Misinformed through the Internet: A Case Study in the Identity of Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn

I have just finished a case study into the identity of one Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn, who appears as one of Samuel Hahn's children in genealogies published on the internet. It is satisfying to know I can confidently conclude he does not belong to Sam's clan but has a family of his own. You can read my entire article here.

We may NOT be Irish!!

This notion would be something that would take some getting used to. My kids grew up on St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and celtic music playing while we ate it. We loved our tradition.

Before writing this post, I ran the idea by my mother, who is not adverse to this possibility. So here goes:

I have recently learned a little bit about Irish immigration in my family history class. Without studying it any further, which I fully intend to do, I believe the history goes like this:

In a previous post I explained that the Scotch Irish came to America from Ireland in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They were of Scotch blood but had been living in Ireland at the time they immigrated. Over here, they were sometimes called Irish and sometimes called Scotch-Irish. They were Prostestant. More often than not, those British sounding names belonged to Scotch-Irish, English, and Welsh if they came over during this time frame. They also followed certain migration patterns.

The Irish, most assuredly Catholics, did not start immigrating until around 1820. I haven't double checked all the family data, but it's looking like all of the British folks in my mother's, father's, and husband's lineages are Scotch-Irish and not Irish at all!

Therefore, I did not wear green today.

An Italian Cultural Event in 1907

The following is an article I found recently in the Washington Post describing a cultural event for the new Italian Americans of that city. Our own Salvatore Chite, 33 years old and still single, and his cousin, Alfio Longo, entertained the audience with a "fantastic Sicilian dance" at this affair. The word that looks like "musicist" in the occupation field on Salvatore's passenger record tends to make a little more sense. How I would love to see such a performance today.

AMBASSADOR IS SPEAKER

Baron Mayor des Planches Addresses
Italian Children.

Expects Them to Become Good Americans
and to Reflect Credit
Upon Fatherland.

For the special benefit of the Italians of the city, the Christ Child Society gave an entertainment last night in Gonzaga Theater, North Capitol and I streets. Baron Edmondo Mayor des Planches, the Italian Ambassador, delivered two short talks, the first, in English, to the Italian children of the society's settlement, and the second, in his native language, to the audience in general.

He told the children that they must realize and appreciate the great good the society is doing for the sons and daughters of Italy in the District, and that they must make good citizens, so that they would be an honor to their fatherland. By request, he spoke in English, because many of the children of Italian parents understand no other language. He said the children should learn and be proud to know the tongue of their parents.

Ambassador des Planches, in his Italian address, spoke upon good citizenship, saying that the way for the Italian people to win the highest respect of America was by being good Americans.

Following his address, the Cecilian Orchestra rendered an overture, and G. Arancio sang a barytone [sic] solo. Two dozen little girls then sang songs of Italy. Miss S. Lewis sang soprano selections from grand opera, after which pupils of Miss Shreve sang and danced. Miss Irene Kemno rendered a soprano solo, and six little girls gave a fancy dance. Al. Fennell amused with comic songs, and Milburn mystified with feats of magic. A fantastic Sicilian dance was presented by Chite [sic] Salvatore, Bruno Natale, Alfio Longo, and Angelo Carta.

Besides the Italian Ambassador, there were present Esme Howard, counselor of the British embassy, and his wife, Lady Isabella Howard, who is much [sic] interested in the work among Italians.

The Washington Post (22 Apr. 1907): 14.

Deckner Homes in Atlanta

It has been refreshing to be found by a young woman, Ami, in Atlanta, who now lives in the home originally built for Allen T. Deckner. He was the son of Charles Deckner, a prominent horticulturalist in Atlanta. Charles was the son of Frederick Deckner. The Deckner family relocated to Atlanta from Green Bay in 1865. I relunctantly add they may have been carpetbaggers, seeking the land confiscated from former Confederate owners for back taxes, which were rediculously high, and offered cheap to Yankees. This move on the part of the Federal Government facilitated their goal to Reconstruct the South, only with Northerners.

Nevertheless, Fred Deckner and his son became quite successful in the field of horticulture and Charles carried the tradition long after his father died. Ami had done her research and informs me there were several homes in a row along a street now named for Charles Deckner. Some survive, including the one she now owns, which she is beautifully renovating, and the one right next door, pictured here, which used to belong to Charles himself.

Scots-Irish vs. Scotch-Irish

We hear both terms, but which is correct? I have chosen to use the term Scotch-Irish. The current popluation of Scotland prefers to refer to themselves as Scots. But, they have very little if anything to do with those people from Scotland, who moved to Ireland and later to America. The term Scotch-Irish was used in America as early as the mid-1700s to describe a certain segment of the American population, and as one scholar on the subject suggests "...in this country [USA], where they have been called Scotch-Irish for over two hundred years, it would be absurd to give them a name by which they are not known here... Here their name is Scotch-Irish; let us call them by it." (qtd. in Wikipedia and attributed to Wayland F. Dunaway, The Scotch-Irish of Colonial America, University of North Carolina Press, 1944.)

Read this essay, "Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish: What's in a Name?", for a deeper look into the reason why Scotch-Irish is the correct term.

Read About the Scotch-Irish

Here are links to a articles about the Scotch-Irish.

Why You Need to Know the Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish
The Scotch-Irish in America

Mary Artiemissa was not Elly May

I have been stewing for the past couple of days over the last lecture in my family history class. The subject was the social history of the Scotch-Irish culture in America. I absorbed everything the teacher delivered because much of my ancestry lies within the hills of the Upcountry of South Carolina, in names such as Murphy, Moore, Madden, and Garvin.

The teacher, Katherine Scott Sturdevant, pretty well-known among historians and genealogists, began with an overview of where the Scotch-Irish came from by describing their existence in Scotland and their migration over to Ireland, noting the Scots were a warring people and not adverse at all to removing the current residents of Ireland in order to claim the land. She compared it to what happened on this continent to the Indians by the large amount of Scotch-Irish immigrants.

She then painted a picture of these immigrants--products of their wild and barbarian ancestry. She says that by settling in the hills of America's back country, they remained in this wild state for generations. Even to this day, in the more rural and remote parts of the country, she says, those of Scotch-Irish heritage tend to be earthy, stubborn, rebellious, and unrefined.

She mentioned figures such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. These were Kentucky and Tennessee frontiersmen. I read a description recently of the typical backwoodsman which wasn't very flattering. It was written long ago by one who would have met men like Boone and Crockett. I'd like to find that quote again.

Ms. Sturdevant gave several examples of the hillbilly way of life, none of them flattering. When I asked if there was anything positive about these people, she jokingly said these people would think there was nothing wrong with their culture and the problem would lie in the one asking such a thing. Although she said Li'l Abner and the Clampett family were stereotypes, she referred to them often when describing the "real" hillbilly. And though sources will mention South Carolina as one of the largest concentrations of Scotch-Irish, she focused only on Kentucky and the Ozarks.

Of all the U.S. presidents of Scotch-Irish extraction, she only mentioned Andrew Jackson, by now a very unpopular president by politically correct standards. She called him the people's president, for during his time, he was very popular among the people, a large majority of who were Scotch-Irish.

I kept thinking back to what I know about my own people. Granted, I don't have a whole lot of details. I do know that my Great Grandpa William Moore owned a mercantile store in a town. He lived in that town in a beautiful white house. His lovely daughters received college educations. Certainly they lived a civilized life. And I do know that his wife, Mary Artiemissa, married late in her life, simply because she stayed at home to take care of her father and younger brothers after their mother died. I have trouble picturing her exposing her shoulders and thighs in the effort to "catch a man," as did Elly May, Daisy Mae, and Daisy Duke. She was more modest, like Mary Ellen Walton, and her daughter Nannie was more like Christy, the Appalachian school teacher. Nevertheless, I am curious now to discover details about their progenitors and just exactly how their families fit into historical context.

Ms. Studevant herself has Scotch-Irish ancestry. Regardless of how she portrayed these people in her lecture, she was talking about her own people. I took this into consideration as I asked her how, then, do we write the ugly truth about our ancestors without offending anyone in our families. Perhaps I was too offended myself to hear her reply, but I did get this much: They are merely a product of their ancestry--the barbaric Scots. When I write about my people, I like to celebrate the positive. I may find I have to mention a fact that is undesirable, but I try not to leave it at that. Explantions as to why something negative might have occurred are always helpful in my opinion.

I am not yet comfortable in assuming my Scotch-Irish ancestors were these undesirable folk portrayed in my class. I have not yet determined if Ms. Studevant is one of these historians who re-writes history. I like to find history written very close to the time it occurred or by one who lived it. She advised me, though, that history written nowadays has been more thoroughly researched and, therefore, is more trustworthy.

I need to do a lot more of my own research before I feel comfortable in believing anything I'm told about these tough, courageous, lovers of freedom and before I begin to write their story.