It's Independence Day: My Earliest Immigrants

A couple days ago it was Canada Day and this year Canadians are celebrating their country's 150th birthday. I took part in a blog theme where you list your ancestors living in Canada in 1867 and when/where they arrived.

Today is July 4th, Independence Day (the 241st) commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, here across the river/lake.

Wanting to do something similar for my American immigrants, I have decided to list my earliest known immigrant ancestor for each side of my family. With just one person/family each it will be a short list and I can get back to finishing up the potato salad for tonight's BBQ.

Name	Arrival Date	Where First Settled
John Dunham & family (later called Deacon John Dunham)	circa 1630	Plymouth Colony [Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA]
Johann Niemann & family & Peter Priehs & family	3 June 1857	Michigan, USA

There is a bit of disparity in this list time-wise but looks are deceiving. The vast majority of my ancestry comes from Germany giving me numerous immigrants to America starting in the 1800s. I have just one branch that was here in Colonial times. One part of that branch's arrival is unknown at this time, while the other you see above I believe is the earliest for me though there likely were other relations like the Cobbs and the Hursts that came about the same time since they were also in Leiden, Netherlands, and none were able to make that first voyage of The Mayflower.

Happy Birthday America!

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