After compiling my list of "National origins," I got to thinking about the arrival of my ancestors. The vast majority came over early.
The majority of my Massachusetts, Connecticut & Rhode Island ancestors landed on American shores between 1620 & 1699. The New Netherland arrivals were during the 1650s & 1660s. Welsh Quakers came over shortly after the establishment of Pennsylvania. I'm fairly sure that most of my "mystery families" arrived by the early 1700s. The latest arrivals were Germans & Irish in the 1830s & one Irish straggler about 1852.
I'm almost jealous of researchers anxiously awaiting 19th & 20th century immigration, naturalization & similar records to appear on Ancestry.com, familysearch & other sites. In the meantime, I'm hoping to track down records from the 1650s!
Then again, the "recent arrivals" have to battle constantly changing European borders & records destroyed during WWI & before. Me? I can qualify for about a dozen lineage societies!
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