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Hi, I'm Alice Louise Norfolk Niles. Who am I? As I became more mature (older) that question often came to mind. Oh, sure I knew who my parents and grandparents were, but who were the shadows (ancestors) beyond them and where had they come from? As I set out to map out where my ancestors came from and how the different branches of the family linked up, I realized a lot of the branches have more than just a marriage in common. I am extremely lucky that a paper trail has been left on some of my forefathers.
My ancestors came from a wide social and economic background. The one thing that they all had in common was a strong sense of adventure and a dream of a better life for their descendants. I owe my ancestors who crossed the big waters much for their bravery and courage in leaving the lives that they knew and going to a land, in many cases, “where no white man had been”.
In most cases, they were pioneers that came early to the Americas, both the United States and Canada, from England, Scotland, Ireland and France. They braved hardships that we today cannot imagine. The ship passage could not have been easy for them. Documentation shows that crossing conditions were poor at best. The mortality rate during the crossing touched everyone. It is easily identified in our family. Some of the hardships started in their home countries before they ever embarked for the New World. Some of my ancestors came over as indentured servants, some had to be smuggled out of their homeland and embark on their voyage from ports of other countries. Some were 4th or 5th sons who saw no future in staying in the country of their birth. Most were complete families who migrated to the new world. As far as I can ascertain, those that were married brought their families with them. Only in rare cases were immediate families left behind.
Conditions in Europe were stressful during the early years of colonization in the Americas. Starvation, religious persecution, and serfdom were a few of the key factors that helped them to decide to seek out a” better place in the new world”. Once they arrived, it was not a case of paying the rent and moving in. When you look at the dates and places that most of my ancestors arrived, the Americas (1600s-1700s) were still a wilderness except along the seaboard. Most had to carve their place out in the new world. Some went into communities that were already established but still had to make their place. As the westward expansion in the United States advanced, so did our family. Once again, the dates show us that they for the most part were not willing to let the country be tamed before they moved west. They were in the front leading the way.
At the same time I owe part of my heritage to the American Indians who lived in the Americas long before the white man came. They were a strong brave people who were finally overcome by sheer numbers. Because of the lack of written records for the American Indians it is impossible to trace our bloodlines back in time.
It is enough to know that I am a true “Americans” which include both the timeless Indians of the land and a broad European ancestry.
I think now (25 years later) when I say, “I am an American” it has new meaning to me after the research I have done on early America and the lands that our ancestors came from. The question “who am I and where did my family come from” raises a warm feeling in my heart. I am Alice Louise Norfolk Niles, a descendent of the people. What people? Europeans and American Indians form my ancestry and they helped settle America. But I guess what makes me the proudest is "I AM AN AMERICAN".
I, as a descendant of these families am proud that my ancestors helped open and settle the country I know and love today. While I cannot physically meet the people that gave me my beginnings, I can meet them through the records, photos and the written word that was left behind by them.
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