# Americans: When did your earliest ancestor come to what is now the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203 "2011-07-16T00:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/41 "2011-07-16T17:08:25Z")
My earliest known ancestor to arrive in the colonies were Adam Kasson and his wife Jane. The family, according to stories, had been in the north of Ireland for a generation or so, having left France during the Protestant persecutions that culminated in the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre. They had eight kids, and going by the records poor Jane was either pregnant with the last one during a nasty voyage, or, even worse, had to care for a newborn plus seven others. Ugh. The only Kasson I am aware of that ever was prominent nationally was John Adam Kasson. I figure out once he was a third cousin, five times removed. Our only common ancestor was that original Adam Kasson. I’m descended from one son of his, John Adam from another. > **[John A. Kasson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Kasson)** > > John Adam Kasson (January 11, 1822 – May 18, 1910) was a nineteenth-century lawyer, politician and diplomat from south-central Iowa. Elected to the U.S. House six times, he repeatedly interrupted his congressional service to serve in the Diplomatic service in many different capacities. > He was born in Charlotte, Vermont, on January 11, 1822, to John Steele Kasson and Nancy Blackman. Kasson attended local school as a child and later graduated from the University of Vermont in 1842. He studied law ... ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/42 "2011-07-16T17:23:17Z")
Jamestown, 1611. You Mayflower folks were latecomers. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/43 "2011-07-16T18:38:05Z")
Several people, including the OP, have mentioned ancestors who came in 1630. Was that with the Winthrop Fleet? That’s when my people first came here: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert\_Seeley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Seeley) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/44 "2011-07-16T18:38:20Z")
According to genealogical research my maternal grandmother did, our ancestry was traced back to younger sons of a British noble family in Elizabethan England, who originally came over in that era. So, most likely, sometime in the latter half of the 16th century. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/45 "2011-07-16T18:48:31Z")
The callow, impoverished, German/Slavic rabble that make up my ancestry made their way over between the 1850s and the 1910s. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/46 "2011-07-16T18:52:58Z")
1690, the year before the Mayflower my Dutch ancestor came to the US as a fur trader and decided to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/47 "2011-07-16T19:03:05Z")
One of my ancestors fought in the Ohio Militia during the Civil War, but the family records get spotty going back further than that, so I don’t know. What I do know is that the first person in my father’s family to come to the US was a stowaway, so we don’t exactly have a record… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/48 "2011-07-16T19:30:35Z")
1620 on the Mayflower (Bradford, Brewster, Soule), and then some more came on the second ship, Fortune. I think my family populated much of New England in the first 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/49 "2011-07-16T22:07:19Z")
I haven’t the faintest idea. My father’s family has probably been here for centuries but I don’t know for sure and don’t much care either. My mother’s maternal family is another mystery which I don’t care to investigate. My mother’s paternal line came here for the first time in the early 1900s. I don’t know exactly when my great grandfather got here but it was either right before or right after his [brother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani_Leib) so I’m guessing between 1905 and 1910. His wife was also from the Ukraine but I don’t know when she got here either. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/50 "2011-07-16T22:12:54Z")
I don’t know my father’s white American background well enough to say, my mother’s side are slave decendents, I have no clue either way. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/51 "2011-07-16T22:47:28Z")
My earliest known ancestor was born in Amsterdam in 1599, and he was well established in the New World by 1638. Supposedly he traveled back to Europe on business later in life, which would make him very well-to-do, but the authenticity of this report is questionable. A contemporary ancestor is described as being an “early Connecticut settler”, which I think make sit almost certain that I have some Indian ancestry, but so remote as to be negligible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/52 "2011-07-16T22:53:41Z")
Some of my mom’s ancestors came over on the Mayflower. [http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/JohnBillington.php](http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/JohnBillington.php) Not everyone on the Mayflower was a noble Pilgrim looking for religious freedom. Some of them were people England was just tired of dealing with. Guess which one my family falls into? 😃 I also have Native American (Miami) on Mom’s side, so they were here before 1492. Not sure when Dad’s family came over from Scotland. I think he said early 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/53 "2011-07-17T03:48:15Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > On a nice ship called the Mayflower 🙂 Same here (Francis Cooke, for anyone keeping track) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/54 "2011-07-17T12:01:49Z")
During the Napoleonic Wars. He was a deserter from the Prussian Army. Reflecting, I think that– A) Not wanting to fight Napoleon B)Not wanting to be in the Prussian Army & C) Not wanting to stay in Central Europe during this era were all good judgement calls. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/55 "2011-07-17T12:52:28Z")
My dad came in the 1950s and worked for the money to bring my mom and sister over. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/56 "2011-07-17T17:03:49Z")
Mayflower too…we’re probably all related. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/57 "2011-07-17T18:35:51Z")
My mom came over as a German war bride of an American soldier in 1948. He later divorced her. My dad came over in 1949 as a Latvian war-displaced person with sponsorship to do farmwork near Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1962. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/58 "2011-07-18T02:49:45Z")
I’m told by the people who care about that stuff that my father’s people came to Pennsylvania from Germany in 1683. My mother’s people, on the other hand arrived in the mid-19th century from various places in western and central Europe. The Pennsylvania people are interesting in that four brothers came over but only one had surviving issue – so all us Geldings spring from the strong loins of one German linen weaver. That guy also quickly figured out which way the winds blew in 17th century PA and quit being a Mennonite and started being a Quaker. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/59 "2011-07-18T12:10:00Z")
My earliest ancestors in North America walked over from Asia. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203/60 "2011-07-18T13:58:06Z")
Okay, being one of those who can say “the border crossed us” this is the thread that would apply, and the earliest ancestor in what would become US soil was allegedly precolumbian but documentation is iffy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-when-did-your-earliest-ancestor-come-to-what-is-now-the-us/589203.md?page=4)