My Family Object - Jeff
When asked about my heritage, my usual response is ½ Italian, ½ Swedish/Norwegian. The Italian side of my family is quite easy to trace back through my fathers family who migrated to the US through Ellis Island at the turn of the century from Trabia Sicily. My Grandfather S. was born to this immigrant and settled in a primarily Italian section of San Francisco, where he married another Italian woman by the surname of Tomaseo.
It’s that other fraction of heritage that has always given me grief. My mother’s side of the family was always too complicated, having been in the US much longer and married through many different nationalities, it was too complicated to assimilate. Well, this project inspired me to at least try.
The family object that I brought to class shows a “branch” of
the family tree favored to me by my mother. It demonstrates my
Norway and Sweden ties. An interesting fact that was discovered
is that my Great x 3 Grandfather Andrew J. Smedberg (b. 1829) married
in Sweden and migrated/settled in Hancock Township, MN. Andrew
served in the Civil War in Company B, Third Minnesota Infantry, was
wounded and returned home to raise 10 children, one of which, my Great,
Great Grandfather, Henry Smedberg.