As America celebrates its 250th Birthday, there are many things in our history to think about, both good and bad. One that often comes to my mind is how our country was built by immigrants who came here looking for freedom and an opportunity to work for better lives.
More than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Immigration peaked at 1.3 million in 1907. It was during these early 20th century years of peak immigration that my paternal grandparents came from Denmark and my maternal grandparents came from Sicily.
I grew up on the farm my paternal grandfather, Andrew G. Anderson, owned. He gave land to his children so they could build their own homes and sold the remaining farmland to my father. As a result, I grew up surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins. When I was older I was able to get copies of some photos that were taken long before I was born. The photos below are my paternal grandparents, Andrew and Else Anderson. The one on the left is their wedding photo. In the photo on the right they look younger than I remember them. I have no idea of the dates of either image
I also have copies of their United States of America Certificates of Citizenship.
When I was young I found it interesting to see pictures of my grandfather when he was younger. In the first photo below he was in the Danish Army (lower left, I believe). The next one was taken when he drove a streetcar. And the last one is when he was a farmer and raised hogs.
Some small memories:
My grandfather gave me a book he bought about the sinking of the Titanic.
My grandmother kept a big glass jar of sugar cookies that were absolutely wonderful.
My maternal grandparents, Pasquale and Marianna Faillaci, lived about 25 miles away. We would often have dinner with them and other family members on Sunday and the drive seemed to take forever. I mostly remember playing in the alley with my cousins and hearing animated talk in Italian and English. I only have two photos of my maternal grandparents, one is shown below. That’s about the age that I see them in my memory.
Although I have very few photos of my mother’s family, I do have copies of documents I was able to download from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Foundation Archival Records Collection. The passenger records give last place of residence (Santo Stefano di Camastra, Sicily), dates of arrival, names of the ships on which they traveled, and their ages at that time. My grandfather, Pasquale, arrived in 1901 and my grandmother, Anna (Marianna), and their son, Sebastiano, arrived in 1903. Sebastiano would become my godfather, Uncle Ben, 45 years after his arrival.
Here are copies of the handwritten ship manifests that list their names. I did some searches for my father’s parents as well but it was easier to find a name like Faillaci than a name like Anderson.
Some small memories:
My grandfather used to say, “Water is for washing, wine is for drinking.”
My grandmother used to say “Mangia, mangia!” and put more food on my plate than I could possibly eat!.
Everyone’s story is different. That diversity is what makes America great.
I don’t remember ever quoting President Reagan, but this quote from his final speech sums it up.
A man wrote me and said: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”