July 2, 2018
Dear editor;
My great-grandfather, Franz, immigrated by himself to the U.S. at the age of 16 in 1886 to escape political tyranny in Germany. He met and married my Irish great-grandmother, Mary, whose parents came from Ireland to escape poverty and religious tyranny. They worked hard and opened a bakery in Illinois. For some reason, Franz did not become a citizen until 1921 at the age of 51.
Through my maternal grandmother’s hard work and research on my maternal side, and my own genealogical research on my paternal side, I found that other than Franz and Mary, all of my ancestors immigrated to the Colonies in the 1600s and 1700s, before there was the United States of America.
Over the years they spread from the 13 colonies as far west as California and as far south as Florida and Texas. They were the founders of large universities (Princeton) and one-room schoolhouses. A cousin even fought the government to open a school for the Seminoles in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.. They were the founders of cities such as Philadelphia, large towns such as Tallahassee, Fla. and small communities such as Calvary, Ga.. They established churches of just about every denomination from New Jersey to North Dakota and Iowa to Florida.
Some worked as indentured servants. Some farmed hundreds of acres they obtained through land grants for their war service or bought from an inheritance. Some opened their own businesses and some owed their souls to the company store. Some owned slaves. Some were abolitionists. Some were kidnapped or killed by Native Americans. Some fought and killed Native Americans. They fought in every war this country ever has been involved in. Some worked the railroads and mines. Some were rich and some poor. They lived in mud huts in Nebraska and plantation homes in North Carolina and Tennessee. My parents are from Aurora.
I honor them all this Fourth of July. I honor the Native Americans for their sacrifices when we invaded their homes and lands. I honor the African slaves for their back-breaking labor in building structures and farms for others, knowing they would never be free to own their own land (or even themselves).
I honor all the immigrants who came for their own reasons, religious, political, or personal. If they hadn’t fled their countries of origin, none of us would be here today, enjoying the privilege of having been born in this country.
Have a happy and peaceful Fourth of July!
Becky Heldenberg Burke, Tallahassee, Fla.
