aloyse (also known as Charles), lived in the area around where we would go in and do stuff be leave just as fast. Aloyse came to Orange County NY around 1884 from Belgium. Here it was 107 years later and the family lived around the area still. It was amazing I hadn't run into any cousins I didn't know about because everyone lived within a 30 mile radius of where my Great Great Grandfather and Great Grandfather lived. In fact, my Great Uncle lived only about 40 miles from where my family was!
Credit: Google Earth on August 19 2020
As you can see by the map above marked is one of my cousin's, who still lives in the area. This means my family has lived in this area as of this year 136 years! Wow.
True my ancestors had moved around a bit - living in PA and NJ for a few years - but everyone always seemed to float back to the area. Even my parents, who moved around because of the US Navy, moved back to the area just before Dad got out of the service.
My paternal side
My father was born in NYC as that's where both of his parents lived at that point in time. However, within a few years, they moved back to where my grandmother settled upon migrating from Poland in 1920 (her father came over first in 1913), which was Linden, NJ. This is where my great grandparents and great uncles all lived at one point. They stayed there until my father was about 10 or so. Then they moved to Newburgh, NY.
They moved around the town but never left after settling in. Even after separating, my grandmother still lived in the same town and my grandfather lived farther out, but would always visited or worked in the town.
My uncle moved away to attend college, but once he finished and married, he came back and settled a bit farther out but within a 10 or so minute drive from my grandmother. In fact, this part of the family lived in this part of NY until my uncle's death in 2002, and then my aunt moved to Florida where my cousin John's family had settled. Since then, my aunt's other son has joined them in Florida.
On my father's side, most of us live around the area (except me who moved countries). I lived in the area until I moved to Australia in 1997. My oldest sister is in Kansas, the next sister lives in the Carolinas some place, and the next oldest sister lives near the PA and NY border. My brother lived down the street from my father's house until his death in 2019. I think once my father goes, our main link with the area will go too. I do have friends around the area, but the main reasons why we go there will really be gone.
My great uncle's all had kids and they have families. From what I've researched, some of one great uncle's family stayed in NJ, and the other great uncle had moved to the Carolina's as well. I believe this family still lives somewhat in the area or at least that's what I found in 2019.
Before the move to the USA
Both sides of my family lived around the same areas for generations I've found in my research.
Maternal side
As I mentioned above, we had been in the same area of NY for over 130 years. Prior to this, they had lived in Belgium. The family had moved around a bit, but always stayed around 20 miles around Boezinge, Belgium.
Credit from Google Earth on August 19, 2020
As you can see, we had stayed around this part of Belgium since the early 1700 which makes it over 150 years in this area. Some of the ancestors are marked as to their relationship to me. In fact, I found I still have cousins in this area today. One of the problems is they speak very little English, so I'm in the process of taking a 3 week online class to learn Dutch. I'm not sure if it's going to work though!
As for my mother's mother's side, they arrived in 1905 from Poland and settled in PA. They lived there until about 1930 when they headed for New York in which some of my cousins still live today (see map at the top of this post). Some cousins, I found, still live in PA too. Some have moved to Kentucky, Alabama and Florida.
Credit: Google Earth on August 19 2020.
Prior to this, from the birth and marriage entries, it seems like they were around the same area in Poland which is about 115 miles south from Gdansk/Danzig port. I believe they lived around there for generations from speaking to my cousins which knew the ancestors verbal history better.
Paternal side
As I mentioned above, my father's side generally stayed around the same areas.
When my grandfather, Mathias, came over in the 1920s from Germany, his aunt and uncle lived in Brooklyn. There was a huge amount of German settlers in the area which is why I believe they settled in there.
My grandfather branched out and lived in NYC and that's where he met my grandmother. They married in NYC, and then he moved to Linden, NJ. He was in WW2, but then he came back. Shortly after, he took a trip to Newburgh, NY. After that, he and along with his sons, all stayed in this area. I do know he died not far from Newburgh, NY, but haven't a clue where he is buried. I'm still looking for the information but I believe it could be around Beacon, NY somewhere.
Prior to him coming to the US, I found his family lived in the Rhineland in Germany for generations. If the researchers notes are correct, then we lived all over this area (see map below) since the 1700s which would make it 320 years or 226 years before my grandfather left Germany for the US.
Credit: Google Earth on August 19 2020.
As for my father's mother, same thing goes with her side of the family. Grandma Jean I've written about many times. She was born and stayed there until she was 10 with her mother, cousins and family in 1920. I know for a fact, this side of the family still lives near there - they live in Warsaw but have a country house around here according to my father's cousin.
I know where my great grandparents were married, Nur, and where they were born - Murawskie Nadbużne and Ciechanów. I do know from doing my DNA there are some matches either there once or still there because one DNA cousin came from Zuzela. My father's DNA came back as being able to be traced back to the 8th century "when The first waves of the incoming Slavs settled the vicinity of the upper Vistula River and elsewhere in the lands of present southeastern Poland and southern Masovia." (Credit).
According to things said by my father and grandmother, my great grandmother was once part of the upper class of Poland society called Sejm. In fact my great grandmother's maiden name was Murawski after the town and they owned a farm. I think my great grandfather's history is pretty important too as according to the marriage document he was the owner of his father's farm due to his father's death. His mother owned a flour mill in town. This is back in 1905, so you can see just how "rich" they were compared to some others.
When I started to go back on my grandmother's mother's side, I started to find out a bit about the family but due to language barriers and the complex software and file formats it's difficult and I'll have to look into it in the future. It seems by the tiny bit of digging, each generation moved south along the Bug river waterway.
Credit: Google Earth on August 19 2020
If the information I was finding and the DNA is correct we've been in this area of Poland centuries.
Conclusion
My husband regularly looks over to me and tells me my entire clan of ancestors are "Stubborn and don't move easily". I look at him and laugh and agree. It doesn't matter which area you reference, my maternal and paternal are both stubborn and don't move with ease at all and that's just fine.
