My German ancestors arrived in the United States in the 1820s, settling in a German-speaking part of Southern Illinois on land they had purchased from a land developer while still living in Germany. My French ancestors arrived in the United States in the 1840s. Since by 1850 they were already quite prosperous and marrying into some of St. Louis’s most prominent “original settler” families, it’s reasonable to speculate they were not impoverished when they arrived.
My Irish ancestors arrived pre-famine in the 1840s. All indications are that they were dirt-poor. My great-grandmother (a third generation American), grandmother, and family were among the poorest people in St. Louis at a time when there was no such thing as public assistance.
My Swiss ancestors arrived immediately after the American Civil War. Since the 1870 shows them as living on their own farm, clearly they were not impoverished. “Schuler” was originally spelled with an umlaut which was dropped when they arrived since there was no umlaut in the English alphabet. My great-great-grandfather Schuler spoke German and, presumably, accented English. His sons spoke German but were also fluent in English and although my grandfather spoke a little German he primarily spoke English.
Basically, my father’s family was middle class or upper middle class while my mother’s family was working class or class-less (depending on how you classify entertainers). What they had in common was the mutual desire for a stable, solid family life, something neither one of them had while growing up.
Update
There are several lines I neglected to mention, the most notable being the Blanchards who are, shall we say, complicated. My great-great-grandfather Blanchard was born in Clinton County, New York in the 1820s. They may have arrived earlier than that. They were either French or Irish. Who knows? The records seem to have been lost.
