Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day everyone

Did you know that many people don't know this holiday celebrates

 our Independence from England

and we declared it 235 years ago in 1776.

My family might be PROUD to know that you had family 

who fought for this freedom in 1776

As you know since we had our DNA done bleach boy and I have

been really working hard on family research and WOW 

have we learned a lot about our family. 

Let me tell you about the Knight family. 

They were in the Massachusetts Bay Company and

loyal to the King.  Things changed and they quickly 

understood what a risk they were taking. 

An ancestor of ours in leadership was running 

a meeting where the Boston Tea party was being

discussed and he was asked to stand 

down for this discussion and he willingly did. 

When all was said and done he had two sons who served

in the revolutionary war and one was killed.  

This was Samuel Knights family I believe.

So we do have a reason to ponder

our part in this US history and 

be Proud of the

Knight family bravery. 

 The early Amish settlers in the US.

On Another note Some of our research has lead us to the Amish of the 1700's and our Gardner/Roth family was being persecuted horribly in Europe for worshiping as Amish.

Melvin Gingerich's book, Mennonites in Iowa gives us a bit

of our families history in Europe. 

These Swiss refugees of 1671 and 1709 were the ancestors of many of the Iowa Amish and Mennonites. During the years of persecution, the Burgomaster of Zurich said they got rid of the Mennonites by killing, imprisoning, forcing some into the French Army, selling some as galley slaves, and executing the rest. The rest for such oppressive measures was because authorities believed refusal to bear arms and to take the oath of allegiance would endanger their National Militia. They depended upon Militia rather then mercenaries to comprise their armies.

The Mennonites in the Palatinate were merely a tolerated people. To enjoy the privilege of worship, they were forced to pay protection money as well as special taxes. They were kept out of the cities and could not legally own land. Marriage with a non-Mennonite was strictly forbidden. It's not surprising our ancestors found a further migration necessary. In addition, after the Napoleonic wars, it was practically impossible to obtain release from compulsory military laws of Europe. In Alsace and in Bavaria, members of the Amish families came to America when their sons reached military age. The compulsory military training laws of Europe were an important part of the Amish immigration from 1815 to the American Civil War. A migration which almost depopulated the Amish communities of Alsace, Lorraine, Bavaria, Montbeliard, Hesse and the Saar."

                                            

Our  family came from Alsace and I found their port of entry

and their passenger records show several families traveled together into New York

and then up into Canada and later Iowa where my grandfather was born.  

The migration of the Gardners & family seems to match the history above.  

There is still so much to learn about this group but they clearly are the people the con