Please use and enjoy the Leurig family history and news. Leurig, Fye, and Kane family posts contain genealogy information and stories about ancestors, descendants, and relatives. Surname listings at the top of the website is a good place for basic information.
Hint: right click and open images in a new tab to stay on the main page
When following stories be sure to access older posts as writing occurs when research dictates, usually not on a logical schedule!
Start at the welcome post for more information.
They came on long trips by ships to start a new life
From this … … to this spanning over 200 years
When any of our ancestor relatives immigrated to the United States, they came by ship. I cannot find any relative who was born in an adjacent country and entered by land although some may have briefly stopped after their ship voyage. So ships and watercraft played an important part of their travels, history, and backgrounds.
They came in ships of various sizes and configurations, embarked and disembarked at various ports, and at times boarded flatboats, canal boats, or steamships to complete the voyage. Before boarding ships to America Most had to travel to the ports of embarkation either by walking or riding on roads or more often on canal and small boats. When arriving in the United States many had to take boats on the Ohio or Mississippi to reach destinations.
Stories of relatives immigrating to new countries usually include traveling by some form of boat or water craft as part of their history.
Immigrant ship Charming Betty manifest 1733 Philadelphia showing Ketner. Details in Leurig Library.
The earliest verified ship record for our ancestors that I have is the Charming Betty manifest arriving in Philadelphia October 9, 1733 and being cleared to disembark passengers October 12, 1773. Among the 64 passengers was the Johannes KETNERfamily, our direct ancestor. However, he was not the first to immigrate and come by ship.
Johannes and George Ketner (Kettner) are the first two names on this 1733 document. Also shows they could write.
Some of our ancestors probably were already in America. I am verifying information of migration as early as 1660. This story will be updated later as more information is available
Your history includes the stories of individuals in the past.
In a previous blog “so many surnames to check – part 1” the discussion was how names of direct ancestors increase with each generation.
“Part 2” is why it is important to know about your past by understanding those individual persons with the surnames.
Why is that important? How does it affect me? The obvious and simple answer is because you should have an idea who is responsible for your being here. Plus knowing the characteristics you inherited. And, when looking back perhaps the past can help foretell your family future.
The past and those who were a part of it (ie. Surnames) often are used to describe your culture traditions (Irish, German and others), medical, migration, occupational and other history. Sometimes an individual invokes the past not realizing they referring to genealogy information. A person might say “I look like this because grandma had a thin face like I do”. Or comment “our family has always been Catholic”. Or, talking with a doctor, “there was heart disease in my mother’s side”. Or, during Saint Patrick’s Day, telling everyone we are Irish.
. But are these comments correct?
