Geneology - Part one of Four

Well using the wonders of Ancestry.com... I have now traced family ties all the way back to Merry Old England and the colonists who first came to Massachusetts and Connecticut - specifically in New Haven.

All my life I figured I was a "European Mutt" and I also thought that my ancestors were reasonably "fresh off the boat". Not so, at least no on my maternal grandfather's side. It is this side alone that produces the colonist connection, as well as the connection to Solomon Mier originally from Germany (Prussia) who came to Ligonier Indiana and left quite an impression there. Check this out, this guy is my Great-great grandfather...

The article mentions his son Ferdinand (born in 1857) who lived in San Francisco, he is my Great Grandfather. Somewhere along the way, he married Edith Mabel Adee (26 years his junior), they came out west and my grandfather, Ferdinand (Andy) Adee Mier was born in 1914. All my life I had thought that he was born in Detroit, only today did I learn that this wasn't the case. He met Grandma (still working on her side of the history) and they had 3 kids, moved to the Bay Area, my mom met my dad, had some kids and here I am. (Running through that part because I figure that anyone reading this has lived that part of the story for themselves and doesn't need a reminder).

So that was half of Grandpa's father's side of things. The other half comes in a woman named Theadora Sidonia, Solomon's wife and mother to Ferdinand. Theodora was born in Germany, however her maiden name (plus naming her child Ferdinand) would indicate to me that she has some Spanish connections [Medina-Sidonia is a city in Southern Spain].

Still with me? Well Edith Mabel Adee (who seems to have gone by Mabel) comes from a long line of Americans. She was born in Ligonier in 1883 to William Adee and Susannah Morrow. Both the Adee and Morrow families have long histories in America. The Morrow side reaches all the way back to the settlement of Norfolk, VA having come across the pond from Norfolk England. And the Adee family ties in with the Ludington family in Mass and Conn all the way back to 1607!

I never thought I would be able to trace my roots that far back. Especially with my maternal grandfather's side. I thought that he would have the shortest history in America, but boy was I wrong! For me being a lifelong California girl it is very weird to realize that so much of my own family history is tied into the 1600's in the colonies. That stuff just seemed like distant and irrelevant history to me back in school, now though its all pretty cool.

For those of you who are family and are reading, yes I will find a way to get all of the info I am discovering to you. Thought you might enjoy these little snippets for now. Next time we will delve into paternal grandfather, its a shorter story, but I have alot of that researched already.

I am having trouble with the grandmother families, so anything that you have to offer as a tip would be much appreciated.