The United States is a massive pool of differences and some times those differences, especially those of culture or race, divide us. We all want to change who we are and where came from so badly that we lose sight of the incredible impact each and everyone of our differences bring forth. It is not one skin color or background that makes the our society successful, it is all of us working together to achieve a higher goal. Bill Nye once said,"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't" and for that reason, I want to share where I come from and the culture that built me. Hopefully in turn, I will hear more from others about their culture and learn from them what I don't already know about this society and its culture. I want to take one giant leap towards understanding one another.
A little background
On my father's side, my ancestors came from Scotland many generations ago, farther back than we can track but likely in the mid 1800s. Also my paternal great-grandmother was fully blood Cherokee Indian.
On my mother's side, my great grandparents Imperato came over to America from Italy and Sicily in the late 1800s. My great-grandmother Louisa Schneider was a Mennonite. My great-grandfather Schmidt was from Germany. My great-great grandfather Wright came over from England in the early 1900s, but the Hollingsworth family came over farther back than I can track. I have found evidence of them living here in the early 1800s.
The Imperatos
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/ita.htm
My great grandparents Imperato came over to America from Italy and Sicily in the late 1800s.
In the early 1900s, my great grandfather, Gerry Imperato, was sent back to Italy to live with relatives during his youth since Italian schools were considered better than American in those days. When he was a teenager, he got into a sword fighting dual with a man who raped his cousin. He killed the man. The locals were all close knit and most were family, and they applauded the event as he was defending her honor. However, it was illegal by this time, so he moved back to America to flee the law.
The Hollingsworths
http://pikku.co/london-england-on-map.html
The Hollingsworth family came over to America from England in the late 1800s.
They were a poor family with very few skills. They had many kids but were having difficulty feeding them. The mother died in childbirth. My great, great, great, grandfather purchased some land and attempted to learn to farm. The neighbor, a free black man, taught him the basics of farming. Sometime later, he left on a wagon with the oldest son, and they never returned. No one is certain what became of them. The oldest daughter took over the family raising and chores. She got married to a wealthy man who adopted her siblings as their children
The Schmidts
http://robslink.com/SAS/democd42/church_maps/MENUS.htm
My great great grandfather August Schmidt married a Mennonite woman named Louisa Schneider. They had many children but as time went on, she had a hard time, having left the Mennonite community. She left August and moved back to the Mennonites in Rochester, NY. August had a house on a large mountain in Pennsylvania. There were no roads to get there. You had to walk across a long rope bridge to get to the mountainside house. My grandpa Schmidt has talked about this from his youth.
The Scoltons
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-pushwest/
My grandfather Scolton on my father's side was an avid hunter. He grew up out West and learned to farm and hunt. He was known to go out to Wisconsin and Montana to hunt every year. As an adult and family man, they had an RV and would pack the whole family up to go traveling long distances out West so that he could hunt Buffalo and fish. It is said that family changed the spelling of their last name to Scolton from Scholton. The rumor is that one of the relatives had a hairlip and was viewed as an embarrassment to the family. The distance themselves from them, a branch of the family changed the spelling of the last name.
Thank you for reading!
http://www.city-data.com/forum/general-u-s/663448-cultural-regions-south-map-12.html
So I am a mixture of Cherokee Indian, Scottish, Irish, English, Italian, Mennonite and likely many other things I just haven't tracked. I am a true American mutt and I am interested to read about the cultures of others in my community. I am grateful that I live in a society in which I can share my differences and I hope others will do the same. I really am looking forward to learning from what others have experienced and learned along their life journeys as well as what they have learned from their family line. It is important to embrace each other for our differences so that we can grow as a community and as a country. Every one has different knowledge to offer so thank you for reading mine! Together we can take that leap towards acceptance.
