A German/Russian Emigrant

On my mothers side, my Grandmother's parents came from Poland. She was a very beautiful woman. She always wanted to be a dancer and had plans to head to New York to audition for the Rockettes. Her parents shot that down, instead she wound up being a housewife and mother to five. She was the epitomy of a lady. She never wore pants, only dresses or skirts and was very elegant in all that she did. At about 70 years old, she still got up at 5am, did her aerobics with her curlers in her hair. Was fully dressed and coiffed by 6am. Grandfathers parents came down from Canada, he worked for GM for about 200 years (). He was a strong, steady, quiet man. I soent every vacation and most weekends with these grandparents, out of 14 grandchildren, I am the only one that did. I miss them both so much. On Dads side, both parents were Pennsylvania Dutch, my great grandmother was jailed for telling fortunes. I am currently working on getting Grandmas recipes during the depression but it is hard. The only person with them is in her 70s in another state. I never knew these grandparents. And dad is not much of a family person.

Lessee, Dad's dad's ancestry can be traced back to 17th century Denmark. From Denmark they emigrated to Russia, Ukraine actually, and then to the US. Dad's dad's family was Jewish. Dad's mom's side is a bit of a mystery, but my Aunt has discovered that she probably had a Jewish dad and a Catholic mom and was probably illegitimate. Horrors back in those days... She was from Austria-Hungary, present day Poland. Mom's dad's parents are German, from a part of Prussia that is now Poland. I probably have the most information about them. Mom's mom's dad was of English or Welsh ancestry. Mom's mom's mom was Pennsylvania Dutch. Not sure what part of Germany they were from. Her grandmother and grandfather met in some kind of theater production.

I am English but my ancestors are probably Viking, Norman French (also Viking), Middle Britain (Worcestershire) and so very likely Saxon with, possibly, some Celtic admixture. The French landed in 1066 and brought many people with them. My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Fagg and we have traced that name to a retainer of Bishop Odo, the Bishop to William I ('the Conqueror'). Mind you, it is quite a common name in Kent, so either this Mr Fagg was a very promiscuous character or, when surnames became necessary, his serfs, servants and retainers were proud to adopt his name. My maternal grandfather came from Yorkshire (some of which was a Viking stronghold) and his name was Horne. This seems to have been a corruption of a family name/tribe whose crest was a heron. Hence the Viking association. My paternal ancestors (my Great Grandfather in particular) were silk weavers in East London. For a long time we thought that that side of the family were Huguenots but it seems that, though they married into Huguenot weaving families, the name comes from near Kidderminster (also a strong weaving area). One of my great loves is Celtic (Scottish, Irish and Welsh) music, story and art and it is one of my greatest sorrows that I can find not one ounce of Celtic blood in my ancestry which would explain my predilection (and, though I say it myself) feeling and capability for that style of music and art. Roots are, I believe, very important. They are something to be proud of because they bring much richness and vigour to the society we belong to. The traditions and beliefs of our forebears have usually contributed something (if ever so little) to what we are as people and what we have to offer the society that we live in. From what you say, I wonder if your German/Russian ancestors were not either Lutheran or Jewish, at least in part, which might explain why Christmas and Easter were not celebrated so much in your tradition. There were many reasons why certain Germans emigrated to Russia. Some of the reasons were religious but there were also economic incentives and many Germans (especially from very poor families) emigrated to Russia because work prospects looked good at the time. Some years later, of course, that all fell through and many families emigrated to the North American continent. NameLab says that the name 'Hoffer' is an Ashkenazic variant of the name 'Hofer' (meaning a farmer, from the word 'hof' meaning a farmstead). "South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived at, worked on, or managed a farm, from Middle High German hof ‘farmstead’, ‘manor farm’, ‘court’ + the agent suffix -er. Compare Hoffmann." There are many equivalent names from other countries. Surnames like 'Farmer', 'Cotman', 'deBoer', 'Boorman', 'Tilman' and many others indicate the occupation of our ancestors. Something, perhaps, to be proud of.