Emigration of Ancestors--post Colonial

 My interest in genealogy stems from 2 questions:  What were Grandma Wicker's roots? Why did my ancestors emigrate?  Previous blogs identify many of Vennie's roots but I recently started thinking about my 2nd question.

When I began, I had no idea how far back my roots went in American history.  I knew that my g-g grandparents in Dad's family had immigrated from Germany and England but I didn't really know why.

Louis Reiter

According to my dad's cousins, Louis Reiter came from Germany to avoid being drafted in another German (Prussian) war.  The irony was he arrived just in time for America's Civil War in which he fought for the Union side.  This coincides with another Reiter family (DNA connected) who had a narrative about their family.  click here to read.  So, Louis reportedly came for political reasons probably around 1854 when we found a Ludwig Reiter on a passenger list into New York.  He was a blacksmith and possibly tried to settle in Pennsylvania where family lived.  We know he was in Missouri by 1862 when he enlisted in the Union army.

Eliza Tyrey

His wife was Eliza Tyrey whose mother was a Kilpatrick from Tennessee with Colonial roots.  But, her father, Jacob Tyrey, was from Prussia: Schwemlingen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.  We don't know why he left but do know he was living in Wisconsin in 1836 according to the census there.  He was later identified as a miner so possibly he left for economic reasons.  But, he also probably left for political reasons since this area became Prussian in 1816 and Jacob (born in 1810) would have been subject to the draft also.

Louis Reiter and Eliza Tyrey's daughter was my great grandmother Mary Celecy Reiter McKee who married Thomas Long with Colonial roots. My other great grandparents were Henry Maupin (also Colonial roots) and Annie Reed whose parents were recent immigrants from England.

Seated:  Frances Glanville Reed and Annie Reed Maupin

Annie's mother's family John Glanville and Frances Hancock came from Camborne in Cornwall England sometime after 1841 but before my g-g grandmother (Francis Glanville) was born in 1843.  Having watched the series Poldark on PBS, I have a very good idea why they left: the mines were closing. The mines in Cornwall had been producing for thousands of years (click here) and it was becoming more and more difficult to mine, so they came to Valle Mines, MO where there was plenty of lead that was needed for bullets if nothing else.

William Farncombe/Reed

Annie's father, William Farncombe/Reed, was also from England:  Pyecombe near Brighton.  William Reed (aka Farncombe) is so far the only immigrant I have who left because he was in trouble (click here)  We don't know why he left England other than one of his sister's descendants saying he "left under a cloud".  Personally, I suspect bigamy or getting a young lady "in trouble".  He was married in 1850 to a woman in Kent (at 15 years old?)---this information was written on the back of his marriage certificate in French Village, Missouri to Frances Glanville. He was still living with his parents in 1851 according to the census in England, but was in the United States by 1860 living in Valle Mines, Missouri.

So they emigrated for economics, politics, a possible prison record which probably accounts for most emigration, however I have at least one from the Colonial era who came for religious reasons.