A "Melting Pot" at it's Finest: Batson's
Family History
KEISTER (Dutch) NESBITT (French) DE BARRY (Irish) By: Victory L. Batson |
This family tree displays six generations dating back to the 1890's. As my family helped me gather information for this website, I found out what countries the earliest generations emigrated from. Because we were not able to uncover further information at this time, it is only an estimation that all four families immigrated to America during the early to mid-1800's and eventually settled in Missouri. This estimation is based off of the earliest generations known, Gordon and Eleanor Batson and Russell and Katherine Keister, as they were born in the mid-1890's on American soil. |
BATSON-
(English)
The last name Batson, which comes from my grandfather's side of the family, is understood to be from English descent. As previously mentioned, the exact time period of the Batson family immigrating to America is unknown. As we all have learned throughout education, the English were the first colonists to settle on American land in 1607 at Jamestown. According to a historical website by Adam Chao and Dan Spencer (n.d.), the English fled over to America continuously until the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775. This violent war put heavy resrictions on the emigration from England. KEISTER- (Dutch) The last name of Keister is known to come from the Dutch descent. An article titled "The Dutch Touch Upon America" highlights the Dutch immigration to America. While most Dutch immigrated in small numbers beginning in the 17th Century, it was not until the early 1800's when Dutch immigrants came over in the masses. This migration totalled to around 250,000 people, which is said to be in result of crop failures and in pursuit of religious freedom (M. Vanderpool-Gromerly, 2006). DE BARRY De Barry is an Irish name which comes from my grandmother's side of the family. The Irish are known to have come over to America in large groups of immigrants. Ronald Takaki, author of the book titled A Different Mirror, paints a clear image as to what the millions of Irish immigrants faced in the 19th Century while travelling to America. "On one ship, according to a witness, hundreds of passengers lay together like sacks, motionless. Some were dead, while others were sick, feverish, and delirious... Tens of thousands of travelers died during the passage or immediately after their arrival" (R. Takaki, 2008). |