Crista Cowan, better known as the Barefoot Genealogist, has regular Pod casts and You Tubes that have been super helpful to me in my family history journey. In her latest podcast she said
we understand our family history better
and as we understand our family history better
we understand ourselves better."
In the States, the mid-1800's was a time of western expansion and settlement. Sweden at that time was poor. The population had grown immensely and there was little future to be seen for many rural Swedes. They arrived by the family searching for land promised by The Homestead Act of 1862.
Turn of the century U.S. was now becoming less rural and cities such as Chicago were booming with industrialization. Swedish young men could trade their muscles and skills for factory and construction work. Swedish young women were prized as live in domestic help.
My grandfather Richard arrived in 1906, my grandmother Lydia in 1909. They met in Rock Island where Richard had found work in the plow factory and Lydia had found work as domestic help. Chicago called to them. In 1908 Chicago was adjusting to a massive influx of immigrants. From the city's 1837 founding up to the early 20th century, the city's population more than doubled every 10 years. By 1908 Chicago has approximatly two million people, 34% of whom were foreign born.
I find the history of Chicago certainly influenced the history of my family and therefore my own history or who I became. Second and third cousins, whose immigrant ancestors arrived earlier to the farms of the Midwest seem to be a bit different from those Swedish-Americans whose ancestors settled in large cities such as Chicago.
My second and third cousins rural immigrant ancestors....
I have been reasearching early Chicago. I think the history of Chicago did indeed influence who my Swedish-Chicago family became and therefore who I am.
Interested also?
Time Traveling to 1908 Chicago
just some of my thoughts on this rainy Chicago day,
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