Who were the immigrants? #1 Joseph Coates

So much of the news these days centers on immigration policy, which has me thinking a lot about my immigrant ancestors. I challenged myself to identify the immigrants in my family and my husband’s family and consider how some of the policy ideas being proposed might have affected them.

These are the questions I’m asking:
* Who were our ancestors who first immigrated to the United States?
* How many of them have I already identified?
* Did the family follow a pattern of family reunification (what is being described as chain migration) with one person or family arriving, getting settled, and sponsoring the next family member or family unit?
* Can I determine (or make a good guess) about why they left their native country?
* How might our ancestors have fared if a merit-based policy had been in place at the time?

The newly popular phrase “chain migration” gives a negative spin to the fact that families want to be together. And for most of our families, this is exactly what happened. Someone came to the United States and others in their family joined them.

But not always. Joseph Coates, Eveline Coates’ father and my great-grandfather, left Durham, England alone when he was about 21. He was born at Brancepeth colliery, a coal-mining settlement, and the men in his family were all coal miners. I assumed Joseph left England looking for a better life that did not involve working the mines – but I guess I was wrong, because he ended up in the coal mines in southeastern Iowa. Perhaps he was lured there by advertising promoting the booming mining activity in Iowa – but I don’t know. He was a “joiner” in the mines – a carpenter by trade, really – responsible for building the frame supports.

Joseph’s story is not a story of family migration. He came by himself and, as far as I know, he never saw his parents or his siblings again, although they corresponded.

This passenger list for the ship City of Berlin, which sailed from Liverpool to New York City, seems like a match for my Joseph Coates. (#33 on the list of passengers.)

Name – Joseph Coates                                                   Jos Coates
Date of arrival – per census records 1889                         Ship arrived May 1888.
Age – calculating from census – 21                                   20
Lived in – Willington, England.                                           Willington, England
Destination – unknown, ended up in SE Iowa                    Illinois (which borders Iowa)
Occupation (calling) – Joiner                                             Difficult to read – Joiner?

Since we don’t have details of exactly how a merit-based immigration system would work, I can only speculate that Joseph would not accrue many points.
Education: high school at most, possibly less
Age: preferred
Employment in a high demand occupation: doubtful
English language – yes
Country of origin – England could be a plus
Siblings or sons/daughters already in U.S. – no

______________________
Source Citation
Year: 1888; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 519; Line: 33; List Number: 577

Source Information
Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Who were the immigrants?

City of Berlin – Did Joseph Coates arrive on this ship?

I’ve been on a mission the past few days: finding our immigrant ancestors.

Immigration policy is highlighted daily in the news and the newly popular term “chain migration” is being touted as something negative that must be ended. My interest was piqued when I heard about the work of genealogists who have verified the so-called “chain migration” of several powerful and influential persons who want to drastically change U.S. immigration policy. It seems important that we are informed and knowledgeable about immigration history and the immigration stories of our own families as these conversations and policy decisions are made.

I usually research from those I know – my closest relatives/ancestors – and move back in time. It is what we are advised to do when we begin researching our family history. Sometimes I pay attention to ancillary relatives in the vicinity, but not always. I’ve never really paused to consider how many of “the immigrants” I have identified.

I challenged myself to identify the immigrants in my family and my husband’s family. And I challenged my Facebook friends to learn the immigration stories of their families. It’s not an easy task, and I was probably asking too much of my friends. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem too much to suggest that we at least ask the elders in our family what they know about the immigration history of our families and see what we can learn.

These are the questions I’m asking:
* Who were our (my family and my husband’s family) ancestors who first immigrated to the United States? How many of them have I already identified?
* Did the family follow a pattern of family reunification (what is being described as chain migration) with one person or family arriving, getting settled, and sponsoring the next family member or family unit? Or do our families have different stories?
* Can I determine (or make a good guess) about why they left their native country?
* And then there is the concept of “merit-based” immigration. How might our ancestors have fared if such a policy had been in place at the time?

I’m not sure how this will play out. In some cases, it’s already “Mission: Impossible.” Can’t find them; don’t know if I ever will. The stories of my husband’s Italian immigrants will surely be different than the immigration stories of my northwestern European ancestors. In fact, I’ve learned that the term “chain migration” was coined in academic writing to describe a immigration pattern common among Italian immigrants.

I’ll be sharing short posts on what I find or don’t find.

Do you know who your immigrants are?

ESL Book Club – Thunder Cake

Our book club read several books by Patricia Polacco last spring and we all fell in love with Patricia Polacco. I was not familiar with her book Thunder Cake when I found it at Half Price Books a few months ago. It looked like another good one, plus it included a recipe! If you are not familiar with the book, it is based on events from the author’s life and tells the story of how her Russian grandmother helped Patricia overcome her fear of thunderstorms.

Of course, I had to bake a Thunder Cake for book club. The skies were clear and sunny as I baked, so I guess it didn’t really qualify as a Thunder Cake. Oh well…

I didn’t have any secret-ingredient-fresh-off-the-vine-overripe tomatoes either, so I drained some canned tomatoes and pureed what I needed in the food processor. I made two single layer cakes instead of a two-layer as I thought it would be easier to transport and serve. The cake tasted just like a chocolate cake should, but I thought it was a little dry and crumbly. Maybe it was lacking the humidity and electricity a thunderstorm would add to the mix. It rose very nicely – maybe due to the acidity of the tomatoes?

As I was preparing a few discussion questions, I realized what a good lesson in verbs this book provides. Patricia Polacco gives us so many verbs to help us hear the thunder and see the lightning and hear her grandmother’s voice. I made a list of most of the verbs used in the story and added a few discussion questions just to have some talking points to fall back on if needed.

The cake was a fun surprise and no one could taste the secret ingredient. As we settled in with our wedges of cake, I went over the list of verbs as a pre-reading activity. Many, if not most, of the verbs were unfamiliar to my students.

As expected, everyone could relate to the story in one way or another. One student (from Ukraine) is Babushka to her grandson. Another student was reminded of her husband, who was a nervous, nail-biting child. Instead of helping him with his fears, his parents focussed only on his bad habit. A wife told how, during an eight-year war with a neighboring country, her husband would take their son to the basement when the daily bombing began. He had the gift of entertaining their son so that he was never afraid. Meanwhile, she was frozen with fear. Everyone agreed that Patricia’s Babushka is awesome and aspired to be like her.

This time I added a rating system at the end of the discussion questions. As I expected, everyone gave it 5 stars – because they always swear they love every book we read. After class, a student who had read the previous Patricia Polacco books, told me she loves her books so much that all of her books will get 5 stars from her.

There was one piece of cake left, so I took it over to my friend, Pastor Cathy. She knew that the cake had been baked under clear skies, so not really a Thunder Cake. She asked what fear I contemplated while baking it. Uh … None? In true pastor fashion, she “invited” me to give it some thought.

Here is what I prepared for discussion:

Thunder Cake
by Patricia Polacco

So many verbs! As I reread the book, I noticed how many different verbs the author used to make the story interesting and to help the reader “feel” and “hear” the story.

Instead of just using the verb said:
cooed
stammered
crowed
exclaimed
croaked
whispered

Instead of just saying the thunder was loud and bright:
shook the house
rattled the windows
flashed
slit the sky
crashed
bellowed
growled
rumbled

Instead of using the verbs walk or run:
strode
scurried
crept

Other verbs of interest:
drew a deep breath
grab her close
surveyed
fingered
penned
gather
peck
spread out the tablecloth
beamed

And a few interesting adjectives:
loud clap of thunder
worn hands
creased spot
jagged edge of lightning
secret ingredient
overripe
luscious
glistening

Discussion questions:

What is your first reaction to the story?

Does the story remind you of something in your life?

How did Patricia’s grandmother help her overcome her fear of thunderstorms?

Was Patricia only afraid of thunderstorms?

Has someone helped you overcome a fear?

Have you helped someone overcome a fear?

Have you overcome a fear on your own (without help)?

Do you have a recipe with a secret ingredient?

Is this a book you would like to share with a child you know? Why or why not?

How do you rate this story?

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