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Tracking down my family roots (Bonham-Howe) from the West Coast of the U.S. to the East Coast and across the Atlantic. Family names to date are: Allison, Ault, Baxter, Binkele, Bonham, Barnes, Boyd,Campbell, Grayson,Harbaugh, Herbach, Hesson, Hiller, Letsinger, Phillips, Milliken, Lang, Rickel, Singer, Tidwell, Ulrich, Willard,and more to come.
Bonham goes back to Nicholas Bonham - Hannah Fuller of the Mayflower passengers. Ault, Barns, Hiller, Herbach, and others were German immigrants who were called Pennsylvania Dutch (Methodist or Quakers). Milliken, Lang, Allison, and Campbell were some of the Scot-Irish who came as Presbyterians. Viellar (evolved to Williard and many variations) were French Huegenots, who left France and moved into Germany and the Nederlands before making the voyage to North America. One or two new generations were born in Germany and their primary language was German by the time they arrived in North American. Some of them helped to establish the German Moravian Church on this continent.
I'm not sure it was just oppression and strength of character that prompted them to cross the ocean to the New World (though it wasn't new to the indigenous), or, perhaps, a little naivete about what may lie ahead. If the long voyage didn't undermine their health and determination, the toil of starting over again without the benefit of modern tools and conveniences seems like a vast undertaking to me. Perhaps, if they'd had any idea how difficult it would have been, they would not have started the journey.
As a desendant, my respect for my ancestors has increased the more I delve into the family tree and consider the historical timeframe of each generation. For my own part, I am extremely glad to be a North American, though I know each homeland of my ancestors holds it's own beauty and culture. It is a small world after all and the more we regress into our ancestral world, the closer we all come to our relative relationship with each other.
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